Here's an entry with a playlist consisting many korean songs that i like! Hope you will like it too!

1. Introduction

1.1 Objectives and methodologies
The objectives of this report are to identify the different components of the marketing mix and evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing mix that had been adopted in the Korean Festival 2008. For those that are effective, reasons and examples are given to support its effectiveness. For those that are ineffective, other than reasons and examples provided, suggestions are also given to help improve the things that the festival might be lacking.

In addition, the report has also included the tourism roles of the festival and economic values that the Korean Festival 2008 had brought to Singapore.

The methodologies of research included the use of online research materials and also a personal trip down to the Korean Flavour Fiesta, which was a segment of the Korean Festival 2008. Furthermore, consumers who went to the Fiesta were also surveyed to know more about the effectiveness of the marketing mix used.

1.2 Profile and background of the chosen festival

1.2.1Profile and background
With the festival theme of “Communication & Sharing”, the Korean Festival 2008 was also one of the largest cultural events in Singapore to have showcased Korean culture, both in scale and diversity.

The Korean Festival 2008 was sponsored by sponsors like Samsung, Far East Organisation, LG, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Korean Agro Trade Corporation, Korea Tourism Organisation, Standard Chartered, UOB, KIA Motors and Kellogg’s.

Also, the inaugural Korea Festival 2008 encompassed a wide variety of traditional and modern events, ranging from fine arts to popular culture and mainstream music. Main activities that were available at the Korean Festival 2008 included the Korean Food Fiesta, musical performances at the Esplanade, Korean Film Festival, Korean Pop Night, Korean Traditional Dance Performance, Taekwondo Demonstration, Korean Contemporary Art Exhibition and K-Pop Talent Contest. The festival had also provided an opportunity for the fans of Korean Wave (Hallyu), to meet some of the Korean singers and bands that enjoy high popularity.


As for Korean Flavour Fiesta, it was a part of the Korean Festival 2008 that I have visited personally, and this free entry fiesta allowed the consumers’ senses to be satisfied with the Korean cuisine, music, dance and etc.

1.2.2 Positioning
In addition, the various activities of the festival had different positioning. An example would be the Korean Pop Night. The Korean Pop Night had a focus on performers such as Wonder Girls, Andy, Jun Jin and Jewelry while the Korean Flavour Fiesta made use of its free admission (price) to attract consumers. All these activities that have made use of the different types of positioning were an advantage to the Korean Festival as they would be able to attract a wide range of consumers that had different needs or wants.

1.2.3 Influences
Also, according to the survey done, most of the consumers went to the Korean Festival 2008 due to several influences. For instance, for those who went to the Korean Flavour Fiesta, some of the influences that influenced the consumers’ decision in attending the fiesta were family and household influences and reference groups. All these influences have helped to contribute to the high attendance at the activities such as the Korean Flavour Fiesta and Korean Pop Night.

2. Evaluation of the Effective Use of Marketing Mix

2.1 Types of marketing mix used by the festival
Marketing mixes that were used by the Korean Festival 2008 were product, programming, packaging, place, people, price, promotion (communications) and partnership.

2.1.1 Product
In this case, the product was the event’s product experience. For instance, the services provided at the Korean Flavour Fiesta. The fiesta was successful in using it to its advantage. This was so as after surveying* 25 consumers at the fiesta, 20 out of the 25 consumers said that they have enjoyed the fiesta.
(please refer to appendices for survey results*)

High quality services and good customers’ experiences are very important for a festival. This is especially so if the festival is a yearly festival. A successful festival with good customers’ experiences will be able to attract repeat consumers that have gone to the festival. In addition, it would allow a positive spread of the word of mouth of the festival. Hence, it may result in an increase of the amount of consumers in the future festivals, and thus, increasing the potential profits.



However, in my opinion, I felt that the organisers should have estimated the potential crowd and come up with the activities that would be able to cope with the crowd. Hence, if the organisers were to organise the same festival and fiesta again next year and if they want to avoid similar problems faced, my suggestion for them would be them taking the amount of consumers, or estimated amount of consumers that have attended the Korean Flavour Fiesta (2008) into consideration. This would allow them to come up with activities that are able to cope with the crowd.

2.1.2 Programming
Programming, which is the different event components, was used as a marketing mix in the Korean Festival 2008. The wide range of activities was used to attract the consumers of different demographics and psychographics. Main activities that were available at the Korean Festival 2008 were the Korean Food Fiesta, musical performances at the Esplanade, Korean Film Festival, Korean Pop Night, Korean Traditional Dance Performance, Taekwondo Demonstration, Korean Contemporary Art Exhibition and K-Pop Talent Contest.

The festival has used programming to its advantage well as it managed to attract consumers of the different demographics and psychographics.

For instance, the Korean Pop Night has attracted the teenagers and young adults who were interested in the performances by singers like Chae Yeon and Kim Jong Wook, as well as Korean bands like Wonder Girls, a group of 5 sexy, cute and young girls. As for the other activities such as the Korean Contemporary Art Exhibition, it also attracted the arts lovers who were interested in the exquisite works of the Korean artists.

2.1.3 Packaging
The Korean Festival 2008 had also made use of the packaging mix. Packaging is a mix of opportunities within the event and in this case, packaging was to be used in the festival. An example would be the Korean Flavour Fiesta.

The fiesta offered a service bundle of entertainment and food and beverage. It was successful in making use of packaging as it has allowed the consumers who have attended the event to be able to enjoy and learn the different aspects of Korean culture. The experience was an all-rounded experience, due to the bundle of services available at the fiesta.


2.1.4 People
The fourth marketing mix used by the Korean Festival 2008 was people (cast, audience, hosts and guests). This marketing mix was about the interactions between the customers, the setting and the staff/volunteers. This was relatively important as it would constitute a large part of the event experience.

The Korean Festival 2008 made good use of its cast. A good example would be the Korean Pop Night. The casts not only managed to attract local consumers, they also managed to attract consumers from overseas, travelling to Singapore specially for them and for the performance. For instance, international fans supporting Shinhwa, one of the most famous and legendary idol group from Korea, may come to Singapore to support Andy and Jun Jin, who were members of Shinhwa.


However the staffs that have helped to distribute the tickets for the Korean Pop Night actually affected the quality of the marketing mix, people. This was said so as the staffs mixed up the tickets to be distributed. The consumers that queued earlier got the seats that were of less quality (further away from stage) while the latecomers got the better quality seats (nearer to the stage).

Hence, after the consumers that have queued earlier knew about the careless mistake, there was a commotion. To worsen the problem, the mistake was ignored and the organisers still went ahead with the distribution of the tickets.

According to an interview with one of the consumers, Sheila, that got the less quality tickets though she started queuing very early, she expressed that the organisers not only did not address the problem on the spot, they even refused to pick up her calls and reply to her email.

Even though the consumers that got the less quality still said that the concert was one that worth the money and time spent on queuing, however, they were still unhappy with the failure to fight for the tickets that they should have. This may result in the spreading of negative comments about the inefficiency and poor hospitality of the staffs and this may affect the views of others on the festival. Negative comments and image are certainly things that a festival will not want to have and see.

Though the consumers were not able to do anything in the end and they still attended the concert due to the rarity of the concert, however, I still felt that the organisers should have addressed the problem and the staffs should be given clearer instructions on the distribution of the tickets.

Also, the organisers should try to salvage the situation and apologise to the consumers that have bought the less quality tickets if they want an overall success of the festival. Any failure in any component of the festival or poor hospitality received by the consumers has the ability to impact the whole festival and result in poor experiences.

2.1.5 Place
Place is the physical place and setting. As for the Korean Festival 2008, the location where the Korean Flavour Fiesta was held was an example of a poor location. According to the survey done, most of them expressed that the location (VivoCity; VivoCity Sky Park) was accessible; however, there were still common complains about the hot weather and the size of the location.


The weather on 2 November (Sunday) was hot and humid. To add on to the problem, the booths were not closely placed together. Thus, whenever the consumers move around, they would have a chance to be exposed to the sun.


Also, it was lucky that it did not rained. This was so as if it had rained, there would be more problems with the mobility around the fiesta. Popular activities like picture taking in Hanbok, which was held in the open, would probably have to stop.





A suggestion would be an indoor festival with air-conditioning so that the consumers can walk throughout the booths in the fiesta with upmost comfort while enjoying the activities available. Also, if it was held indoors and even if it rains, there would be no worries.

Another suggestion would be using the outdoor park, but chaining up all booths with shelters. This would probably help to save costs compared to holding the festival indoors. Moreover, if it rains, the consumers would still be able to walk around in the shelters.

However, regarding the size of the park, according to the on-site exploration, the park was not fully utilised. Thus, if the booths can be organised in a better way or if the whole park could be fully utilised, the problem of venue being too small could probably be solved.

2.1.6 Price
The sixth marketing mix was price. Firstly, price was used to attract consumers in terms of free admissions. For instance, there were free admissions into the Korea Flavour Fiesta and Taekwondo Demonstration.


An excellent example would be the Korean Flavour Fiesta as it has managed to attract a lot of consumers. This was so as the free admission to the fiesta attracted the people who knew about the fiesta beforehand, as well as those who passed by without intending to attend the festival and yet were interested to know what the festival has to offer.

However, according to the survey done at the Korean Flavour Fiesta, 17 out of 25 surveyed* said that they were still willing to go for the festival even if there were to be admission charges. Hence, this also showed that the price, which also meant the exchange of value to experience the fiesta, was high.
(please refer to appendices for survey results*)

The high value of price in terms of the exchanging of value to experience the event was also applicable to the other activities in the Korean Festival 2008. For instance, the Korean Pop Night. This was so as the Korean celebrities that were invited to the concert were celebrities that rarely have a chance to perform in Singapore. Hence, due to the rarity of the performance, there was a high exchange value. Thus, although the tickets were hard to get, the consumers were still willing to find all means to get the tickets.

Thus, from the above examples and the high attendance rate, the Korean Festival 2008 was said to have used the price mix to its advantage.

2.1.7 Promotion (communication)
The seventh marketing mix was promotion (communication). Promotion (communications) refers to the full range of “communication mix” including advertising, PR and sales promotion.

The promotion mix is very important as it can affect the consumers’ expectations of the festival and also to help persuade the consumers to go for the festival and spread information on it by word of mouth. As for the Korean Festival 2008, the promotion mix was very successful.

For instance, the Korean Pop Night. The Korean Pop Night made use of the Korean celebrities like Wonder Girls, Chae Yeon, Jun Jin and Andy as promotional tools and they helped to attract the consumers to purchase the tickets or win the tickets through contests.

Moreover, when the celebrities were used as promotional tools, there could be “free advertising” as well. This was so as the fans of the celebrities, regardless in Singapore or overseas, would advertise the concert on their websites, blogs or forums. Some of them even included the details (e.g. other activities and their dates) of the whole Korean Festival 2008.

In addition, there were also free advertising on websites that contains information on Korean celebrities’ movement and blogs of Hallyu lovers. The free advertising was to the festival’s advantage as it did not require any costs and it could have aid the spreading of information regarding the festival through word of mouth. Besides, it may even be able to reach out to the many potential consumers, regardless local or overseas, who did not know about the many activities that would be taking place during the Korean Festival 2008.

Another good way of promotion that has been done for one of the segments, Korean Flavour Fiesta, was through banners along the road. Regardless drivers or passengers, as long as they were on the road, they had a chance to see the banner. In my opinion, I think this was a good way to market the fiesta to the general public.

Another promotional tool used was the advertising through media. An example of advertising through media would be the advertisements during the commercial breaks of the “Dynamic Korea” aired on Channel News Asia. I think the way of advertising through media, and especially during “Dynamic Korea” in this case, was relatively useful as the people that are interested in Korean culture would probably have watched the programme and they could be notified of the festival through the advertisements.

The K-Pop contest was also used as a promotion tool. It attracted those who were interested in Korean music and wanted to show their talents to the public. This would then result in word of mouth when the Korean music lovers spread the information about the contest around. Word of mouth would also take place when contestants want their friends and family to be their supporters. Hence, the benefits would be more people knowing about the festival and as for the fiesta; the supporters have the potential of bringing in more income.
Another fabulous way of promotion was through the Uniquely Singapore website. This was a great way of promoting if targeted consumers consisted of foreigners coming to Singapore. This was so as the people that was coming to Singapore for a free and easy holiday would probably go to the website for related information and upcoming events and festivals. Then, they would be able to know about the Korean Festival 2008. Though it may not be something that they intended to go in the first place, however, it may still attract their attention and interest, and if they have decided to attend the Korean Festival 2008, they have the potential of increasing the income earned.


However, even though the promotion mix had been used well to the festival’s advantage, I feel that other than advertising on “Dynamic Korea”, there can also be advertisements during the commercial breaks of Korean dramas that are being aired on television, such as Channel U. This may help to reach out to the potential consumers that are already interested in Korean drama, or even their culture.

2.1.8 Partnership
Partnerships in this case, would be with the sponsors like Samsung, Asiana Airlines, Korea Tourism Organisation, LG, KIA Motors and UOB. Partnerships are important as if there are good partners; the partners could sponsor the event or festival financially and could even provide the product that the organisation is selling. This would also allow the organising company to make use of the sponsorship.


For example, the Korea Festival 2008 made use of KIA’s sponsorship in the K-Pop contest by making the top prize of the contest a KIA Cerato. However, whenever there is sponsorship, the sponsoring bodies will need a certain level of return. In this case, while the sponsorship helped to attract the participants to join the competition, what the sponsors got in return was the free advertising of the KIA Motors and their product (KIA Cerato).


3. Tourism roles and economic value of the festival

3.1 Tourism roles
The tourism roles of the festival were place marketing, image maker, tourist attraction, catalyst and animator.

3.1.1 Place marketing
Firstly, place marketing was said to be used in the festival as it helped to create a positive image of Korea, being a place where you can enjoy great food while taking a look at the both of their traditional and modernised culture today. This was said so as the festival used a wide range of activities to help showcase Korea’s culture. Activities range from performances of traditional music and art, to showcases of Korean cuisine and film.

Moreover, the festival also helped to create a positive image of Singapore in Korea as there was filming and reporting of the festival by the Korea’s media. The image created for Singapore could be a place whereby the Koreans can come and find traits of their culture, other than discovering Singapore's culture.

Also, if they are worried that Singapore's cuisine are not suitable for them, the image created can help to tell them that Singapore has available Korean food for them if they want and need when they come to Singapore. Hence, food and beverage will not be an issue.

3.1.2 Image maker
After using place marketing to allow people to feel and realise that Korea is a place where you may want to go during your holidays, it also made use of image maker, to enhance the beauty of Korea and that Korea is a place where there are people and culture with lively energy.


There were also booths belonging to the travel agencies at the Korean Flavour Fiesta, to help answer enquiries of those who were interested in travelling to Korea.




3.1.3 Tourist attraction
The festival was said to be a tourist attraction as it had the ability of increasing visitor spending and the length of stay. An example would be the tourists that did not intend to go for the festival initially may stay longer for the festival as it allowed them to take a look at Korea’s culture which might only be available back in Korea. Hence, since they were already in Singapore, they could make use of their stay in Singapore to explore the beauty of Korean culture as well.

Also, the festival could allow those consumers that came from overseas to go for other attractions in Singapore after the festival. For instance, fans of the celebrities performing in the Korean Pop Night, could stay for a few more days in Singapore after Korean Pop Night has ended. This would help to increase visitor spending and length of stay.

3.1.4 Catalyst
Also, the festival was said to be a catalyst as it can stimulate business and trade between Singapore and Korea. For instance, after seeing that Singapore has a potential pool of Hallyu lovers, Korean companies might want to set up businesses here. For example, some business men might want to set up a Korean supermarket in Singapore. Then, the Koreans might liaise with Singaporeans for the setting up of the business and this would be a result of catalyst, whereby trade and business are encouraged by both of the countries.

3.1.5 Animator
The festival was also an animator, which was used to encourage first and repeat visits at facilities, resorts and attractions. For instance, the Korean Pop Night. Consumers that have never been to Singapore may come to Singapore for the Korean Pop Night. As for the consumers that have visited Singapore and did not intend to visit Singapore, they may visit Singapore again for the Korean Pop Night.

3.2 Economic value
The economic value of the festival was relatively high. For instance, activities such as the Korean-Pop Concert had the ability to attract international fans to come to Singapore due to the rareness of the performance. This meant that the tourists arrivals would increase and as the consumers come in for the festival or the Korean Pop Night, they would then spend money on things like accommodation, food and beverage and transportation. This also meant that the consumers could help to increase the tourism receipts.

However, in my opinion, the concert’s tickets that were not solely chargeable, should all be chargeable. This was so as I felt that such rare performances should be chargeable like a normal concert even though it was a concert of cultural exchange. This was because I believe that even if it was chargeable, the consumers would still purchase for the rare performance. Moreover, if there were to be income coming in from the concert, the organisers could use the income on many other things like increasing the scale of other activities such as the Korean Flavour Fiesta or on promoting such as advertising.


4. Conclusion
In conclusion, the overall usage of the 8 marketing mix helped to make the whole festival a success. Even though the place marketing mix was not very successful in the Korean Flavour Fiesta and the people marketing mix was much affected due to the carelessness of the staff, however, the well use of the other marketing mix have allowed and resulted in the success of the whole festival.

Also, I felt that the marketing mix that were particularly successful were price and promotion. They were said to be particularly successful as they have helped to contribute a lot to the success of the whole festival.


Due to good use of the promotion mix, consumers of different demographics and psychographics were attracted to the Korean Festival. Also, the ability of allowing the fan clubs to help advertise was also wonderful as these advertisements were costless.

The good use of the price mix, which was in terms of the exchanging of value to experience the festival, had also helped to attract a lot of the consumers. This was because there were rare activities like the Korean-Pop Concert and activities with such rarity have caught the attention of many consumers who were interested in the Korea celebrities that came to perform.

In addition, I felt that there could be reoccurrence of such festivals in the future. This is particularly so as such festivals not only can add economic value to the country, they can also have educational purposes and provide the chance for cultural exchanges. An example would be that the festival had helped consumers who have attended to know more about Korea and its culture. For instance, after the Korean Flavour Fiesta, I then knew how it was like to wear a Hanbok, which is the traditional costume that many Koreans will still wear today.





Another example would be allowing Koreans that are living in Singapore to take a look at the things that they used to see or even never got to see. For example, one of the consumers surveyed was a Korean boy who was born in Singapore. He had never been to Korea before but the Korean festival has helped him learn about things like food that his mother used to eat and traditional practices his mother used to practice.







He also expressed his great interest in Korean culture and exclaimed that he would like to go for future festivals like the Korean Flavour Fiesta. Hence, we can see that such good festivals not only can attract people, they can also make an impact on people’s minds, and probably attract them again when there are future events.

5. Appendices

5.1 Survey Results

This survey was done by Low Yue Wen, Cassandra Tan, Ong Su-Lin and Lau Bi Yin.










5.2 References

1) Big Bang Fansite. (2008). Korean Festival 2008 in Singapore. Available: http://bigbangkorean.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/korea-festival-2008-in-singapore/. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

2) Camemberu. (2008). Korean Festival 2008. Available: http://www.camemberu.com/2008/11/korea-festival-2008.html. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

3) Joon's Family. (2008). 文化产业振兴院将在新加坡举办韩国音乐会.(Korean Pop Night). Available: http://joonsfamily.com/index.php?s=46a47181b823370771ac65778955c1ec&showtopic=21981&pid=71608&st=0&#entry71608. Last accessed 20th November 2008.

4) Kiwinana. (2008). B-Boys - Last For One (Korea Festival 2008). Available: http://kiwinana.blogspot.com/2008/11/b-boys-last-for-one-korea-festival-2008.html. Last accessed 20th November 2008.

5) Korean Festival 2008. (2008). Korean Festival 2008. Available: http://www.koreafestival2008.com/. Last accessed 23th November 2008.

6) Lee An. (2008). Great Night, Korean Pop Night Concert. Available: http://leean777.blogspot.com/2008/11/great-night-korean-pop-night-concert.html. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

7) Lee An. (2008). K-Pop Talent Contest. Available: http://leean777.blogspot.com/2008/11/photo-k-pop-talent-contest.html. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

8) MTVASIA.COM. (2008). Korean Pop Night Concert in Singapore on November 4. Available: http://www.alert.mtvasia.com/News/200810/28016875.html. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

9) Naesalmuisokdo. (2008). 2008 Korea Festival. Available: http://blog.daum.net/naesalmuisokdo/7860793. Last accessed 20th November 2008.

10) Naesalmuisokdo. (2008). 2008 Korean Flavour Fiesta 다녀 왔습니다. Available: http://blog.daum.net/naesalmuisokdo. Last accessed 20th November 2008.

11) Rain Union. (2008). Korean Festival 2008 in Singapore. Available: http://www.rain-union.com/viewthread.php?tid=3957. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

12) The Electric New Paper, Singapore. (2008). Hot Stars? Where?. Available: http://www.tnp.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,182664,00.html. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

13) The Urban Wave. (2008). Korean Wave in Singapore. Available: http://theurbanwire.com/2008/11/05/korean-pop-night-the-beginning-of-k-pop-wave/. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

14) Wonder Girls Wonderland. (2008). Wonder Girls in Singapore for K-pop Concert. Available: http://wondergirls.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/wonder-girls-in-singapore-for-k-pop-concert/. Last accessed 4th November 2008.

15) 울리둘리. (2008). Korea Festival 2008 in singapore(Korean Pop Night). Available: http://blog.naver.com/yalwehg/10036918628. Last accessed 20th November 2008.

16) 림예주 (YEEJOO). (2008). KOREA FESTIVAL!. Available: http://blog.naver.com/tofucloud15/30036655544. Last accessed 20th November 2008.

17) “Festival and Special Event Management” (3rd Ed.), Chapter 7: “Strategic Marketing of Events”

Hi! I'm Yue Wen! Nice to meet you!
안녕하세요!(Hi in korean)
만나서 반가워요!(Nice to meet you in korean)



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