Run in the night where no traffic will be able to stop you. The only fear is not being able to see clearly.

Event chosen

The event that I have chosen to visit is the Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008. This is the first marathon that is being held in the night in Asia. This night event has brought excitement in me so I have decided to visit this event as I’m curious to see how the event is being held. It was held on the 31st of May 2008.

Purpose

The purpose of writing this report is to enable me to provide a first hand account of Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008, to identity the type of event under observation and its characteristics, to critic on the marketing strategies of the organizers for the chosen even and to recommend alternative strategies for effective marketing, to reflect and critic on the programme and management of the event and to consider the values of the event to Singapore’s tourism economy.

Background of the organizer

The organizer for this event is Hivelocity Pte Ltd. Hivelocity Pte Ltd is a company built on the pure passion and love for sports. It was created based on convictions and idealism with a great deal of enthusiasm. The team is made up of very energetic and driven people who live in the Sports realm. They do what they believe, bring energy to everything they do and are values driven. Such as values would be providing knowledge and consultancy, market and distribute brands and organize sporting events.

Hivelocity Pte Ltd has two units- ‘Brand team’ and ‘Event team’. Brand team markets and distributes top international sporting brands for performances sports. They don’t just market products, they sell ideas and lifestyles.

Event team specializes in sports marketing and sport event management. A lot of work involves cracking their heads for clients and using their creativity to stretch their client’s dollar to the maximum. A lot of their work also involves them to convince skeptics to allow them to do things, which others are afraid to do. This synergistic working relationship between both the ‘Brand team’ and the ‘Event team’ has given them superpower to inspire, motivate and create a great sporting experience for all.

Role of Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 to the organizer (or attraction/ venue)

Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 has brought commotion in Changi village as Changi village is normally quiet and peaceful. By having this event in Changi village as the starting point of the race, it brings out the nightlife and wonders of Changi village. This is the first time I saw Changi village filled with many people and cars making the place crowded and lively. Also, traffic police were there to control the traffic and prevent any accidents from happening. It creates positive images among the locals and attracts investors to invest in the place by showing the beauty of Changi Village.

This event has also allowed the organizer which is Hivelocity Pte Ltd to be recognized. All my life I have never heard of the company Hivelocity Pte Ltd until Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008. It allows me to have more exposure and knowledge towards the organizer. This event has publicized Hivelocity Pte Ltd to greater heights and allows me to gain awareness about their existence. This could benefit me as I might have the opportunity to work with them in future as my interest is mostly on events management.

Changi Village will also be one of the tourist attractions in the future as it attracts tourists from all over the world and also increases visitor spending. Visitors will be spending quite a sum of money on food. I feel that Changi Village offers the best nasi lemak in Singapore. To add on, there are also many nice and local foods to be found which visitors will not be able to find in their respective countries. If the visitors are the adventurous kind, they can just board a ferry to Pulau Ubin. On the island, they can get to see how kampong life is like and the nature and wildlife of the island.

Stakeholders in Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008

Stakeholders would include people from the organizing committee to the participants. Let’s start with the organizing committee such as Hivelocity Pte Ltd to manage this event. Follow by sponsors such as Adidas, Power Bar, Polar, Oakley, 100plus and F&N Ice Mountain. Events partners would also include National Parks, Singapore Sports Council, Athlete’s Circle and Singapore Pools. Stakeholders would also include their official printer company, Drummond printing Pte Ltd and their official photographer, Snap Shots. Stakeholders would also include the partners in sports. They are Milo, SMU, SgRunners.com, Dell Inc, ELM, Field Gear, Subway, M1 and Millenia Walk. Stakeholders would also include the media and Changi Village hotel which is booked for the participants. Not forgetting the participants and the volunteers for the Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008. Volunteers are integral success staging for an event. Without them, the event will not be able to run smoothly. Their perseverance and unwavering dedication are crucial to the success of this event. Without the stakeholders, the event would be meaningless and would not be a success. Imagine there are no sponsors for this event, the events company will have a hard time forking up the additional cash to cover up the losses. So, stakeholders are very important in an event.

Target Market for Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008

The target market for this event would probably consist of males and females age 20 to 40. Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 would attract the locals and even the foreigners to participate. Some foreigners even rush down from their homeland to enter Singapore just to participate in this marathon. I would say that Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 has the ability to attract huge target market. This event seems to be important for some participants as they might want to push their limits by joining the 84km race. While others participates just to keep fit and race together with some friends to have a wonderful experience. Motivation also plays a part in this event. Some participants might want to race because of the prize while some race because they want to overcome this long obstacle. This is due to their intrinsic and extrinsic motives.

Marketing strategies employed by the organizer

Hivelocity Pte Ltd has used the marketing mix for Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008. Participants are paying and joining this event for the purpose of completing a marathon. The marathon is the product. There are different distances to participate in. The longest distance would be 84km. This is what the customers will want, especially those who are interested and those who are sportsmen. Goodies bag were also given to the participants and the volunteers.

For place, the starting point is held at Changi Village. It is held at one end of Singapore making it inaccessible to many. Also, there isn’t much atmosphere as I had observed that almost everyone there are either relaxing or getting ready for the race. Also, there aren’t many booths around to attract people to the event. All I see was just people walking around aimlessly. During the point where a race had already begun, the starting point of the race was very empty and quiet. I feel that they should have performers to entertain those who are not participating in the race or those waiting for their race. This will make the event livelier and enthusiastic. Hivelocity Pte Ltd had not done a very good job in making the place livelier.

Hivelocity Pte Ltd had advertised the event successfully as they have website for people to visit. They also put up banners and posters on bus stops and even roadside lamp post to gain awareness. I feel that a minority of the staff and volunteers were not very friendly as they didn’t bother to ask if I needed help while the majority of them did directed me to the event which was very helpful to me. Most of the volunteers were station at different checkpoints of the race, ensuring that all runners are safe and providing water to the runners. This was very well done as there was interaction between the volunteers and the runners.

Hivelocity Pte Ltd had set price for different products. The admission for the race would be at least a minimum of $100 for the 84km race. Subway, the fast food restaurant was also there as one of the booths to provide food for people. A set meal would cost at least $10. This could be due to the high rental for each booth as a set meal would normally cost below $10. Overall, Hivelocity Pte Ltd had successfully markets and advertises Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008. This event attracts a large number of participants and also media. I feel that they should make the event livelier so that people there will have a wonderful experience.

Rate the organization of the event. Why?

I would rate the event 3 out of 5 stars. Firstly, the atmosphere of the event was not what I had expected. It was quite low and quiet where I thought it would be loud, noisy and lively. The only time that the event was noisy would be the starting of the race. Other time of the event, it was quiet, just playing some pop music through speakers. Even though there were Adidas posters around and people gearing up for the race, they should have done a better job in making the place more hype up.

Secondly, the lighting was very poor. It was very dark and dim from Changi Village to the starting point and certain areas of Changi, especially those quiet streets. One of the checkpoints that I had visited was very dark. This checkpoint was as though it was invisible. Runners will definitely miss that checkpoint out. They should put more lights around the checkpoint so that runners can know that they can stop for a break if they are tired. Imagine if they miss out a checkpoint due to poor lightings, they will need to run for another period of time and distance just to get water to quench their thirst.

Thirdly, they didn’t have precaution for bad weather. Shelter was not provided at the starting point. What if that night there was a heavy rain, I’m sure everyone will feel dull and have their spirits dampen. Lucky, on that night the weather was great, it was cooling. However, they should make precaution just in case there was rain.

Lastly, I feel that this event had succeeded in attracting people from all over the region and locals to participate. However, they could have done better to make the event even more successful by having performers or a mini carnival at the main starting point. This will definitely attract another group of people which is the families and even those people who love the nightlife and want to come here to experience the event.

In order to meet the tourism mission of Singapore, which is to develop and champion tourism, so as to build a sector into a key driver of economic growth of Singapore. Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 will need to raise the value. Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 could raise values such as Environmental value. They can contribute a certain percentage of their profit to save the earth. Also, they can combine this event with saving the earth campaign together. For example, Participants could wear green top to create awareness to save the earth. They can also have save the earth posters around. This could meet the tourism mission as nowadays, there are events about saving the earth. So, by raising the environmental value of Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008, they can make an effort to spread the awareness of saving the earth and able to attract investors who are interested in such events to invest in Singapore. This will help to boost Singapore's economic growth.

Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 could raise the value of community support. Right now, the event has the support of volunteers. But in order to make the event even more successful, community support is very important. Having an event in Singapore, we would need audience to watch. Without them, the event is useless. So, Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 must gain community support by asking the community to help out and participate in the event. With their support, they will spend more which will eventually help the economic of Singapore.

Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 needs to raise the value of image enhancement in order to meet the tourism mission of Singapore. Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 could create a positive image in people’s minds through advertising. With such positive image, Singaporeans will then spend as they are ensure that their spending will not go to a waste and help boost the growth of the economic of Singapore.

Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 will need to be sustainable so that it can meet the tourism mission of Singapore. To devleop and champion tourism, Singapore will need to sustain long enough to achieve the mission statement. Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 could work towards this value by organizing this event every year. They must also advertise so that more people can participate. In order to sustain and to meet the tourism mission, the organizer of Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 could change the route to a more tourist attraction route. For example, they could run through Chinatown, Little India and Orchard Road. Also, these places can bring economic growth through the spending of the spectators. While watching the race, they will spend their money on foods and drinks.

In conclusion, Adidas Sundown Marathon 2008 was a great experience to me as I am able to see how a marathon is like. Normally, I watched marathons on television but I was able to see it live, right in Changi Village. This report allows me to use the blog as an effective marketing tool. It not only helps me to post the report online, but also get information and post queries so that people can read my questions and help me to answer. It saves time and allow efficient production.

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