TS2235 Assignment 1: A Place for Singaporean Musical Theatre in the Social Media Age

The word count of this first assignment was meant to be between 1000 and 1300 words. Close attention was to be paid to the texts written by Kotler et al and Bradshaw et al throughout the assignment. Due to the length of the assignment brief, it shall not be included in this post. You may request it from me by emailing me at jadeow[at]u[dot]nus[dot]edu.

While the goal of marketing has been broadly defined by Kotler et al as being “for the purposes of satisfying individual and organizational objectives” (2014), it neglects that certain “beneficial exchanges” may not immediately be apparent in the arts. After all, the economic value of the arts sectors are not easily quantified, and attempts to pigeonhole it into the larger economy by measuring it against the mainstream - as in the case of The Straits’ Times article where the profession of “Artist” was ranked top in terms of being “non-essential” (Tai, 2020) - have proven an unproductive endeavor. However, Bradshaw offers a compelling alternative to the debate: That the arts offer a unique value in the form of aesthetic and sensory experiences (Bradshaw et al, 2010). Such a view is echoed by the evolving “new model of culture” proposed by Holden, who argues that the arts and culture of today is sustained through its ability to secure funding from popular support rather than the elite few, and the value of the arts is therefore determined both by the experience itself, and through its perceived value by its audience (Holden, 2009). Any marketer for the arts should therefore approach the arts with a keen sensitivity to its unique circumstances, particularly in the context of the musical theatre community in Singapore.

The musical theatre community in Singapore, a subset of the larger theatre community, cannot be divorced from the political forces which openly govern and regulate its existence. The Singaporean theatre scene has had a relatively short runway since its independence, and within the new nation-state came the pressing need to consolidate power by suppressing dissonant voices to achieve political stability (Chong, 2010a). Conversely, the creation of narrative works which uphold moral standards and the public image, as defined by the incumbent government, were also sought after for nation building purposes (Chong, 2010b). The arts marketer in Singapore thus has the responsibility of collaborating with arts organizations to realize their vision while ensuring that the art clears the relevant channels and remains visible to its target audience.

In this process, the arts marketer would need to “offer superior value propositions” in order to motivate the target audience to accept the benefits of theatre in exchange for the cost (Kotler, 2014, p. 91), and such value propositions would have to be specifically addressed, without conflict, to multiple stakeholders from the government to the general audience. With those observations, I posit that marketing is inalienably valuable to making art, and may either contribute or compromise the arts organization depending on how well the domain knowledge of theatre in Singapore is understood and applied specifically for the purpose of sustainable growth without deviating from the core mission of the arts organization. This essay seeks to investigate how marketing may add value to the arts with reference to the Musical Theatre Fringe Festival (MTFF), a new annual festival launched by local theatre company Sing’theatre (Sing’theatre, 2022).

Sustainable growth is achieved by identifying and acting on factors, both internal and external, that may help or hinder the organization. A thorough analysis of the organization and the external environment surrounding the organization is necessary to determine its “core marketing strategy”, as outlined by the Organizational Marketing Management Process (OMPP) (Kotler et al, 2014, p. 62-63). According to Kotler, the internal factors of an organization include “its goals, objectives, culture, and at the strengths and weaknesses it brings to its marketing challenges”. In the case of the MTFF, the festival pledges to “give the opportunity for local artists to create, devise and showcase new and existing works”, and “aims to raise the appreciation of the musical theatre genre and enrich the lives of the Singapore community through education and shared cultural experiences” (Sing’Theatre, 2022). Moreover, Kotler continues that external factors include identifying the target audience and uncontrolled circumstances such as economic trends, technological advancements, natural events and government policy, all of which are not controlled for by the organization, but must be accounted for in the marketing strategy (Kotler et al, 2014). In the context of the MTFF, this means understanding that it occurs in the wake of the pandemic and the accompanying economic crises, while acknowledging existing political and sociocultural structures that may interfere with the process of theatremaking, as well as the digital spaces which target audiences today have migrated to.

Following the rise of social media and subsiding measures following the COVID-19 pandemic, arts marketing has evolved, along with marketing practices in other industries, to better reach its target audience. From the initial concept of the marketing mix by Neil H. Borden (1964), marketing is now capable of reaching individuals through the analysis of personal search habits and trends, thanks to the “vast amount of measurable useful data” provided by social media (Misirlis & Vlachopoulou, 2018). At the same time, the pandemic has resulted in social media marketing becoming more important than ever, thanks to the sudden and rapid shift in consumer patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic where findings from a survey of 372 consumers in the United States show that “consumers have increased their utilization of social media as a tool for identifying products, collecting information on products, evaluating products, and making product purchases” (Mason et al, 2021). Based on the evidence, having a robust social media strategy - promoting and representing the brand online, interacting with consumers and encouraging consumers to take on an active role in marketing - has become a necessary ingredient in the marketing mix.

In the case of the MTFF by Sing’theatre, this may be observed through the creation of Instagram pages with interactive content such as stories, reels and posts, followed and maintained by a large network of creatives and artists alike (Musical Theatre Fringe Fest [@mtfringefest], n.d.). According to the MTFF website, other strategies were utilized in their marketing mix, and prominent places such as the Stamford Arts Centre were chosen for the headline shows while stars such as Mina Ellen Kaye featured strongly in advertising, which likely resulted in a wider audience who have heard of Kaye (Sing’Theatre, 2022). There were also 12 sold-out programs in the MTFF, which arguably makes it a success (Musical Theatre Fringe Fest [@mtfringefest], n.d.). However, closer inspection of the reels tab in the account reveals that the reels achieved relatively few views, with the numbers ranging from 130 to 535 at the time of writing. One hypothesis for the lack of views is the lack of appropriate hashtags used, but this may also be attributed to the niche nature of Singaporean musical theatre. Those are questions which I hope to address in my research this semester.

In conclusion, marketing for the arts in Singapore has moved on with the times, and social media is currently the platform of choice for marketers and target audiences alike. Now more so than ever, marketing adds immense value to art making as it provides the opportunity for professional artists to reap economic benefits from their craft. As the Musical Theatre Fringe Festival is set to return later this year, I seek to analyze the marketing mix which Sing’theatre had adopted for MTFF 2022, and to investigate how the strategies can be adapted and refined for this year, given my understanding of Sing’theatre as an organization and the external circumstances - specifically government restrictions on theatre and social media usage - which may affect the mounting of the festival.

(1228 words)

References

Borden, N. H. (1964). The concept of the marketing mix. Journal of advertising research, 4(2), 2-7.

Bradshaw, A., Kerrigan, F., & Holbrook, M. B. (2010). Challenging Conventions in Arts Marketing. (O. D. Finola, Ed.) Marketing the Arts A Fresh Apporach, 5-17.

Chong, T. (2010a). ‘Back Regions’ and ‘Dark Secrets’ in Singapore: The Politics of Censorship and Liberalisation. Space and Polity, 14(3), 235-250.

Chong, T. (2010b). The state and the new society: The role of the arts in Singapore nation-building. Asian studies review, 34(2), 131-149.

Holden, J. (2009). How we value arts and culture. Asia pacific journal of arts and cultural management, 6(2).

Hughes, G. (1989). Measuring the economic value of the arts. Policy Studies, 9(3), 33-45.

Kotler, P. R., & Andreasen, A. R. (2014). Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organisations (Pearson New International Edition 7th Edition ed.). Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Mason, A. N., Narcum, J., & Mason, K. (2021). Social media marketing gains importance after Covid-19. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1), 1870797.

Misirlis, N., & Vlachopoulou, M. (2018). Social media metrics and analytics in marketing–S3M: A mapping literature review. International Journal of Information Management, 38(1), 270-276.

Musical Theatre Fringe Fest [@mtfringefest]. (n.d.). Musical Theatre Fringe Fest by @singtheatre is Singapore’s only dedicated MT festival. 22nd July - 7th August 2022 #musicaltheatre. Instagram. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.instagram.com/mtfringefest/.

Sing'theatre. (2022, December 20). Musical Theatre Fringe Fest - 22 july to 7 august 2022. Sing'theatre | Performing for a better society in Singapore. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://singtheatre.com/mtff/#festival.

Tai, J. (2020, June 14). 8 in 10 Singaporeans willing to pay more for essential services. The Sunday Times, p. A4.