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1. Introduction

1.1 Background

Singapore’s first professional basketball team, Singapore Slingers, was formed in March 2006. The team is made up of premium players from Singapore, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The team had taken part in the National Basketball League (NBL) Hummer Championship for two seasons, competing in Singapore, Australia and also New Zealand.

In July 2008, the management decided to look at a more Asian-based perspective; therefore, they withdrew from NBL and launched the “Singapore Challenge Series”. In this series, the Slingers would be participating in various international games with teams from China, Indonesia, Philippines, India and Australia, which will take place in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The Challenge series starts from September 17th 2008 and will end on January 18th 2009.

The purpose of launching this series is to aim to bring the Singapore team into the ASEAN league, which might help to promote the sport in the ASEAN region, and also build up the team’s reputation in Asia. Not only that, they are also hoping to attract more of their target market, basically the young fans of the Slingers, families and expatriates residing in Singapore as well.

1.2 Objectives and Methodology

The objectives of this report would be to associate the link with the various components of the marketing mix and the Singapore Slingers event and relate how effective these components are in contributing to the success of the event. The research was done by going down personally to the Singapore Indoor stadium to experience the basketball match against Malaysia All-Stars on 5th November.


2. Evaluation of the Effective Use of Marketing Mix

The marketing mix comprises of 8 components, which are product, place, programming, people, partnership, promotion, packaging and distribution and price. These 8 components will be further categorized into 2 groups- Experiential and Facilitating components.


2.1 Experiential Components

2.1.1 Product

For the core product, it would be the basketball game itself. The benefits from this core product would be the experience that the spectator gains from the game; being able to watch ‘live’ action. As for the tangible products, they consist of the venue and seating, services they provide, access and pricing.

The Singapore Indoor Stadium is chosen as the venue for the basketball matches in the Singapore Challenge Series. To ensure that spectators are able to catch every exciting detail of the match, the seating arrangement is set in a way that goes around the perimeter of the court; the court being in the centre of the arena.

Being one the sponsors, Brewerkz provides additional services by catering beer directly to the spectators in the corporate box (VIP section). This service they provide is unique and it enables the spectators to be able watch the match and enjoy the award winning beer at the same time. An F&B kiosk is also located conveniently near the entrance, where food and beverages are made available for any hungry spectators throughout the game.

Security was quite tight as there were bags inspections after the checking of tickets at the entrance. However, it was done professionally at a fast pace which resulted in a smooth flow in the queue.

Lastly would be pricing, but it would be further elaborated later in the report.


2.1.2 Place

This component refers to both the location where the event is held and also the place where customers can get acquire their tickets from.

As stated above, this sports event is being held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which I feel that the likely reason is to be able to accommodate as many people as possible. In this case, the stadium is able to accommodate about 13,000 people. Being an enclosed area, it allows the spectators to enjoy a ‘live’ basketball match in the comfort of air conditioner, rather than the usual outdoor weather, which helps as a selling point for the event. However, I feel the location of the venue, which is at Kallang, is not very accessible, in terms of for those taking public transport. My personal experience on that day of the field trip was that, the timing between bus intervals was very long and there are only three buses available to Singapore Indoor Stadium. Long journeys to reach the destination can be a big disadvantage.

Having shuttle buses might be a suggestion so as to cater to people going for events at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. It saves time and makes the place more accessible, thus as a result, it may serve to attract more people to watch the Singapore Slingers and other events as well.

Only one location is used for this whole event, so it can be inferred that there is inexistence of market penetration or expansion strategies being adopted. However, it is more convenient, in my opinion, as customers do not have to constantly find out where the different matches are being held at, since the venue is standardized. It saves them the trouble of travelling to different places each time for each match.

The event producer made used of a ticketing agency, SISTIC, as a distribution medium for selling the tickets. Customers are able to obtain their tickets easily from three sources- from their authorised agents located islandwide, make an online booking through their website, http://www.sistic.som.sg/, or through the SISTIC hotline. Choosing SISTIC to help them distribute their tickets is definitely a good choice as it enables the customers to purchase their tickets anytime and anywhere, without hassle. Moreover, having an online booking system saves time and customers can purchase tickets without having to queue.


2.1.3 Programming

The players would have a 10 mins break in between quarters for them to re-organize and recharge. In the mean time, cheerleaders can be seen entertaining the spectators by dancing on the court. There were also mini games during the players’ break time such as the shooting of hoops, where lucky spectators would get to try their luck at shooting and they would be able to bring home a souvenir if they scored. Mini basketballs were also given out to spectators by the cheerleaders, catapulting them to the seating areas. Lastly, they even had a ‘kiss camera’ where they would capture random couples on screen inside a “heart frame” and they would have to kiss. Funny sound effects were made, which made it very amusing and entertaining to watch.

I feel that all these mid-game activities were well-planned, putting time to good use and it promotes interaction with the spectators. Otherwise, spectators will be staring into space during the 10 mins break, while waiting for the players to get ready. It makes me feel that my money was well spent and I enjoyed the mini games as well.


2.1.4 People

The customer service officers at the event play a big role in this marketing mix as they are who the spectators interact with most of the time. Even a slightest sign of unwillingness to respond to any of the spectators request, can determine the overall experience for that particular day.

My friends and I were greeted by the ticket ushers at the entrance with a smile and after checking the tickets, they responded, “Thank You, Enjoy your Game!” A good impression was formed, as they always say “First impressions are created within the first few seconds”. Next was the inspection of bags to ensure that no hazardous things were brought in. The personnel doing the checking of bags were very polite in thanking us after checking our bags. While we were inside, the seat usher took the initiative to ask for our seat numbers and directed us to our seats. Taking initiatives in providing service to customers is definitely a plus point.

At the end of the game, spectators were given a chance to go down to the court to meet the Slingers up close in person to take pictures and even ask for their autographs. Soon, the security personnel started to signal to the crowd to leave as they were going to close soon. But we were all caught up in taking photos and we did not realise. However, the security saw that we were busy and did not make a second attempt to chase us away. Instead, he waited until we were done then he approached us and asked us politely to leave the court. I was impressed, due to the reason that for my past experiences, I do not really have a good impression on security, as they tend to quite impatient at times, for example, trying to organize the crowd etc. Therefore, my overall experience at the Slingers event is pleasant and has left a good impression with me.


2.2 Facilitating Components

2.2.1 Partnerships

Some examples of sponsors for Singapore Slingers include Accor, Brewerkz, Singapore Sports Council, AirAsia, Tuck Lee etc. They are all featured on the official website of the Slingers.

The main sponsor of the Slingers is Brewerkz, which is located just beside the Singapore indoor Stadium. As mentioned above, they can be seen giving out beer to the VIP during the game. On top of that, the spectators get to enjoy a half-price discount for beer when they dine at Brewerkz if they present their entry ticket on that day of purchase. Having partnerships is an advantage for the company as it promotes both parties at the same time and this help to boost profits in the long run as well.


2.2.2 Promotion

They have an official website where they have all kinds of information on the Slingers, including schedule of their matches, player stats, ticket pricing and also news or updates on recent matches. Having an official website can help to promote the existence of the team and also provide information to anyone who might be interested to know more about the Slingers, and it is easily accessible; just a “click” away. For example, perhaps someone got to the website by chance and was drawn to the Slingers. The next step he might take would be to buy a ticket to a match and slowly, he might be attracted to the Slingers and become their die-hard fan! Their tickets are sold via SISTIC, whereby the agency helps to promote the event and create awareness to the public through brochures and their own newsletter.

‘RedSports’, an online source on sporting news for local sports lovers, do feature the Slingers as well. They have match updates, reviews for every match, therefore, fans who missed the match can update themselves through this portal. Readers are free to comment on the match as well, which might serve as a discussion opportunity for fans to share their views or opinions on a particular match.

As mentioned above in Partnership, being one of their sponsors, Brewerkz also play a part in helping to promote the Slingers to the public. They have a section in the restaurant especially for the Slingers, where they will have pictures taken during their previous matches, their signatures and also information on them. And when customers walk past, they get to view the history of the Slingers, up till the present.

However, I greatly feel that, the promotion of the Slingers is not sufficient. There are hardly advertisements on them in the media, such as television and radio, making them seem very ‘low-profiled’. I only got to know about them a few months ago, when I was dining about Brewerkz. From my point of view, the management should put in more effort to create awareness about the basketball team to the locals. We should be proud to have our first Singapore team, yet not many people know about the existence of the Slingers, which I feel is quite a pity.
Therefore, I feel that the management should invest more money in promoting the existence of the Slingers, perhaps having advertisements on television, have more posters put up at most shopping malls or they can start creating Slingers related merchandises for example, mugs, key chains, photo book etc. When spectators buy the merchandise back home, they help to promote Slingers to their friends and relatives, spreading word-of-mouth at the same time.


2.2.3 Packaging and distribution

Packaging and distribution is whereby the product is packaged together with accommodations or food and beverage or transport etc; as one service bundle and distribute to tourists or people who would be interested in coming to such event.

Unfortunately, in the case of this event, there is no sign of the mix being adopted. This means that it would be difficult for the event to position itself in the heart of the consumers. I would recommend them to package it with accommodation, to cater to fans coming from other countries, either to support the Singapore team or their own local team. The package can include tickets for that particular season, accommodation and shuttle transport to and fro from their hotel and Singapore Indoor Stadium during their period of stay.


2.2.4 Price

The prices of the tickets for general admission are based on different categories of seating areas in the stadium. They include premium seating, gallery general admission and balcony general admission, which range from $6 to $16. An advantage for die-hard fans of the slingers, they can actually purchase a package for the whole season (a total of 10 games each season), saving cost as the average cost of each ticket would now be around $14. Families of 4 also do get to enjoy a season package as well (2 adults 2 children). Prices at discounted rates are specially available for local and overseas students, senior citizens and National Service men (Fulltime). Being a student, I did get to enjoy a cheaper rate of $12 for the premium seats instead of the usual $16.

In my opinion, I feel that by using this market-based strategy, having special rates and packages, helps to attract the targeted market of teenagers like us, and families as the price is still within the affordable range. At the event itself, the spectators present were mostly students and families. Therefore, I would say that they have succeeded in attracting the targeted market and used this marketing mix to its advantage.


3. Tourism roles and Economic value

As this event involves many teams from different countries to come to Singapore to play in the Challenge Series, it indirectly adds to the tourism dollar of our country in terms of accommodation, food and beverage or shopping. Moreover, fans from the competitors’ country may want to travel over to Singapore to support their teams.

Although the tourism receipts are increasing with the arrivals of the fans and the teams, but out of the total contribution, it only contributes to a small amount. Only a minority attended the events. Evidence can be seen from the empty seats in the stadium. This is most probably due to lack of certain marketing mix components, or inadequate usage of them, therefore leading to the result being too insignificant to be recognized unlike the sight-seeing tourists or MICE sector in Singapore.

Our Singapore Slingers are known to certain areas of the world, places that they might have been to for matches, but it is certainly incomparable to the National Basketball Association (NBA) in United States. NBA has established a reputation globally, from the 1940s till the present day. Many people do not mind paying to watch NBA matches and we can always see that the stadium is almost full with excited fans.

But for Slingers, I feel that they are still at the beginning of the Growth stage of the product life cycle. There is still room for improvement. They can aim to establish a reputation in other countries like the NBA, slowly advancing into neighboring countries, then South-east Asia, Asia and soon, in Europe, United States etc. However, this may take hard work and time to achieve it.

Another point would be that this event does not really create employment. The ushers at the event are mainly employees from SISTIC, so it means that they are not employed specially for this event compared to events such as Singapore Food Festivals where they would need a lot of manpower during this 3-day event.

Overall, I feel that the event does not really contribute to our economy, thus the low economic value to Singapore. To add to tourism, firstly they have to build up their reputation in more countries so that more people would think of Singapore Slingers as a reason to travel.


4. Conclusion

In a nutshell, Singapore Challenge Series-(Singapore Slingers) have adopted most of the marketing mix mentioned. Tickets can be easily obtained from many sources, enabling the customers to get them conveniently and effortlessly. Allowing fans to meet their basketball fans up close is a unique factor that creates a lasting impression on the audience, thus increases the chance of customers coming back for the second time. Besides that, working in partnership with sponsors like Brewerkz promotes them to the public as well; creating awareness about the existence of the Slingers. Unforgettable experiences are created when they allow fans to meet their basketball idols up close after the game, which I personally feel that it had left an impact on me as well. Different prices that cater to different age groups make it more affordable, resulting in a higher chance of attracting more people to this event. E.g. discounts for students, senior citizens etc.

But due to absence of certain factors and because some of them are not used to their maximum advantage, it serves as an obstruction to making the event even more successful and perfect. Some of the aspects that can be improved on include the accessibility to the Singapore Indoor Stadium, lack of promotional strategies and the packaging of the product with other elements such as accommodation.

Every component of the marketing mix is important so as to make the event a successful one. There is a need to ensure that every one of them is equipped to the fullest extent. On the whole, I personally feel that in spite of certain deficiencies, this event has successfully created an overall wonderful experience for me and left me a lasting impression of the Slingers.