<meta name='google-adsense-platform-account' content='ca-host-pub-1556223355139109'/> <meta name='google-adsense-platform-domain' content='blogspot.com'/> <!-- --><style type="text/css">@import url(//www.blogger.com/static/v1/v-css/navbar/3334278262-classic.css); div.b-mobile {display:none;} </style> </head> <body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar/8331868777106366932?origin\x3dhttps://hamizahbtemohamadsalikimen.blogspot.com', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe" }); } }); </script>

THE MEDIA MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES BLOG
main about questions exits
Entry 2: Be a Manager
Thursday, January 12, 2012 // 8:38 PM


a. What is the objective of this event? Give a brief background to this event.

The event I chose to attend was the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) 2011 held from the 4th of December 2011 till week after. It is organised by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC). The SCMS is Singapore's marquee running event, and is one of the highlights of the local sports calendar for 2011. Some of the running events the 50,000 participants took part in include, the Full Marathon, Half Marathon, the Wheelchair Race, 10km Race, 5km Fun Run and Kids Dash.

I think that the main objective of this event is to help the less fortunate by raising funds for selected beneficiaries through the "Run for good" charity programme. This event allows participants to run for a reason, not just running with the sole purpose of fun and health. The charity programme allows runners to become a Runner for Good, which means that every runner help contribute to charity. Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore have raised over $200, 000 through this programme.

Also, I think that another objective of this event is to get people to be a part of the holistic sports culture for the nation. The Singapore Sports Council creates opportunities for people to excel in sports; opportunities for people to be engaged in sports as coaches, volunteers or fans, and opportunities for people to do business in sports as sponsors and investors such as Standard Chartered, Asics and BMW.

Subsequently, another objective of this event is to advertise Standard Chartered island wide. As Standard Chartered(SC) is the title sponsor for this event, it is inevitable that people would think highly of SC and would maybe develop brand loyalty to SC after being exposed as a brand with good intentions. The bank's values are expressed in its brand promise, 'Here for good'. If majority think that SCM 2011 was a successful event, they would definitely have SC to thank since they are the main sponsor. I think that this is one marketing strategy that SC was able to bring forth successfully.

Last but not least, I think that the purpose of this event is to create opportunities for families to get together and bond as they run as a family or with close ones. It serves as a recreational activity that can be participated and enjoyed by anybody from any age group.


b. Who is the target audience?

Personally, I believe that there is a broad target audience. It ranges from the young(3 years old), all the way to the senior citizens. As long as they are physically able to run or compete (for the wheelchair bound citizens), anybody can take part in this event. The supporters, coaches, officials, photographers, volunteers, are all part of the event as well as part of the target audience. I think that as long as a participant think of this event as a good cause, then the purpose is reached.


c. How is the event publicised? (In other words, how does the target audience get to know about the event?)

The event is publicised through various media platforms such as print and radio. I think that it is advertised more on print than on other media platforms such as television, radio and so on. I believe the target audience got to know about the event through banners that were put up against the streetlights along the roads in Singapore, especially the city area, where the event was held. Radio stations did publicise the event through commercials on various daypartings. I believe not much publicity was given to this event, because many are quite aware of its existence since it happens annually.


d. Is the event reported in the media? If yes, how widely is it reported? (Do a quick analysis of the reports, in terms of the angles that the media take, the importance of the coverage, and your opinion of the impact of the coverage). If no, why do you think the media did not cover the event? What do you think could be done to attract media coverage?







As you can see from the above pictures, the event was widely reported in the media. Most of these articles covers on the incident that happened during the event. A 22 year old man collapsed and died after completing the Half Marathon Race. More focus was given to the incident that happened during the race as compared to the event itself. Only a few articles were written about the winners of the different race events.

I think these articles have sparked a chain of reactions and outburst from people around the world. Many are concerned with what may happen to their loved ones who participated in the event. Some are wary and would not want to take the risk running the next marathon in 2012.

Personally, I feel that the impact of this coverage caused many of the organisers to feel that they should prevent such unfortunate accidents from happening in the long run. I also think that the PR did a pretty good job at dealing with this crisis. As seen on the article below, the SSC director (Corporate Communications and Relations) Alvin Hang said that the well-being of all runners "take priority". He continues explaining the detailed measures the team had taken into consideration during the entire event. I think that by doing so, target audience will be more aware of the full story and not send in criticism grudgingly, since it was an unfortunate accident that cannot be helped.



e. Assume you are the manager overseeing this project. Evaluate the success/failure of this event. How would you do it differently for greater success?

As the manager of this project, I feel that this event has been successful to a certain extent. In terms of getting participants together to share the same goal which is to run for a cause, it was achieved greatly. $200,000 was collected at the end of the charity programme that ended on 31 December 2011, and more than 50,000 people participated in the event. Furthermore, there were also many foreigners who came by to participate. It shows that this event is known worldwide and wide exposure would mean success for the organisation and title sponsor. Hence, I believe all these success makes up for the slight failure of the event.

In terms of failure, I feel that the event lacked of crowd control. The section close to the finishing point was jammed with spectators and passersby at around 8am, close to the time the 22 year old man collapsed. The overcrowding of people at that particular section can be a contributing factor to his collapse and they lacked security personnel at that area. I don't consider the death of the man as a big failure to the event because it is something that cannot be controlled.

If I were to manage the event once again for greater success, I would definitely take note of the manpower needed for crowd control. I would make sure that even if there is sufficient number of them, I would make sure they are situated at every part of the marathon route in order to prevent congestions.

I would also make sure that every participant is healthy and physically able to run a marathon by having them checked by doctors before starting the race.

Lastly, I would emphasise more on publicity of the event. It should be advertised more on the television to get more participants and target audience to come down and support the event. By emphasising publicity through broadcast, it saves cost for print. The large banners attached to the road streetlights do help in achieving awareness, but I think there are too many of it. Instead of spending lots of money on print, it'll be less costly if TV commercials were to be the main source of dissemination and publicity.
main