History
The Formula 1 racing had a relatively humble beginning in Singapore, in the year 1961. Back then, it was called Orient Year Grand Prix. However, the following year this tournament was renamed as Malaysian Grand Prix and was called so till the year 1964. After Singapore gained its independence from Malaysia in 1965; this race was renamed as Singapore Grand Prix and was being conducted in the Thomson Road circuit during that period. The following years were quite tumultuous for this race; as it was shut in the year 1973. This was primarily due to the traffic congestion caused by the race and also the problem of shutting down roads for this event. Apart from this, this race had also witnessed fatal crashes in the years 1972 and 1973 which further instigated its shut down.
New life was breathed into this race when a contract was signed between Bernie Ecclestone, Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore GP Pte Ltd on November 2007. Under the sponsorship of SingTel, this event came to be named as Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grandprix and the first event was co-funded by Government of Singapore with a total bill of around $90 million SGD. For the very first event of F1 in Singapore; a staggering 110000 tickets were sold and three day as well as single day passes were also issued. The first F1 event in Singapore was held at the Marina Bay circuit and the championship was conducted during the night. It was the first night time race in the entire history of Formula one.
Typology and form functions
F1 or Formula 1 is better known as Formula One World Championships and it is considered as the highest form of single-seater form of car racing in the world. The term “Formula” signifies the set of rules and regulations that all the participating authorities must comply with. The F1 championship in turn consists of a lot of races better known as the Grands Prix, which are often held in purpose built circuits and also the public roads. Apart from this every racing driver, organizers, track officials as well as the constructor teams are required to hold a FIA Super License. This license allows a driver to participate in the F1 races too.
Singapore Grands Prix is just one of the many partnership garnered by Formula 1 across the globe. Held in Marina Bay of Singapore, this F1 race also follows the same pattern and rules and regulations to which they are subject to. The general tradition is that Grands Prix is held once in every location. If the Grands Prix is held for multiple times in a year, then these races are given unique names. The recent additions to Grands prix includes; Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Valencia, India and Korea.
Event experience
Formula One undoubtedly has a great deal of experience when it comes to arranging spectacular racing events across the world. Primarily due to this reason, they focus on partnering with those institutions that will be able to uphold the standards set by the main Formula One organizers.
Target market
A target market is the particular group of customers who are targeted by a business to achieve their objectives. The business also targets their marketing efforts to this specific group and they also design the marketing mix; product, price, promotion and place, based on this targeted group. Assessing and targeting a specific market for the Formula One events is a tough choice.
In general, F1 is able to lure around 100 million audience for each of races held anywhere in the world. Even in the case of Formula One, been held in Singapore the primary market were the motor enthusiasts of the country.
Although adequate advertising campaigns were held for the success of the race; online reactions to its initiation appeared to be quite bleak (Experian, 2010). According to online surveys held prior to the start of the event, it was found that searches for Formula One had only increased by 3% before the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, back in 2009. Reintroduction of F1 was a big event in itself, primarily because it was previously banned in this country due to congestion problems. Apart from this, the Grand Prix was held right at the heart of Singapore city. In the case, of Formula one is Singapore, the target market is again the vast majority of motor enthusiasts residing in the city and who can relate to the brand itself.
A wide range of strategies can also be implemented to fulfill the objectives aimed at the target market; such as undifferentiated or mass marketing, concentrated or differentiated marketing.
Stakeholders
A stakeholder can be defined as anyone who is affected by the activities of a business. For instance, it may include the government, customers, employees, trade unions, suppliers, creditors, community as well as the owners of the organization. To get a more accurate picture of all the stakeholders associated with the firm, the business can always conduct a stakeholder mapping process. This process allows the business to draw a clearer picture of where their stakeholder relationship currently stands.
In the case of Formula One in Singapore; the prime stakeholder is the Government of Singapore. This is because; the Government lays down the rules that will regulate the existence of Formula One in Singapore. Without the combined efforts of the Singaporean Government the initiation of F1 in this city would not have been possible. The Singapore Tourism Board, which is regulated by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore, was the prime body, which signed the contract with Bernie Ecclestone to start the race.
The Government also co-funded the Formula One event, paying a total of around $90 million SGD out of the total cost of $150 million SGD. Although the amount was quite large, the Government of Singapore deemed it necessary for the success of Formula one in Singapore. The Government is just one part of the stakeholder circle. Customer or more precisely the viewers are also an important factor of these F1 races. During the very first race of F1 in Singapore, a record 110,000 tickets were sold. The huge response from Singaporean viewers, shows that F1 does have the support of these stakeholders as well, which helped strengthen its footing in Singapore.
Motives Benefits
A country that had banned races such as F1 to eradicate reckless driving had to reintroduce it in the country to add more glitz and glamour to the economy, which was previously only known as a financial hub. The introduction of an international event meant that people from across the world would also start flocking to Singapore to get a glimpse of the world’s most happening race.
Outcome
The outcome from the introduction of Formula One in Singapore was mainly positive. To get a deeper insight into its impact, we have decided to analyze the outcome from 3 perspectives; economic, social and environmental.
Economic
The economy of any country consists of its land resources, human labor, capital and also the businesses. From a broader perspective, it means the interaction of all these resources in the economy. Singapore consists of a highly developed capitalist form of mixed economy which includes the state owning a significant stake in the firms totaling around 60% of the total economy. The economic prosperity of the firm is primarily attributable to the corruption free and the transparent trading procedures.
Singapore is known as one of the prime financial hub of the world. However, the pressing need to diversify their offerings compelled Singapore to welcome the hugely popular international event “Formula One” in Singapore. Singapore has already turned into a lucrative destination for foreign investors and therefore, it was not surprising for Formula One to enter this petite city. Formula One had entered Singapore in the year 2008, when the entire world was experiencing a credit crunch topped with a fatal recession. This did have an indirect impact on the Singapore Grand Prix too.
The main sponsor of F1 Singapore was Royal Bank of Scotland. Despite being a huge bank RBS, was also having a tough time in sponsoring the world’s biggest form of capital investment based sport. Singapore also suffered a minor contraction of their economy during the recession, which was around 0.8% during the year 2009. However, Singapore soon recovered from this economic setback in the next year with a GDP growth of 14.5%.
Social (Cultural)
Culture is an important aspect of any market that a business wishes to target. The population of Singapore is quite diverse, which currently stands at around 5.18 million. Out of this, 64 percent of the people are citizens while the rest are either permanent residents or are foreign workers. Apart from this around 11 million people transit through Singapore every year, therefore, this varied range of people means that the culture within Singapore is also quite diverse.
The diverse range of people means that the social and cultural aspects of Singapore are also quite diverse and therefore, F1 in Singapore must aim towards providing a comprehensive marketing scheme that attracts this diverse range of people. Although, Singapore consists of a diverse range of culturally different people, they are negligible tension despite significant differences in the caste, religion, ethnicity and language of the people residing there. This can be a positive side for Singapore and the F1 Singapore Grand Prix organizers. A unified block of people with good understanding of English meant that F1 could even use mass marketing for targeting the people in Singapore.
Environmental Impact
Significant levels of smoke and noise have always been the inevitable consequences of the F1 races and Singapore was not an exception either. From the very beginning such negative impacts were already apprehended by the government authorities and similar measures were also taken to reduce such impacts. The government also brought into attention the fact that F1 was originally based in Europe, one of the world’s most environmentally conscious areas (Valerie, 2007).
Another point they noted was that a lot of viewers of these races consider the smoke and loud noise as a vital form of entertainment. Therefore, such factors are also important for the success of such races. However, the Singaporean government has still taken steps to reduce the carbon emissions caused by such races. Indeed, they have aimed towards ensuring zero carbon footprints from the F1 Singapore Grand Prix. Apart from this, they have also undertaken research to find out whether they will be able to use bio fuel in any way to help reduce the level of pollution and other adverse affects that may be caused by this event.
The government had funded around 60% of the total cost of around $150 million. This shows that the government is also tried hard to bring this international event into Singapore.
Sustainability- triple bottom line
The F1 Singapore Grand Prix has made significant name over the last couple of years, since its beginning in 2008. The tremendous international popularity of the F1 event is sure to draw attention from viewers across the globe. The triple bottom line focuses on the people, profit and planet; which are considered to be the three prime pillars of this model. F1 Singapore Grand Prix is certainly moving ahead keeping all these three things in mind.
Recommendation for sustainability of the event
One of the prime factors of the sustainability of this event was the triple bottom line; which seems to have been properly maintained by Singapore. Once the people associated with the organization are satisfied and so are the viewers of the race; prolonged and successful continuation of this event is highly likely. In 2008, the event was already facing some financial problems due to the recession that began in that year. Therefore, the F1 Singapore Grand Prix must aim towards increasing their viewer base, if they intend to survive profitably in the long run.
Since, F1 Grand Prix is an international event; it will also help Singapore in attracting a lot more viewers and also tourists to the country. Hence, this race may have double benefits for Singapore; it will increase the condition of the economy and will also help promote Singapore as a suitable destination for international tourists. Such a focus will certainly help the event survive successfully in the long run.
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