Marketing feasibility study

Sensation in Singapore


Table of Contents


1. Executive summary

Sensation White is a unique dance event created by the Dutch promoter ID&T, incorporating music from different genres such as house, electro, techno and trance. The word “white” is referring to the dress code of the event, where crowds of up to 50.000 people gather to watch their favourite DJs while dancing the night away. It first took place in Amsterdam in year 2000, but has now spread to 17 other countries in the world including Australia, where Melbourne got to host a Sensation party last New Years Eve. The aim of this report was to create a marketing plan for a Sensation White event in Singapore, the first in Asia ever, and determine whether it would be feasible or not.  

Singapore was found to have a prime macro-economic environment for investment due to its economic and political stability and good location in South East Asia. Potential problems by holding an event like this in Singapore was found to be the strict laws that applies to drug abuse and littering, things that are normally associated with dance events. Unless excessive care is taken, Sensation can be hold liable for the misbehaviour of their patrons.

There is very little direct competition to an event like Sensation in Singapore (and in the rest of the region), mainly due to its uniqueness. The target market to aim for is people aged between 18-35 in Singapore, including the many tourists, and to some extent also the neighbouring countries with Malaysia being the most important.

As Sensation will be a one-off, or possibly an annual event, it is believed that the most convenient market entry strategy for ID&T is to directly export their event to Singapore by using local providers to manage the events operations. The Sensation White brand is thought to be strong enough to be successful in Asia, and because it is supposed to be a similar experience wherever it is held, it was decided not to change the concept it in any particular way to better suit the Singaporean market. The event is planned to take place on the 13th of July 2010 in the Singapore Indoor Stadium (SIS), who holds a maximum capacity of up to 30.000 people.

In order to promote an event like Sensation, a wide combination of advertising, sales promotion, PR, and personal selling will be employed. Tours featuring headlining DJs and street promotion by models are other innovative ways of increasing the hype that is needed to sell out the event.

The profit and costs estimation together with ticket prices are based on the Sensation event that took place in Melbourne last New Years Eve. If the costs do not exceed the amount of SGD 2.753.705, a profit of at least SGD 1.837.846 from ticket sales alone will be realised.


2. Introduction to Sensation White

There are few events as widely well known as Sensation in the world.  With events occurring on a near monthly basis across 17 different countries, it is apparent that this is a brand that is both established and successful.  The company and product are both simple in concept, however masterful in design. With a goal of combining the world’s greatest DJs with the fantastic spectacle of a ‘Cirque du Soleil’ show, Sensation delivers a dance event like no other. As an event, Sensation incorporates techno, house, and trance music with fantastic stage design and performance, typically accompanied by complex laser showers and fireworks (Sensation 2009).

Sensation is an event, which is organised by ID&T, the Dutch event promoter behind other mega dance festivals including BLACK, Mysteryland, Thunderdome, and TranceEnergy (ID&T 2009). Currently, ID&T is the largest entertainment promoter in the Netherlands, and Sensation is their flagship event, attracting crowds of up to 50,000 people. Not only are this company’s productions nearly unparalleled in scale, but also in quality. Recently ID&T was named Best event Promoter at the Winter Music Conference, which is regarded as the flagship awards gathering for the dance music industry (Winter Music Conference 2009).

As an overview, ID&T’s product Sensation is an established brand and event with a global following. The company itself is stable even in these turbulent economic times due to its multiple events and loyal consumer base. It is not uncommon to hear of people travelling from other countries in order to attend an event such as Sensation. The event itself has a truly enviable reputation and as such it is safe to assume that regardless of world location, it will be successful.

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3. Macro-environment: Singapore

According to World Bank researchers Singapore has consistently been ranked as one of the best-run countries and best locations in the world to do business (PRlog 2007). Its conducive business environment is attributable to its ‘stability and good governance, a progressive trade policy inviting foreign investment, a good education system with a highly-skilled multi-lingual workforce, transparent and efficient authorities, one of the lowest crime rates in the world, an excellent infrastructure and global connectivity’ (Unger 2008). Having a well developed, westernised and almost 100% urbanised culture has made Singapore City the location of choice for a ...

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