Out of Home Advertising - Singapore Sports Council for Sports Safety

Banners at East Coast Park 1

The colourful and bright banners caught my attention while I was inline skating at East Coast Park some weekends earlier. Vividly coloured signage in red, blue, yellow and green lined the lampposts as I cruised down the park. They were definitely hard to miss!  

These banners bore messages like, 'Drink adequate fluid to prevent dehydration', 'Expect the unexpected. Gear up for safety', 'Cycle safe: wear a helmet' and 'Warm up and stretch before sports participation'. On a separate outing, I chanced upon a series of similar banners at Bishan Park. Piqued by my own curiosity, I later learned that these streamers were put out by the Singapore Sports Council’s Sports Safety Division (SSY) at all public recreational spaces, to educate the public on the importance of sports safety.

Banners at Bishan Park

The locations where these banners were put up were most appropriate.  Community parks are open arenas for the public to partake in recreational sports. Human traffic at the parks is high, and having these banners placed there is ideal.  Parks, being popular venues for the individual and families, offer an extensive variety of activities that range from walking to cycling, to inline skating, various water activities, and even barbecuing.  These parks are visited by a huge amount of people daily, and from all walks of life.  The human flow is exceptionally high over the weekends and holidays when families rent chalets or camp out in these recreational areas! 

The fact that the public has free access to these parks and that they are choice destinations for Singaporeans and the general public alike to recreate, provides an excellent platform for awareness creation and communication outreach on key and important messages. The messages on these banners, because of the suitability of the advertising location, serve as constant reminders to all on the significance of safety in sports – have fun and be protected.

Banners at East Coast Park 2

The advertisements look fun, vibrant and energetic, which is apt for the setting and background in which they are erected.  These banners are printed in eye-catching, loud and bold colours, which scream for attention.  The wordings are simple and easily comprehensible and the font size used is appropriate for the medium, the form of advertising and the message it wants to bring across – the words are big and readable even at a distance. The graphics used are suitable too, as it illustrates the key points of the message.  That the banners of similar messages are put up at every other lamppost, especially along the popular routes, strengthens the intention of the safety campaign.  It also aims to reach out to all users who may start their activities at different points of the park. With the constant safety reminders at every turn, the public are, in a way, influenced and educated on the importance of recreating sensibly. These advertisements being hung on the streetlamps, coupled with the application of bright primary colours and the right font size used, effortlessly grabs the interest of the park goers walking or skating alongside these lampposts. The effective exploitation of repetitive banners raised makes it possible for the public to internalise the message. 

The other outdoor advertising nearby are of event specific sporting competitions. The upcoming big event is the SAFRA Quadthlon 2010 and the promotional posters, banners and streamers are all over East Coast Park.  There is a seamless connection between the two advertisements – while one is marketing and generating publicity for the event and encouraging participation, the other is promoting the safety and well-being while engaging in the activity.  These two ads compliment each other in covering all aspects of the sport.

Image Source: National Parks Board

http://www.nparks.gov.sg/cms/docs/parks/ecp_brochure.pdf

As Singapore evolves into a global city, so does the sporting community.  Sports reap many benefits, both socially and economically.  Singapore was recently awarded second place as the ‘Ultimate Sports City’, just after Melbourne.  At home, the Health Promotion Board is actively encouraging healthy and active living, and sports is one of the main means towards achieving this goal. Over the years, the local sports scene has grown exponentially – the first Youth Olympic Games will be inaugurated in Singapore in mid-August 2010. Come September 2010, it will be the third year of hosting the Formula 1 Night Race - Singapore Grand Prix, the first of its kind city night race.  The number of people participating in the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, from a humble participant rate of 6,000 in 2002 to 50,000 registrants last year. Singapore is moving towards providing world-class facilities for her people to enjoy sports; for example, the Sports Hub where general mainstream sports activities is held.  She also offers recreation outlets for niche activities, like extreme sports.

Singapore Sports Council (SSC) is a Statutory Board; their campaigns and advertisements precede and respond to the needs of her citizens and incidents that happen.  In moving towards the recommended active lifestyle, so must the need for emphasis on awareness and education of safety in sports. SSC has successfully achieved their goal in the terms of their strategic advertisement placement and the magnitude of audiences that it reaches.

The advantages of these out of home advertisements remind people of the things they tend to forget or take for granted.  In this case, it is all about the common sense of taking care of yourself while playing and having fun.  The benefits of such advertisements is that it allows the medium to reach out to as many people as possible when they are outdoors, at minimal costs and in the least amount of time because they are usually hard to ignore and are larger than life.  

In short, as long as you have made a blip on someone’s radar, the advertising has been effective!

To Blog Or Not to Blog... Decisions, decisions...

Prior to this assignment, I was never interested in getting myself a blog or linked to the cyber world.  I actually had to be coerced by friends to join Facebook.  This is because I was never keen on the idea of putting my thoughts and feelings out there.  And well, mostly, I was not too keen in reading about someone else's angst-ridden existence.  The whole thing, sounds a little scary to me.  

In the course of this assignment, I came to realise that blogging is not what I had thought it was.  It is definitely much easier than I had imagined.  It carries so much potential, it is a fountain of knowledge waiting to be tapped.  Eventually, I came to learn a great deal about how the media environment changed within the span of 10 years - from the early creation of internet, to the addition of new pages, and to new media.   

A blog, to me, no longer means a collection of mundane, dispirited comments and experiences from friends, but rather, a collection of information from all over.  People who have a stand, a voice, an adventurous spirit, believes in sharing and receiving in return and do not believe in boundaries when it comes to communication.      


Image Source: Scienceblogs.com

Issues in Publication - Print vs. Online (Cost & Revenue)

Issue: Cost & Revenue 
- Print 

The cost of print media is high and makes it expensive is because of the physical and tangible aspects of the periodical.  On top of this, the other factors to consider are, ink, paper, binding, distribution and mailing costs. 

As print media costs more to product than online, there is a high possibility that the revenue will also be higher than online media, bearing in mind that the number of pages that will be printed in a print magazine or periodical is determined by the number of advertisements the publisher manages to rake in. 

- Online  
Online publishings are so much cheaper to produce and maintain since there are no printing, paper, ink, binding and distribution costs involved. 

Unlike print media, the revenue raked in would be considerably lower. 

Both online and print publishings are complimentary to each other.  In this age and day, one cannot survive without the other as they each have their own purposes and functions.  Maybe, the most important thing to note is that, technology is ever-evolving, and publishers will need to be on top of the latest and most current innovation in order to keep up with the changing times. 

Issues in Publication - Print vs. Online (Audience)

Issue: Audience 
- Print 

Print magazines have a consistent following who will purchase or subscribe to the magazine or publication. Some of their demographic readers pick up the product if the content catches their eyes, this means they have little control over the content see since the information they see is through the cover lines and cover photos. 

- Online  
Online magazines have a wider range of audience, probably from an eclectic mix.  Many of their audiences stumble into their sites due to the results of search engines that brings them to the related websites.  Due to this, online periodicals would naturally amass a larger following due to the wider extent of audiences it can reach.  The Internet, being a world wide resource, reaches people internationally and globally. 

Issues in Publication - Print vs. Online (Function)

Issue: Function 

- Print 

Print publications are sometimes considered "luxury" items.  Readers can take their time to go through the publication, read and re-read it over again.  Because the print issue is tangible, it is mobile and can follow you everywhere.  Imagine running a long, hot bath, relaxing into it and poring over a favourite book or magazine.  An article in print, reiterating Parker's (2003 p. 270) argument, would also cause less fatigue and pain on the reader's eyes, as compared to a web article.  

- Online
The biggest restriction of online publication is that it needs Internet connectivity before the reader can access the information.  Without it, an online publication is as good as not having it at all.  Because it is wired to the Internet, useless information can be filtered out, therefore retrieving only the necessary details.  This is the biggest advantage of online publications.

When all requirements are met, online publications proves to be practical, interactive, convenient and cheap. 


References:

Parker , RC 2003, Looking good in print, Paraglyph Press, Scottsdale, Ariz. 

Issues in Publication - Print vs. Online (Frequency of issues)

Besides the design issues that we have previously discussed, the battle between print and online publishing is never-ending. 

Each has got very valid and strong points to sustain its survival and viability. We will be discussing these print and online related issues over the next few posts. 

Issue: Frequency of publications 
- Print 

Because of the logistics, print magazines usually have a longer gap between each issues.  Time needs to be factored in for the layout planning, garnering of advertising revenue to justify the number of pages, the printing process and eventually the delivery of distribution.   

The content of print media do not get updated until the next issue, which can be either on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.  As such, news and information for readers of print publications will always be late.

- Online  
Online magazines, however, needs to be updated frequently to keep readers interested and increase their traffic flow.  Because updates can be posted every minute, every hour, they keep their readers well-informed and abreast of what is happening. 

New Forms of Media Publishing

As we push into a another decade of the millennium, the need for newer forms of technology, for example, publishing and media, becomes ever apparent. Most people have become familiar with the uses of the Internet. With this advancement, people begin to reply less on the more traditional forms for media, namely print and broadcasting.  A good example is the shift from printed newspapers to the online edition.  The Straits Times from Singapore Press Holdings created The Straits Times Interactive website to keep up with technology.  Even the broadcasting media has joined the online bandwagon some years back, with the introduction of Channel NewAsia.     

The Internet has now become a popular alternative as new forms of publishing.  Because of its accessibility and size of the global audience, companies are tapped on the Internet's vast resources to reach their targeted demographics. 

Like blogs, newspapers, books, films and television series can now be accessed online through their own websites.  And this works because it allows their audience to interact with them on a personal level. 

The recent years saw the birth of some new media, like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Friendster, YouTube, podcasts and weblogs.  All these media have found their niche in the cyber sphere.  While some of these platforms are reaching the end of their rope, there will be some that will flourish and reach greater heights.

In the last year or two, the world has witness yet another form of publishing.  This form of publishing is generated by Twitter feeds.  The content of the books does not change, but the context in which it is interpreted and understood does.



Arguably, this is perhaps the most novel form of publishing to date. At this point, we are unable how feasible this new platform is, but one thing is certain; that the Internet, or World Wide Web, has taken to world by storm and there is no denying of its power and usefulness.


References: 

YouTube, viewed 27 May, 2010,