Promoting The Artground to artists and relevant stakeholders

The Artground is keen to work with the team to create video content with the intention to expand The Artground’s brand awareness and community outreach. As videos are the leading form of media that drives engagement, it is the medium that will easily achieve brand awareness. The videos can also be put across all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and their website. 

The LASALLE team observed that there was an opportunity for higher social media engagement on TAG's social media sites. With the pandemic affecting the live show capacity aspect of TAG's programmes, having videos that showcase what TAG has to offer as well as what has been done in the space would potentially build awareness for what TAG is capable of.

"We have been working with Nana and Jasmine over these past few months, to create brand awareness videos for The Artground. With two of her teammates leaving the programme mid-way, both Nana and Jasmine showed resilience in continuing the project. They learnt how to create, shoot, edit the videos initially planned even though the execution was meant to be done by the others. They not only learnt how to create content, they also applied their arts management skills which they clearly showed in how they communicated with us, both online and onsite, and with each other. With this we are lucky to go through this journey with them and to see them grow."

- Team at The Artground

Jasmine Khaliesah - Director of Photography

• Leading the storyboarding process in partnership with the Production Director
• Principal camera operator, supervising filming process
• Working collaboratively with Production Director to bring creative vision

Nurul Baiyina Z (Nana) - Communications Executive

• Primary channel of communication with The Artground
• Responsible for sourcing primary and secondary research data
• Providing regular updates to stakeholders (supervisors, lecturers, industry partners) involved in the project

Nur Afiqah Hairon - Producer Director (PD) : Active from Phase 1 - Phase 2

• Providing direction and supervision in the shooting and production process
• Conceptualising and communicating ideas in discussions with the team
• Overseeing the filming process in the production

Nicolle Chua - Head Editor : Active from Phase 1 - Phase 2

• Managing camera footage, dialogue, sound effects and graphics
• Selecting and shortlisting clips/cuts from the filming process and the company's archive
• Primary decision maker on how final video product will look like

Goals

The project aims to expand the brand awareness and community outreach of TAG. 

Objectives

The objective is to create four videos that can convey their goals as an arts organisation to relevant stakeholders in a succinct manner. We are to create content that best represents TAG and reaches out to families with young children, as well as artists keen on working with young audiences.

Phase 1: Pre-production (Aug - Nov 2021) 

• Preparing shot lists for videos
• Sourcing for talents 
• Listing resources for contribution by TAG 

Phase 2: Production (Dec 2021 - Jan 2022)

• Execute filming process within TAG, following updated Safety Management Measures (SMM)
• Follow instructions and call schedule as provided by TAG
• Update TAG on status and progress moving forward

Phase 3: Post-production and reflection (Jan - April 2022)

• Begin editing process, including the selection of shots, archival videos, and relevant details. 
• Work closely with TAG in order to execute their vision of the videos
• Continue working on documentation and preparation for the seminar presentation and the conclusion of the project.

In order to gain insights on TAG as an organisation, our team utilised the following methodologies:

1. Interviews with the TAG team (Kimi Vynan)
   • After several discussions to scrutinise the project brief given by TAG, we decided to proceed with an interview with a member of TAG in order to gain a greater understanding of their desired outcomes for the project. We met with Kimi Vynan, a member of the Programmes and Marketing team, and sat down for an interview together.
2. Analysis of TAG’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT)
   • Our project supervisor Jason recommended for us to conduct a SWOT analysis of TAG in order for us to supplement the knowledge that we have gained about their organization. Our team agreed and each member took charge of one aspect to research. These insights can be accessed in the SWOT analysis section of this webpage.
3. Access to The Artground Ecology
   • After browsing through several Instagram accounts affiliated with TAG, we found out that there was a research paper recently published by researchers from the National Institute of Education (NIE) about TAG’s efforts as an arts organisation. The paper details several of TAG’s artist capability development programmes, as well as details of their artists’ journey in creating the visual arts spaces. These information were pertinent for us to gain insight necessary for the artist-facing video, hence we reached out to Kimi as well as LASALLE’s library, in order to gain access to this research paper. 

Based on the abovementioned methodologies, here are some of the key insights we have gathered: 

• Videos will be used to increase brand awareness
  • One of the key insights we gained from the interview with Kimi was how the videos were intended not to be used as a marketing tool, but to increase awareness of TAG’s efforts as an arts organization. It helped us to adjust our direction in the video pre-production phase to focus more on achieving soft objectives rather than to chase after tangible goals. 
• Greater awareness of TAG's capability development programmes
  • Through analysing insights from The Artground Ecology, we were also able to gain a greater awareness of the different capability development programmes that TAG has to offer. For example, their Exposure, Participate, Innovate and Create (EPIC) programme is held annually. While it typically takes place in locations such as Edinburgh and Melbourne, the 2020 iteration of the programme was online due to the pandemic situation. TAG also offers other development opportunities for their artists in collaboration with overseas partners, such as Sensorium Theatre from Perth. These insights helped us to gain context when reviewing the artist interviews we conducted, and allowed us to understand which programmes should be highlighted in our videos.

Project deliverables

After several discussions with TAG, we have arrived to a final agreement of four videos for this project, as specified below: 

• Artist video
  • 1. NAC version (55 mins) 
  • 2. TAG version (15 mins)
    • TAG social media version (2 mins) 
• Brand story (3 mins) 

Outputs

You can find the brand story conceptualised for this project here: TAG’s Brand Story

In order to capture TAG’s essence as an organisation, we carried out a SWOT analysis to position them within the arts sector in Singapore. 

STRENGTHS

• TAG is the pioneer children's art centre in Singapore.
• For artists: they have capability development programmes, and provide a platform to showcase their works for children
• Located within Goodman Arts Centre, which positions them in a place surrounded by artists.

WEAKNESSES

• TAG lacks brand awareness and has weak marketing strategies
• Based on the AIDA framework, 
  • Attention - There is no strong imagery of TAG, unable to visualise TAG as a brand
  • Interest - Although the programmes are exciting and generate interest by itself, the lack of brand awareness and the vague marketing goals makes it difficult to attract potential visitors.
  • Desire - Weak marketing strategies and audience engagement = no emotional connection with visitors. 
  • Action - Location is slightly inconvenient via public transport

OPPORTUNITIES

Social media engagement

• Captions can be more concise
• Infographics can be used to disseminate information that’s visually appealing
• Functions of Instagram stories such as ‘question boxes’ can build a sense of community with TAG.

New technology

• Virtual tours via the Google Tour Creator website.
  • Creating virtual tours of their space can allow audiences to explore the space without being there physically
• Augmented reality (AR)
  • They can create AR filters on social media apps to bring features of their arts space to life. 

THREATS

Sustainability

• TAG is a non-profit company that relies solely on donations and grants and will not be able to continue operating otherwise. 

Competitors

• National Gallery’s Keppel Centre for Arts Education
  • As this centre is a part of National Gallery, TAG is a smaller brand and company when compared to them.
  • They also create art spaces similar to TAG, and also have studios and activity areas for programmes and workshops.