A) The event that I have selected as my event is the HSBC Asian Five Nations also known as A5N rugby tournament. This event is new to Singapore as they have never qualified for it that is why I have chosen this as my selected event.

B) Another similar event that I have chosen is the Tri Nations Rugby tournament which by the name means it involves three countries that will be contesting for the coveted trophy and being crowned the Tri Nations champion. This competition is very competitive as it involves three of the best rugby nations contesting for the top spot. In terms of comparing its' marketing strategy, which are the 8'P's' basically Product, Partnership, Place, Promotion, Programming, Packaging, People, Price.

Product

The product that both event offers is definitely the excitement of the sport mainly rugby and the experience of watching the game at its highest and most competitive level. However comparing the A5N to the Tri Nations tournament, the Tri Nations is what stands out the most in terms of the product. Reasons include the excitement when the 3 nations which include New Zealand, Australia and South Africa respectively compete against each other for top honors and the fact that these nations are the pride and glory of Rugby itself shows what a quality product it possesess comparing to the A5N where these nations are only renown in Asian region the product is not as attractive thus in terms of the product both events offers the Tri Nations Tournament is definitely more successful.

Partnership

The Tri Nations tournament is organized by SANZAR, a consortium formed by the 3 countries rugby governing bodies. While the A5N is organized by HSBC bank which is the main sponsor which will be mentioned in Part D and also joining them in organizing these prestigious tournaments is the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) who is the governing body of Asia’s rugby. In terms of comparing their joint marketing, SANZAR is more successful in that factor as it draws a larger crowd compared to the joint marketing of ARFU and HSBC bank.

Place

In terms of the location, setting, atmosphere and destination features the Tri Nations stands out the most as both tournaments is based on a Home and Away format which means there is no fixed host country and comparing the stadiums of the countries in the Tri Nations to the A5N countries the maximum capacity of the New Zealand official stadium which is the Westpac Stadium in New Zealand is about 34,500 comparing to the Yio Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore where the maximum capacity is about 2000. The Westpac stadium also offers a wide range of Food and Beverage outlets while the other only has 1 food and beverage outlet during the whole tournament thus one would surely know which the tournament with the better location is. In terms of the setting and atmosphere the one at Yio Chu Kang cannot be matched to the one in the Tri Nations and even though i did not attend the Tri Nation tournament watching it live on television is already enough to show the excitement and atmosphere at the stadium whereas at the YCK stadium I felt the atmosphere was rather dead maybe due to the fact that the numbers were not as many compared to the other and i felt the excitement was not really there maybe it is because the game was mostly one-sided and many already expected the result.

Promotion
In terms of promotion such as advertising the fact that the advertisements of the Asian Five Nations Rugby tournament can only be seen in certain sports channels in the Starhub cable vision (SCV) for short shows that not much effort is being placed in advertising the tournament whereas for the other event which is the Tri Nations Rugby Tournament one can easily know that the tournament is fast arriving through their website and advertisements in all major sports channels which covers their tournament and all the daily updates are always available in sports website. Also to attract people to watch the tournament, not only through the word of mouth which is the main advertising factor for the Asian five Nation, they make use of public relations to get people to come and view the Tri Nation Tournaments that is being held.

Programming
Besides the fact that one can go and watch Singapore play another Asian country for e.g. Kazakhstan there are also other activities that one can go and enjoy such as there will be other matches going on before the main event like kids under the age of 10 years playing both contact rugby and touch rugby. For the event which I attended there are also other competitions like the Japan's association playing our local club Bedok Kings in a friendly tournament to entertain guests and the crowd before bringing us to the main event of the day. Whereas for the Tri Nations Tournament usually there will be entertainment by the cheerleaders of the various countries to hype up the crowd before the official match starts also on a side note other program which can be included is the performance by the team themselves for e.g. the Hakka dance that is usually performed by the All Blacks of New Zealand thus it can also be counted as a form of programming.

Packaging
In order to purchase the admission tickets to view the A5N one can go through the Singapore Rugby Union to purchase tickets to watch the Singapore Rugby Lions compete against other countries whereas for the Tri Nations Tournament one can go online to purchase these tickets mainly one website in which i will recommend is http://www.worldticketshop.com/ where they provide a wide range of seating and tickets for the various matches taking place during the Tri Nations Tournament.

People
During the A5N there were many people helping out in the event mostly made up of Singapore Rugby Union staff where they are in charge of ticketing at the door, admission for the guests and some of them were from e.g. "Ramly Burger, Guinness " which are in charge of providing the people with Food and Beverage and last but not least the merchandise shop was ran by the SRU staff of course as they played a huge role in organizing the area to the programs when Singapore host another country in our home ground. Another group of people were the audience present to support their various countries and I must admit there was a huge number of Singaporeans who turned up to support our country and when the match started even though we all knew that it will most likely be a one-sided match, we still showed our support by cheering our team on and most of the spectators are very lively and very much into the game and there were moments where the opposition team supporters will run around the stadium with their country's flag held high which invited a lot of jeering by our local supporters and I must admit it did show our country's spirit.

Price
For admission to watch the A5N tickets were priced at 25 dollars for adults and 10 dollars for students both at the door. There were special rates given to students who sign up for tickets under their various schools which will then be priced at 4 dollars per ticket. There was also merchandise available for sale at the booths at quite a hefty price for many but the fact that they do offer Singapore Rugby Lions’ jersey and the team shirt shows the support however another point to note is that there is no booth for the visiting team thus many will miss out opportunities to know more about the other country. Moving on to the other event, tickets are priced at 315,00 pounds to about 400 pounds and one is able to purchase season tickets for the country of their choice which will then cost a bomb but still they will not miss a match during the tournament.

C) The best practice for the Asian Five Nations Tournament is the price. Reasons to why it is the price is cause of the fact that people can pay at a price of 25 dollars for adults and for students at a very much lower price to experience Asian Rugby at its most competitive level as they will get to see Asian Powerhouses like the likes of Japan and Korea competing with other Asian countries for the right to call themselves Asia’s best rugby nation. Even though there is much still to improve in terms of the setting and location of the Tournament I honestly felt that for the first time they actually did put effort into making the Yio Chu Kang Stadium as grand as they could by putting up banners and boards to advertise the world of Rugby I feel it is only a matter of time before the A5N gets to the world stage. As compared to the Tri Nations Tournament, the price of the tickets is far more pricey than the other as it is known internationally thus bringing the price of the tickets up to such a price. Therefore the A5N would be a better choice.

The Tri Nations Tournament was better in the product compared to the Asian Five Nations as the experience and competitiveness the tournament offers is far more superior thus when given a choice one would surely choose to watch the Tri Nations Tournament and with such the way they attract the people through watching the past matches for e.g. old rivalries between countries like New Zealand and Australia is one factor that will attract people to the tournament.

D) The stakeholders in the event are the host organization which were of course HSBC bank and Asian Rugby Football Union. Next is the host community which is the Singapore Rugby Union, Singapore Tourism Board. Lastly sponsors are Guinness Beer, Kukri Sports and lastly Gilbert.

E) The main purpose of this event is to have continued growth in the competitiveness of the tournament and the spread of the game in the region. This is to allow people in the region to know more about Rugby and it is only through these tournaments held annually where people can truly experience Rugby at its highest level as they can support their own countries and also it is to allow the growth of Rugby in Asian regions so as to compete with other countries on an international scale. The other main purpose of the event is Rugby reflects many of the key principles by which HSBC runs its business worldwide: leadership, integrity, perseverance and courage. This not only advertise on the fact that HSBC is a truly trustworthy bank that people can count on it is also to reflect the true nature of Rugby as a sport.

F) The amount of tourism benefits received by the host city during the A5N tournament will not be a lot as reasons include the fact that it does not attract many people to come and watch the tournament and only a handful of supporters from other countries will come to support their country when they play Singapore and usually their numbers only come up to about 50-100 which is the most I have seen when I attended the event. There were other supporters present and the only reason to why they came to watch the match was due to the fact that they wanted to support their friends or family who are in the Singapore Rugby Lions team if weren’t for that they would not have attended it as it did not appeal to them.

Pictures taken during the Asian Five Nations

This was taken during the match against Kazakhstan, where John Forrester gets ready to take the penalty for Singapore.

This is part of the match where James Valentine tries to take down the Flanker of Kazakhstan

Our very own national players under pressure from the opposition after gaining possession of the ball.

Our own Singapore team, also known as the Singapore Rugby Lions facing the fans and singing the national anthem. I managed to get a close shot of them while at the back of the stadium.

The Kazakhstan players singing their very own national anthem while facing their side of the fans. Taken at the back of the stadium.

The part where the full-back skips past the Singapore winger before being taken down by John Forrester.