Singapore Writers Festival’s Mistake – Focusing On The Tools, Not The Goals
October 2, 2009 – 9:10 am | by Daryl TayThe Singapore Writers Festival is back and the big news was that they were bringing in Neil Gaiman. After continually hearing about it and repeatedly checking their website, there was no mention of Neil until one day it was all over the social media channels that tickets had run out and were only announced on Twitter (to an audience of 170+) as opposed to their Facebook group (700+) or even their mailing list.
Understandably, this led to confusion, disappointment and outrage all over the Facebook group, Facebook event page and Twitter:
I believe the organisers made one of the biggest mistakes there is to be made in social media: focusing on the tools, platforms and technology. They probably were aware that “Facebook” and “Twitter” were the latest buzzwords in town and decided to use them exclusively instead of their website or even email communications.
And even then, I’d be hard pressed to say they used them well. There’s little to no response to the upset people above on the channels and to put it plainly, it seems like the organisers intend to ignore them.
At the end of the day, we have to realise social channels is to be used in conjunction with existing channels, not instead of. If and when they are brought into the marketing or communications plan, there should be a solid strategy or goal behind it, not just using the tools for the sake of it.
Perhaps the Singapore Writers Festival organisers should have taken a page out of the British Council’s book since they organised it brilliantly when Neil was last down a few years ago.
For a completely different case study, check out Jonathan Wong’s post on Anime Festival Asia
8 Responses to “Singapore Writers Festival’s Mistake – Focusing On The Tools, Not The Goals”
By Isman Tanuri on Oct 3, 2009 | Reply
Another great post, a current and relevant case study. With the availability of all these tools, it is much more crucial and essential that coordination becomes central in any strategy or campaign. The marketers for the Singapore Writer’s Festival should really get back to the basics of integrated marcoms and see how all these tools and messages should be unified seamlessly. Thanks for sharing, Daryl!
By Jonathan Wong on Oct 4, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the mention, Daryl.
Yeah, and I agree that many folks today only focus on the hot and new platforms, and not necessarily think about how it will actually help them solve their problems.
Good case study.
By matt on Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
my beef with the SWF is that only 4 approved official languages apply.
By Pamela on Nov 10, 2009 | Reply
You hit the nail on the head with this, it’s a great case study of how social media is not about using a set of tools, but to fit the tools into an overall strategy. Thanks for sharing this!
By Daryl Tay on Nov 10, 2009 | Reply
@Pamela: Thank you! Glad you liked it and found it of value.