3b. Cirque du Soliel (9/16-9/17)

What We Did: The day before our trip to Cirque du Soleil, we had a brief presentation from the company manager of Amaluna, Franck Hanselman. He explained to us what makes Cirque du Soleil different from traditional circus shows. In under 20 years, Cirque du Soleil achieved a level of revenues that took world famous circuses like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey over 100 years to acquire. What’s even more remarkable is that Cirque emerged when the industry was already in a steady decline.

The industry was suffering because of the loss of audience. Children no longer wanted to go to circuses; they would rather play with their electronics instead. Live music and sporting events were drawing older crowds away. Additionally, opinions against the use of animals in shows were growing as a result of radical animal rights groups. All in all, the industry appeared very unattractive to any newcomer. The reason why Cirque du Soleil was able to win then was because it didn’t compete with Ringling Bros. or Barnum & Bailey. Instead, it created uncontested new market space that made the competition irrelevant and set it apart.

The main way Cirque did this was by shifting the buyer group from children to adults. Doing this opened up the possibilities of so many more facets to the circus that would simply not be interesting to younger audiences. Appealing to an older generation is advantageous in so many ways, mostly because older people generally have more money and can afford the pricy tickets. Cirque du Soleil combines so many areas of interest into one performance, which I think is another reason why it is so successful. The company appeals to much larger and diverse audiences. There is a mix of many cultures (clowns, acrobats, athletes, theater, musicians). All the tours are made up of four departments: company manager’s office, artistic, technical, operations. These four groups work together to put on a show almost every day of the year.

Guy Laliberté, CEO of Cirque du Soleil was a businessman waiting to happen. Yet another reason why his company is able to thrive is because there are so many changes from traditional circuses that allow for more money to be made. One example is the fact that there are no animals in Cirque shows. Not only is this more humane and drawing back in any animal rights audiences, it saves money, allowing for more artistic costumes. All performers in the shows speak the made-up language “Cirquish.” Because no one can understand it, it becomes a universal language. This lack of language barrier is what allowed Cirque to go global. There are 18 different traveling shows, including a The Beatles and Chris Angel themed ones. This adds variety, attracts different crowds, and creates the urge to come back and see more. Instead of being a three-ring circus like many others, Cirque du Soleil cuts down on costs by only having one. At the same time, this plays into the theatrical theme, allowing the audience to focus entirely on one act instead of multiple. The company is a private one so it avoids pressures to cut costs. Lastly, there are much fewer concessions at Cirque shows compared to others. The company wants you to be fully immersed in the performance and not be distracted.

The show Amaluna in particular is the story of a mysterious island and the Goddesses that rule it. One Goddess in particular had a coming of age ceremony in the show and was interrupted by a group of young men who land on the island. I felt empowered by the sense of girl power portrayed. The show had amazing costumes, acrobatics, singing and music that was stuck in my head for days afterward. This is something I would never say after leaving a Ringling Bros. circus. The Cirque du Soleil tent also smelled so good. That’s another thing I wouldn’t say after leaving a Ringling Bros. circus.

Key Takeaways and Future Applications: I thought the guest speaker gave a very well rounded presentation on his company, emphasizing the ways Guy Laliberté strayed from the status quo of conventional circus norms when forming his company. Laliberté was the definition of a risk taker, starting with the ejection of animals from his shows. It was unknown whether anybody would even bother coming if there weren’t dancing bears or lion tamers.

Cirque du Soleil is clearly a blue ocean strategy because of its emergence into an entirely new market. I decided I would try to apply it to the four actions framework as practice.

Eliminate:

• Star performers
• Animal acts
• Aisle concessions
• Multiple show arenas

Create:

• Themes
• Refined environment
• Older audience
• Multiple productions
• Artistic music and dance

Reduce: 

• Fun and humor
• Thrill and danger

Raise: 

• Unique venues
• Better costumes and atmosphere
• Attention to performance

From Hanselman I learned about the company’s mission statement: to invoke the imagination, provoke the senses, and evoke the emotions of people around the world. This was what won me over. I respect Guy Laliberté because his goal was never to make money, it was to touch people somehow. The culture of Cirque du Soleil revolves around stimulating wonder in others. This was evident through our guest speaker’s enthusiasm and passion for the show Amaluna.

Through the show the main idea that stood out to me was passion. I was in awe at the perfection of the performance in every aspect. I couldn’t help but think about all the hard work that went into this show, not even just from the performers but also from the whole team! Permanent shows usually have 5-6 shows a week, every week of the year. They wouldn’t be working this hard if they weren’t dedicated to touching others through performance.