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Scenario

Margaret is a 30-year old working

mother who juggles her fast-paced job

as an executive at an advertising firm

with taking care of her 10-year old son

and 8 year-old daughter. When she

does manage to find the time for leisure,

she puts her children’s entertainment

before her own, often taking them to

zoos, jungle gyms, and circuses. But

when it comes to her own hobbies,

Margaret is a sophisticated intellectual,

with heightened interests in ballet,

opera, theater, and the arts. Thus, she

craves a form of entertainment that

addresses both her and her children’s

desires.

One of her children’s favorite past times

is going to the circus, and so Margaret

takes them to local, three-ringed ones

or buys tickets for The Ringling Brothers’

shows when they are visiting her town.

The centerpieces for such traditional

circuses are the clowns and animals - in

other words, the focus is on slapstick fun

and cheap thrills that children will find

more entertaining than adults.

Margaret, on the other hand, values

different qualities in her entertainment:

a well-developed storyline, theatrical

artistry, impressive set and costume

design, state-of-the-art seating, etc. - in

short, a complete, customer-focused

event that allows patrons to undergo a

full-on experience of the senses.

When she learns that Cirque du Soleil’s

traveling show Ovo will be in town,

Margaret decides to buy tickets for

herself and her kids. Familiar with Cirque

du Soleil’s brand and its history of “circus

reinvention”1, she is at first hesitant to

What is it?

Cirque du Soleil describes itself as “a

major Quebec-based organization

providing high-quality artistic

entertainment.”3 Its business model, in

essence, is based on merging circus

with theater, with the target audience

belonging to the adult age group

(although many of its shows are also

perfect for the whole family). It has both

touring and resident shows (in Las Vegas

and Orlando). Sans animals and other

features of traditional three-ringed

circuses, Cirque du Soleil’s shows are

character-driven, employ the latest

advancements in stage and prop

technology, and star the best talent in

contortionism, gymnastics, etc.

Who’s doing it? Since its origins in the 1980s as The High

Heels Club founded by street performer

Giles Ste-Croix4, the company has

enjoyed great success in markets all

over the world, with earlier estimates for

2013 predicting nearly 15 million

audience members. Moreover, as an

example of “blue ocean”5 strategy,

Cirque du Soleil has established itself as

the leader in a previously undefined

industry - hence, its sustained

competitive advantage and little

competition. However, traditional

circuses - such as The Ringling Brothers -

have also made moves to address the

adult market; other rivals include

“Slava’s Snowshow”, Steve Synn’s “Le

Reve”, and shows by The Canadian

Cirque Eloize.

The company, as its focus has always

been about prioritizing the brand over

the product, does not operate in a

7 Things You Should Know About…

Cirque du Soleil

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vacuum; it has built a substantial

relationship with Las Vegas, for instance,

and has other partnerships in order to

support its diverse retail activities, record

label pursuits, and cruise line

performances. Other primary

stakeholders are the performers

themselves as well as the HR employees

necessary for acquiring and retaining

the best talent. It is of little wonder, then,

that Cirque du Soleil’s innovative model

requires the successful and regular

cultivation of a community culture

within its large organization.

How Does It Work?

Cirque du Soleil operates innovatively in

many areas. However, perhaps its

highest levels of innovativeness stem

from (a) its origins (its “reinvention” of

the circus); (b) its approach to creating

a show; and (c) the unique role of its

human resource department. As the first

of these three categories has already

been thoroughly described in previous

sections, we now turn to an

investigation of the last two.

Show Development

Rather than following Broadway’s

approach to show production, in which

the director commands activities and a

cast, storyline, musical score, etc. are

first set well before the night of the

performance, Cirque du Soleil treats

each show as a prototype which

evolves continuously as all stakeholders -

performers, management, designers,

etc. - provide their input and co-create

until the performance reaches [close-to]

perfection.6

The Importance of HR

The company’s HR department’s

responsibilities are not just limited to

talent acquisition and retention. They

also are an invaluable asset in show

take her children to one of its

performances, fearing that some

material would be too suggestive or

inappropriate for them. She visits the

company’s Help page and finds that

“…Ovo is meant to entertain the whole

family … moments of loud noises and

darkness used during the show may

frighten some children.”2 But Margaret

knows that this wouldn’t be an issue for

her kids, and so that Saturday, the three

of them attend Ovo.

To Margaret, the show’s plot,

“overflowing with contrasts”, was a

magical but well-crafted commentary

on the circle of life. To her children, who

marveled more at the colorful

costumes, the antics of the insect-

playing actors, and the gravity-defying

performances than at the story’s

deeper meanings, the show was a

success when it came to delighting their

imaginations.

Margaret now sees Cirque du Soleil as

her go-to source of entertainment. Its

relatively higher ticket prices aren’t a

concern for her - in fact, she realizes

that she’s actually saving money by

opting for a single show which

accommodates for both her and her

children’s interests, rather than having to

spend money separately for adult and

children forms of entertainment.

Moreover, Cirque’s unconventional and

highly thrilling shows satisfy all family

members’ entertainment cravings for a

much longer time; the result is an overall

drop in Margaret’s annual expenditure

on leisure activities.

Cirque du Soleil

4

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development: from accommodating

performers, treating injuries, overseeing

training camps, encouraging artistic

spontaneity, to scouting for talent at the

Olympics7, Cirque du Soleil’s success has

always relied heavily on its human

resource staff.

Why is it important?

Especially when it comes to well-

educated, working adults (who are the

primary consumers who’d be (a)

interested in shows which marry circus

and theater , and (b) able to afford

Cirque du Soleil’s ticket prices), finding

the right form of entertainment is a

challenge. Unlike children, who find their

thrills satisfied more easily by “empty”

forms of entertainment, adults value

excitement, complete sensual

submersion, and intellectual probing in

their sources of entertainment. Thus, by

utilizing what is already in existence -

that is, the circus and the theater -

Cirque du Soleil has redefined the

entertainment industry in an otherwise

saturated market And as adult

consumers are already primed to use

experience-sharing community

platforms and the Internet, the

company’s “Review” section for each

of its shows allows interested customers

to find the right show - family-oriented

vs. adult-only - for their rare leisure

opportunity.

What are the downsides?

Cirque du Soleil has faced several

lawsuits when it comes to performer

safety and health concerns. For

example, back in 2013, an aerialist fell to

her death during an especially

dangerous act8, causing critics to voice

their disapproval of the company

prioritizing showing performers as

superhuman before acknowledging

their physical limitations even more

loudly. Another common criticism is that

Cirque du Soleil, in its pursuit of

monopolizing the circus-theater industry,

has become “too big” to support its

original goal of upholding a strong

community culture within its

organization, resulting in a collapse of its

collaborative strategy of co-creation.

For instance, its dabbling in film (though

unsuccessful) and video games may

have diluted its overall brand image,

but the company continues to venture

into other sources of revenue.9 Finally,

constant innovation is expensive, and

with each of its shows costing around

$25 million to produce10, Cirque du Soleil

may continue to put more important

considerations - such as employee

compensation and protection - on the

backburner.

Where is it going?

In my opinion, as Cirque du Soleil has

built its business model upon continuous

innovation, the company will always be

introducing new and unconventional

forms of entertainment. Of course,

imitators will always be active in the

market space as well, especially when

we consider that substantial time has

elapsed since Cirque’s establishment. In

the future, the company will also have

to face the challenge of addressing

trends in ‘at-home’ forms of leisure

activities - in short, adult consumers are

favoring satisfying their entertainment

desires via tech-based products, such

as Netflix, Wii, and so on as they save

money and are more convenient.

Perhaps Cirque can continue along its

strategizing history of adopting to (rather

than fighting) consumer behavior

changes; it could, for instance,

introduce a Netflix channel which

features its best performances and

behind-the-scenes documentaries.

Cirque du Soleil

7 What are the implications

of broad diffusion and

adoption of this

innovation?

Certainly, if we see more adult

consumers turning to Cirque du Soleil as

their source of entertainment, we may

also witness the demise of other

entertainment forms, such as the ballet

and opera, especially if the latter two

are more expensive and do not offer

the high levels of unconventionality and

high-tech-infused performance magic

which Cirque du Soleil does. Cirque du

Soleil, in my opinion, has great potential

to usurp the more antiquated types of

adult entertainment because its shows

inherently require and deliver

innovation, two qualities which, in

today’s market, are invaluable assets to

any firm as they allow it to

communicate and reach target

consumers (most of whom are also

“innovatively-minded).

Cirque du Soleil

Anne Chen

Parsons the New School for Design

Innovation: Short Essay Assignment

Bibliography

1. Kim, W. Chan and Renée Mauborgne. “Blue Ocean Strategy.” Harvard Business Review. 2004.

Print. http://info.psu.edu.sa/psu/fnm/ymelhem/blue%20ocean%20str.v2.pdf.

2. Ovo: About the Show. Cirque du Soleil. 2014. Web. 20, Feb. 2014.

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/ovo/show/about.aspx.

3. Cirque du Soleil: About Us. Cirque du Soleil. 2014. Web. 20, Feb. 2014.

https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/home/about-us/at-a-glance.aspx.

4. Tischler, Linda. “Join the Circus.” Fast Company. 1, July. 2005. Web. 22, Feb. 2014.

http://www.fastcompany.com/53331/join-circus.

5. Kim, W. Chan and Renée Mauborgne. “Blue Ocean Strategy.” Harvard Business Review. 2004.

Print. http://info.psu.edu.sa/psu/fnm/ymelhem/blue%20ocean%20str.v2.pdf .

6. “Cirque du Soleil: Creating a Culture of Extraordinary Creativity.” Innovation Network. 1999.

Web. 20, Feb. 2014. http://innovationnetwork.biz/iu/cirque.html.

7. Tischler, Linda. “Join the Circus.” Fast Company. 1, July. 2005. Web. 22, Feb. 2014.

http://www.fastcompany.com/53331/join-circus.

8. Nestruck, Kelly. “Performer’s on-stage death adds to Cirque du Soleil’s troubles.” The Guardian.

8, July. 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/jul/09/on-stage-death-cirque-du-soileil.

9. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-sherman/premature-vultures-circle_b_2528070.html

10. Sherman, Howard. “Premature Vultures Circle Cirque du Soleil.” Huffington Post. 22, Jan. 2013.

Web. 24, Feb. 2014. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/is-the-sun-

going-down-on-cirque-du-soleil-8458109.html