Cirque du Soleil – Redefining the Circus
How a Street Performer Troupe Created a Global Entertainment Empire—Without Competing in the Circus.
From Following Book
Industry Context
In the early 1980s, the circus industry was in steep decline. Traditional circuses like Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey competed primarily on animal acts, star performers, and elaborate three-ring productions. The target audience was families with children, and the overall value proposition was aging. At the same time, costs were rising—especially for animal care and talent—while revenue growth was flat or negative. The entire industry was caught in a red ocean: high competition, shrinking demand, and low differentiation.
Strategic Move
Founded in 1984 by a group of street performers in Quebec, Cirque du Soleil didn’t try to compete within the existing rules of the circus. Instead, it created a blue ocean by fundamentally redefining what a circus could be.
Using the Four Actions Framework, Cirque du Soleil applied value innovation:
Eliminated: Cost-intensive elements like animal acts and star performers
Reduced: Traditional circus humor, multiple show arenas (three rings)
Raised: Artistic music scores, refined stage production, visual storytelling
Created: A theatrical narrative, original scores, abstract themes, and a sophisticated ambiance that blended dance, acrobatics, and drama
This repositioned the offering away from children and toward a new, affluent adult audience—often the same people who would attend Broadway shows or opera, not traditional circuses.
Key Frameworks Applied
Strategy Canvas: Cirque’s value curve deviated sharply from traditional players. Where the rest of the industry clustered around similar features (animals, humor, cheap tickets), Cirque stood apart with theater-style storytelling, artistic sophistication, and premium pricing.
Six Paths Framework: It looked beyond traditional circus competitors by borrowing elements from theater, ballet, and music performances—shifting both the buyer group and emotional appeal.
Buyer Utility: Adults, including corporate clients, were willing to pay several times more for a performance that offered cultural depth and entertainment value without the ethical controversies or sensory overload of a traditional circus.
Results
Cirque du Soleil didn’t just take market share from circuses—it created a new market space entirely. By 2004 (less than 20 years after its founding), it had generated revenues of over $550 million, exceeded the performance attendance of Ringling Bros., and achieved a level of global recognition that few live entertainment brands had matched.
Crucially, this success wasn’t driven by technology or gimmickry. It was the result of reconstructing market boundaries through strategic design and disciplined execution. It exemplified _Blue Ocean Strategy_’s core principle: simultaneously pursue differentiation and low cost to unlock new demand.
Why It Matters
Cirque du Soleil proves that even in stagnant, declining industries, it’s possible to create explosive growth—not by fighting harder, but by changing the game. Its success came not from better execution of an old model, but from reframing what a “circus” could be and for whom it was designed.