(Note: Viewpoint is a critical part of my Breakthrough Marketing Framework, to learn more about how it fits with Value and Velocity to create impact and breakthrough, read this post…Ken )
Walking across the Santa Monica pier, my senses rose to an unusually high level. The misty cool evening woke me up after a dinner with great food, new friends and fine wine. As we approached the lit up big top, I was immediately transported to the thrilling milieu of the circus. Thoughts of lions, tigers, tight rope walkers and clowns immediately flashed through my mind. It was at once familiar as well as seductive.
Passing the ticket taker and entering the tent, the energy, anticipation and excitement was palpable. And while the concession and souvenir stands were not much different than what you would see at any circus, something in the air said different, something said Cirque Du Soleil. Maybe it was the accents and slightly exotic appearance of the servers, register clerks and program sellers. Maybe it was the colors and smells, maybe it was magic. I’m not sure, but that’s OK, I’d already begun to move from the circus of my youth to the Cirque experience.
Entering and moving to our seats, we stared at a giant, translucent egg. Ova, the name of the show, was center stage. Next a team of exterminators entered the aisles…they began slowly pursuing butterfly and other assorted creatures. Exit the exterminators and enter into the aisles giant crickets as a few fleas and spiders began to climb 8 foot flower stems on the stage. All of this, while the big top was still less than full, and patrons continue to be seated. The stage still covered by the giant egg, remained a bit of a mystery
The stage was set, this was not your Ringling Brothers circus, it was a giant insect egg, hiding a new and exciting world yet to be discovered. The stage was set, I was ready to be amazed.
In its 25th year of thrilling audiences, Cirque has mastered the art, among many others, of creating a world view, or viewpoint, that transports audiences to new worlds, making them ready to be thrilled. By the time the show opens, you are already a raving fan.
Viewpoint sets the stage, and gets us ready to engage our hearts and minds in the experience to come. By building on the familiar, and transforming it into a new environment, Cirque Du Soleil does what ever marketer dreams of, it creates the perfect playing field from which to deliver against it promise to entertain and amaze.