Cirque du Soleil: trying to measure awe

Case study · Marketing 465 · Human-Centered Marketing

Cirque du Soleil sells a feeling, so in 2018 it set out to study that feeling directly, using brain sensors in its audience to find the moments that create awe.

The situation

Cirque du Soleil does not sell seats. It sells awe. Some fans return again and again. Fast Company profiled Itsuko Noto, a fan from Japan who travels to Las Vegas at least twice a year and has seen “O” at the Bellagio well over 100 times. “I feel the tears welling up at the end of the show every single time,” she said.

“O” opened in Las Vegas in 1998. In 2018, Cirque’s 35th anniversary year, the company wanted to understand what exactly brings fans like Noto back.

The challenge

Cirque had measured fan satisfaction for decades, but the tools missed the emotion itself. Survey word clouds were full of words like “awesome,” which says little about what happened in the moment, according to Fast Company.

There was also a relevance problem. A Young & Rubicam study found Cirque highly differentiated but low in relevance, especially among millennials. Its shows run in only about 15 cities and are not widely available on TV or online, so the company depends on live emotion to build loyalty.

What they did

Cirque partnered with the Lab of Misfits, a New York neuroscience and design studio led by neuroscientist Beau Lotto. In late April 2018 the team studied audiences at “O” in Las Vegas.

• About 60 audience members wore EEG caps that recorded brain activity during the show (Live Science, 2018).
• In total, 280 audience members across 10 performances took part through perception and psychology tests before and after the show, or by reporting their feelings of awe on iPads during it (Cirque du Soleil, 2018).
• Researchers placed prompts at moments they expected to be more or less awe-inspiring, then used custom AI software to match brain patterns to what people said they felt.
• As a comparison, the team ran a parallel study at a small New York show known for joy but not awe (Fast Company, 2018).

What happened

Cirque and the Lab of Misfits presented the findings in New York in November 2018. They reported distinct “awe signatures” in brain waves, linked to 23 awe moments in the show.

• Awe pulled attention away from distracting thoughts and toward what was happening on stage (Cirque du Soleil, 2018).
• Awe was linked to more openness to new experiences, more empathy, and more tolerance for risk and uncertainty (Cirque du Soleil, 2018).
• Chief Marketing and Experience Officer Kristina Heney said the study “helped us understand the intricacies of the emotional response we trigger in our audience.”

Why it worked

Cirque treated emotion as something it could study and design for, not just hope for. It started with real people, including its most devoted fan, and asked what they actually felt. Then it looked for the specific moments that created that feeling.

This is human-centered marketing at its core. Instead of asking what the company wanted to say, Cirque asked what the audience experienced and where. That kind of insight can guide show design, trailers and ads that promise the feeling the brand actually delivers.

Where it gets complicated

The science had limits. Live Science reported that the findings had not been peer reviewed when they were announced. EEG gives a broad picture of brain activity, not a precise map, and awe is hard to define. One participant told Fast Company that being wired up made it “a little harder to have actual expressive feelings,” which is a reminder that measuring an emotion can change it.

Research was also a commercial partnership and a public relations story, and the public sources do not show exactly how Cirque changed its shows as a result. Insight alone does not protect a business. In June 2020, after the pandemic forced it to close every show, Cirque filed for creditor protection in Canada and terminated about 3,480 furloughed employees (Pollstar, 2020).

The marketing principle

Emotional connection can be studied and designed for, not just hoped for. Start with the people who love you most, find the moments that create the feeling, and build around them. Then be honest about what your measurement can and cannot prove.

Sources

• Cirque du Soleil Unlocks the Mysteries of Awe, Cirque du Soleil (2018)
• This is your brain on Cirque du Soleil, Fast Company (2018)
• Here’s Your Brain on Cirque du Soleil: Performers Spark Awe, Scans Show, Live Science (2018)
• Cirque du Soleil files for creditor protection in Canada, Pollstar (2020)

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