All three really are related. . .and here’s how:
A critical goal for all marketing consultants is to create congruency in the entire customer experience we engineer for our clients (everything working together). Do this, and a sort of poetry is achieved. Which creates action and results. One of Cirque Du Soleil’s newer shows, KooZa, and its Wheel of Death, are great examples of this and serve as great lessons for us all.
Phew. . .there, see. . .related!!
The Congruency that Cirque Du Soleil Nails
We walk into a circus tent at 1 PM July 1st in Arizona. It’s 111 degrees and the big circus tent is pitched on a huge asphalt parking lot. Yet, there’s no circus smells and the tent is cool inside. The food looks appetizing and the merchandise for sale (hats, T-shirts, books, CDs, DVDs) is displayed beautifully and drips with quality.
You find your seat (comfortable seat) and about 15 minutes before the show is scheduled to start a clown wanders out and starts to interact with the audience. Then another. And another. No spot lights, they just start to appear. You start to notice them. They slowly build a level of commotion that leads to the show starting.
Brilliant. Magical. I won’t attempt to describe the show; not sure I have the words. If you have attended a Cirque performance you know what I mean; the circus re-imagined, Circus 2.0. See, no words.
Watch the trailer:
Here’s My Point
Everything that happens, every expression of every cast member at every moment is intentional. Like using an iPad or owning a Rolex watch, you are aware that someone thought about each aspect of using the product, each moment of the show. And that, my friends, is when everything works together to create something more. True congruency creates poetry. And that captivates an audience at a circus or a visitor on your website.
All the care and attention you give to the customer experience, whether it’s a phone, watch, circus or whatever you do, is what matters. It is what differentiates us. It’s not one or two or three things anymore. That’s old thinking (We are the biggest! We have the best technology! We have the best price!). It is everything. Cue The Wheel of Death video, which you need to watch BEFORE you read any further.
The Wheel of Death is BAD-ASS poetry. This huge (BAD-ASS!) contraption slowly descends from the darkness above. Two BAD-ASS guys walk out (think scary guys from Mad Max — dreadlocks, leather pants, boots, painted faces, big, mean) giving everybody on stage and in the audience the “You talking to ME?!” look. How they mount this contraption is even BAD-ASS!!
That was my favorite part (could you tell?) Sharon’s favorite part? Why, the ladies porta-potty, of course! Air conditioned, well lit, running water in a sink, no smells and even two signed prints on the wall. “Better than many ‘nice’ restaurant bathrooms” according to my wife. Porta-potty poetry.
I seek out companies and products that demonstrate the power of congruency. You should too, because this is the new differentiator, and the more you are around it, the more you experience it, the more you understand it and can apply it in your business.
