Cirque du Soleil has always been an innovative organization, after all, they completely redefined what a “circus” could be. With their tribute to The Beatles, they’ve broken new ground. “Love” is a tour de force, a magnificent entertainment experience, a highly creative, and yes, innovative show.  It’s hard to come up with the perfect word to describe it — extravaganza doesn’t do it justice — it’s a mind-bending, visual, musical, acrobatic, and artistic smorgasbord.

The music of The Beatles is a very good place to start when creating a multi-media experience.  According to the website George Martin, The Beatles original producer, was involved in creating a new, clean mix of sound from the original Abbey Road master tapes. The sound is so striking it’s like hearing The Beatles again for the first time.

I’ll let you read background on your own (George Harrison and Cirque founder Guy Laliberté were friends) but take my word for it, it’s worth the trip to Vegas just to see the show.  The imagery, acrobatics, and artistry are arresting.

What can an innovator learn from Cirque?  Here’s my list of 5 things:

1. Use evocative imagery to inspire ideas.  My mind raced while watching this show; I was flooded with old memories of the 60’s, experiences with The Beatles music, and ideas for my projects!  Evocative imagery get the brain stimulated, use picture decks, old films, and Google as idea stimulus.  Or go see “Love”!
2. Re-invent your own formula. don’t stand pat with the status quo of your own success.  Cirque has a bit of a formula for their shows, but with Love they experimented with new elements (other people’s music, more dance, use of film, and staging) successfully.  They embraced the ambiguity of a new challenge.
3. Take the risk of adding value to something that is already incredibly great. Cirque could have failed in this effort, it’s hard to go one better than The Beatles!  They were up to the challenge.  I think sometimes we see a great service or product and say “all done” mentally.  In what ways can we add value to “great” or “perfect” services in our domains?
4. New combinations (or dimensions) of old ideas make for fresh ideas. I was taken by a scene where mop-topped acrobatics on skateboards was done to the song “Help.” The four skaters evoked images and memories from the original movie with their costumes, and the skateboards were reminiscent of the ski boards used in the film. It was the perfect combination of old and new elements that made the scene work.  What can we combine with our products and services to add value?  How can we “dimension-alize” our products to make them bigger, better, or more effective?
5. Take care in setting up the “big payoff” for your customers. Throughout the show various 60’s era VW Beetles (aka “bugs”) were used on stage.  The bugs totally worked as props all along the way. Little did we know that the last Beetle/bug would explode in front of our very eyes — to the tune of “Day In The Life” (a song with a death via car crash image).  We were convinced that it was a “real car” because it had been set up several times previously — it rolled in and out. The last car was actually a fake with the pieces of fenders and such held by dancers underneath.  We bought that it was real and then were delighted and surprised when it exploded into a dance. Do we take enough care to “set up” consumer experiences with our products and services?  Foreshadowing and showmanship are skills we can borrow from the world of entertainment.