Ernest Hemingway wrote, “The Circus is good for you. It is the only spectacle I know that while you watch, it gives the quality of a truly happy dream . . . ”

And he never watched Cirque du Soleil. What could be more of a happy dream than Cirque du Soleil?  I ask because Cirque is a nearly perfect example of a KILLER BRAND. What’s more, Cirque successfully entered a dying category. How many of you would have agreed to invest millions of dollars in a differentiated circus in an antiquated category? Cirque proves a KILLER BRAND can be created in such a category. I strongly suspect that a KILLER BRAND can be created in any category, no matter the odds.

There is no good reason why the principles of Focus, Alignment and Linkage would not work. Just do like Cirque du Soleil. Create a differentiated and compelling expectation and deliver on it. Focus on delivering that expectation every time and becoming well-known for it. If the expectation is compelling enough (difference alone will not do the trick), people will come, and with people will come success.

I mentioned that Cirque was nearly a perfect example. That’s because once with a show called Millenium they got out of Alignment and strayed. The show featured lights and music but not much in the core area of dreamlike, dazzling accrobatics or performers. Didn’t work. But they got right back on strategy quickly, a lesson for us all.