“Cirque du Soleil needs your input,” trumpeted the heading of an email my wife Lucy and I received back in 2006 from Survey@Cirquedusoleil.com. We had recently seen Delirium during its pass through Seattle, and the body of the message continued, “You have been selected to participate in an online survey that we are conducting over the next two weeks where we would like to know your thoughts about your visit to Delirium. ” It should take you no more than 10 minutes to complete. Your feedback is extremely important to us! Your answers will remain confidential and anonymous. ” Click on the following link to start the survey: “We’re counting on your participation “”
Delirium?! The greatest divider of Cirque fan opinion? You want our thoughts?? How could we refuse?!
We have heard of other general surveys Cirque has done, including one which showed product and show concept designs (an early rendering of Delirium and a Cirque-themed resort hotel among them) and asking participants if they would be interested in same. That one we would have loved to take, but no one who participated thought to print it out.
So though we knew they did some opinion research, we weren’t expecting any “survey”-type emails from Cirque to come to us, being long-time involved fans. Their time and effort would have been better spent, we figured, getting the opinions of someone who might or might not go to a show, as opposed to fans who are guaranteed seat fillers. But the nature of randomness pointed its finger at us and we couldn’t resist. And we made sure to print off every page so we could give you a look at some of Cirque’s opinion research!
What follows is the survey we participated in, in the order the questions occurred. Depending on our answers, the survey took us in different directions which other people who answered the same questions differently might not have gotten. And we may not have gotten some of the questions others did.
Upon clicking the link supplied in the email, an introductory screen greeted us with, “Welcome to the Delirium survey!” with instructions on how it would work. The survey started simply, asking if we had attended Delirium in Seattle, whether this was our first time at a Cirque show, and which others we might have attended. Then came the first “money” question:
“On a scale of 1 to 10 please indicate your level of satisfaction with Delirium.” They provided a 10-point scale, with 1 being not at all satisfied, and 10 being very satisfied. This mechanism for scoring would follow throughout the survey.
“How did you hear about Delirium?” They gave a number of choices including: TV ads, radio ads, newspaper/magazine ads, movie ads, poster, flyer, magazine/newspaper article, TV news report, Cirque email, promoter email, Internet, friends/relatives, from buying CD, and other. They also wanted to know if we visited the Delirium website before purchasing tickets.
“Which two statements best apply to your motive for attending Delirium?
-I was curious to see another type of show from Cirque du Soleil.
-Heard so much about it that I had to see it for myself.
-It seemed like a cool show.
-It’s the first time a Cirque du Soleil show has come to my town.
-High interest in seeing a Cirque du Soleil show.
-It’s the first Cirque du Soleil show I have the opportunity to attend.
-Other motive” (Here as with many later “open ended” questions they left a box to write a free-form response.)
“Before attending Delirium, how different or similar did you expect it would be compared to other Cirque du Soleil shows?” The choices were very different, somewhat different, somewhat similar, very similar, and don’t know.
The survey then asked how our tickets were purchased, their price, and who attended.
“Please rate the following elements: (providing a 1 to 10 scale for each) ““ music, show direction (staging), number of acrobatic performances, video projections, quality of the acrobatic performances, choreography, sound quality, level of originality, opening act, costumes, and lighting.”
“Identify the two moments or parts of the show that you liked the most?” They provided a fill-in space, and check boxes for “enjoyed the whole show” and “don’t know.” Then they flipped the question around and asked for the two moments we liked the least.
“Would you say Delirium met your expectations or differed from what you expected?” The choices were met expectations, differed in a good way, and differed in a bad way, with a follow-up fill-in box asking why.
“How would you describe Delirium (check all that apply)?
-A show with an important dance component.
-A show with less acrobatic elements than other Cirque du Soloeil productions.
-A show with important multi-media elements.
-A “typical” music concert but with a Cirque du Soleil twist.
-Can not really describe it but would just say you have to see it.
-A typical Cirque du Soleil show with strong acrobatic elements.
-A show where music is centre stage.
-Don’t know.”
“Are there any other statements you would use to describe Delirium?” For this there was a fill-in box.
“Thinking only about the show itself, what age group is Delirium intended for?” It grouped the ages into under 12, 13-15, 16-17, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and over 55.
“Considering the price you paid would you say Delirium provided (great value, good, fair, poor value)?”
(On a scale of 1 to 10) “How likely are you to recommend Delirium to a friend or relative?”
The survey then showed the Delirium poster and asked if we had seen it. We were asked how much we agreed with the following statements (on a 1-10 scale):
-“This advertising is different from typical Cirque du Soleil show advertising.
-Made me want to know more about Delirium.
-Adequately represents Delirium.
-Made me want to see Delirium.
-Made me believe it was a different Cirque du Soleil show.
-Overall I like this advertising.”
“Would you say that seeing Delirium changed your opinion of Cirque du Soleil (greatly changed in a good way, slightly good way, did not change, slightly changed in bad way, greatly changed in a bad way)?”
“Here’s a series of statements that could be expressed in reference to Cirque du Soleil. For each statement, please indicate whether you totally agree, somewhat agree, disagree somewhat, or totally disagree.
-Being a Cirque du Soleil fan means I am part of an exclusive group.
-I would rather experience a Cirque du Soleil show that dares to be different and be underwhelmed than see one that is more predictable yet enjoyable.
-Cirque du Soleil is best described as entertainment.
-Sometimes Cirque du Soleil show content makes me uncomfortable.
-Cirque du Soleil has no peer, nothing compares to it.
-A Cirque du Soleil show must first and foremost be entertaining.
-Cirque du Soleil has lost its originality these last few years.
-When I attend a Cirque du Soleil show what I feel is more important than what I see.
-Cirque du Soleil is becoming more and more popular and I don’t like that.
-If you see more than one Cirque do Soleil show, you realize that it’s somewhat repetitive and it doesn’t surprise you as much.
-Cirque du Soleil is a brand that reflects my personality.
-The acrobatic performance is the most important part of a Cirque du Soleil show.
-Cirque du Soleil is not really a circus.
-Cirque du Soleil shows are characterized by an incomparable attention to detail.”
The survey wound down by asking some demographic questions: how long a Cirque Club member, favorite radio/TV/newspapers, gender, age group, education, income, marital status, household members and their ages, and zip code.
“Cirque du Soleil might consider pursuing this study with certain respondents. If so, would you like Cirque du Soleil to contact you again by e-mail? Depending on the project, it may involve payment for your participation.” Of course we said yes! But we were never contacted.
“This is the end of the questionnaire. We thank you very much for taking the time to answer it. You can now click on the “Submit” button to close the questionnaire and save your answers.”
Submit, we did. The screen blinked, and that was it.
We answered the survey honestly, giving them our unfiltered feedback on Delirium, a show which in our opinion strays so far from the Cirque du Soleil show “norm” that we wouldn’t recommend it as a first show for “new” Cirque fans. We haven’t heard from them since, but perhaps someday”
(Thanks to LouAnna Valentine and Barb Lewis for help with this article.)
