Cirque du Soleil charges three to four times more than Ringling Brothers by rejecting the circus label entirely. Its French name created confusion that freed it from price competition with traditional circuses, turning a liability into a positioning advantage.
Any fans of circuses here? Okay, so, like, the same three people. Okay, so you're the whack jobs, right? Oh, sure. We have hands. We're fans of circuses. We know reciprocity. Okay, I bet everyone knows Ringling Brothers and Barn and Belly Circus, right? You know, Ringling Brothers and Barney Circus is the biggest circus in the world. It's called the incumbent. That's the most established brand. Now in the New York City area, there's Ringling Brothers and Barnaby Circus. They perform globally. But also, if you're from the New York area, there's another circus. It's the number two runner up. Does anyone happen to know the name Big Apple? Yes, The Big Apple Circus. And if you're not from the New York area, chances are you've never heard of that circus. And the Big Apple Circus has a real problem. If you come to visit our city and you come into town and you're with your family and you decide we should go to the circus, you will see advertisements for both. Statistically, you will go to Ringling Brothers and Barnaby Circus. Why? Because you recognize the name. It's a safe bet. It's the familiar in this case, and it's safe. Familiar means safe. And Ringling Brothers, as a result, can charge a premium for Madison Square Garden, the main venue where Ringling Brothers performs. They get $125 for the premium ticket. Big Apple Circus, the number two competitor for the exact same seats, the exact same venue, and the almost identical performance can, at the most, get $50 a ticket. And that's the problem of not being the incumbent. You experience what's called downward price pressure. The incumbent sets the standard. And everyone else, to compete, because you're not recognized, you have to compete on price. And in the circus industry, you can go all the way down to circus kind of level of downward price pressure. So you have Big Apple Circus. I mean, I'm sorry, Ringling. Big Apple Circus, local circus. And then you have, like, those carnies that come to your town that you pay, like, $5 not to touch your children. Yeah. That's the worst in downward price pressure, by the way. Please do not touch my child. But there's one circus, there's one circus who broke out of the paradigm, who charges three to four times what Ringling Brothers can get. Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil. I don't know why I get all upset with that. I mean, congratulations. Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil. Do you know they used one behavioral trick of being different, that gave them exposure. Cirque du Soleil, they broke the generic label. Understand this. When you heard me say the word circus in your mind, I know. Instantly popped triggers of a circus. Maybe a tent, maybe a clown, which are kind of freaky. Maybe a giraffe walking by. But when I say the word circus, pictures pop in our mind. Cirque du Soleil knew that if they called themselves, which is the trans. It's a French phrase, Cirque du Soleil, which means the Sun Circus or Circus of the Sun. They knew that if they called themselves the Sun Circus, that they would fall victim to the familiar label. It's just another circus. I'm going to go to Ringling Brothers. So instead, they changed the label. And what happened the first time you heard Cirque du Soleil? I suspect you said this. Huh? What's that? And if you can get your customers even momentarily saying, what's that? That means you've broken out of the box of generic labels. You know, to us, to your customers. A pharmacy is a pharmacy is a pharmacy. A circus is a circus is a circus. And I don't care how much better you are. The customer is familiar with what a pharmacy is and will not pay attention to what differentiates you. So we have an obligation to break the label.
