Cirque du Soleil is “turning reality inside out” with a high energy spot launched in advance of spring shows in Toronto and Montreal.

“Discover the Extraordinary” is the entertainment brand’s latest campaign, which comes to market a year after the relaunch of its shows globally following the pandemic. The vibrant work features clowns, contortionists, a self-immolator and various high wire aerial stunts and circus performers.

The campaign is a “beautiful homage” to the brand’s vibrant energy, according to Nickole Tara, chief growth officer at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group. She explains that the campaign reinforces that Cirque du Soleil shows go beyond the expected and transcend languages, countries and cultures with its ubiquitous high-flying appeal.

She tells strategy the organization “wanted come out of the gate strong in North America,” where it has a solid longevity of operations. While Cirque du Soleil performs in 60 countries, it wants to target its home base now, before going more global in 2023.

The company is looking to create brand awareness and mark its post-pandemic evolution with a follow-up to “Intermission is Over,” a campaign that relaunched its shows as the pandemic was fading. That also came after declaring bankruptcy in 2020, going from a company with several thousand employees to a skeleton staff to keep the lights on amidst lockdowns.

“Discover the Extraordinary” aims to infuse renewed energy into Ciruqe’s brand message, as it broadens its appeal and returns to cultural prominence, Tara says, as its audience was starved for this kind of entertainment.

The consideration set, Tara explains, is moving beyond couples and including more families, as evidenced by individuals buying bigger groups of tickets. “This wasn’t necessarily the case even ten years ago,” she says, when it was more of a couples or corporate events, particularly in Las Vegas.

“One area we focus on is how we do with kids and families,” she says, citing by example “Twas the Night Before,” a holiday-related show built specifically for that target.

The agency behind the work is Sid Lee, with whom Cirque has a 20-year co-creation partnership. The organization is set to debut a new show in its home base of Montreal in 2023.

The campaign will run on print, social and TV until the end of the year across North America. For Canada, the buy is mostly exclusively digital with Rogers, Yahoo Canada, Facebook and YouTube to hit relevant markets.