Cavalia Targets Horse Lovers
Anyone who’s taken a bus (or strolled around downtown) in the past month would be hard-pressed to miss the stately white horse gracing banners for Cavalia, the equine version of Cirque du Soleil that’s recently arrived in Vancouver. The show’s venue, mammoth-sized white tents located near the Olympic Village, are equally noticeable. The billboards caught my attention during particularly dull commutes, but I was unsure of what was really being promoted. Apparently the repetitive, if uninformative advertising did it’s job in this case, since my family ended up buying tickets.
The promotional picture shown above perfectly exemplifies the show: the emphasis is on the grace and intelligence of the horse(s), while the human trainers and acrobats are just along for the ride. Cavalia or, to be official, Cavalia: A Magical Encounter Between Human and Horse was a mixture of ethereal horse choreography and fast-paced trick riding. Television host Larry King lauded Cavalia as “the best show [he] has ever seen! Like being in a dream,” which is an apt description of the atmospheric performance and garnered it additional publicity.
The billboards and promotions are clearly aimed at horse enthusiasts, a group I previously wouldn’t have thought very prevalent. I loved the show despite having zero experience interacting with horses, but the couple sitting in front of me waxed poetic about the animals’ “braided forelocks and gleaming flanks.” People even have the option of buying more expensive “horse lover” tickets, which are basically a backstage pass, allowing holders to interact with the horses in their stables after the show. Judging from the success of the award-winning and continent-spanning show, so-called horse lovers have the potential to be a surprisingly profitable target market. Who knew?