Purpose: This paper seeks to understand how companies in the experience sector innovate. It is an investigation of innovation processes generally, and specifically within Cirque du Soleil, the worldwide leader of the new circus movement. The theory of Scripting is tested along with the consumer journey perspective.

Design/methodology/approach: In-depth interviews with innovation professionals, prominent artists, and creative executives illuminate the processes, tools and perspectives used to innovate in the experience industry.

Findings: Experience innovation is similar to service innovation, confirming previous studies. All the companies studied have a centralized management which dictates innovation; in fact, much more than assumed according to previous theory. Scripting theory can be a significant approach for increasing innovation for companies. Cirque du Soleil’s challenge is to stay innovative — industrializing without becoming predictable. New creative endeavors must express the essence of the brand, include the meta-level of the Scripting and be in conjunction with the target audience identity. Through Scripting, Cirque du Soleil can potentially find a way to industrialize, streamline the innovation process and capitalize on its creativity. Currently, the innovation process of Cirque du Soleil can be described as unstructured and not consciously scripted. In contrast, innovation consultancy Fahrenheit 212 has a much more conscious, structured, and thus scripted, innovation process. More studies should be conducted within this area, perhaps testing the Scripting theory on other cases and studying the Stage-Gate process parallel to the consumer journey perspective and Scripting.