Part 5: Nogginjog Debriefing/New Marketing Announced

(This series of blogs was originally posted in August of 2011, before the unfortunate crash of our website.  …So we’re reposting it.)

The character of Nogginjog, like Blockbuster’s, shared some truths of the real brands.  But the purpose of telling the story was to give a moral.  Making the character of Nogginjog a little cocky worked for that end.  Now is Nogginjog cocky in real life?  Uhh, no.  We’re better than that.  Thank you.

Do we sell struts, walks with attitude?  I think so.  We sell a way to do what you already do a little better, with more fun.  Are we a “brash young start-up”?  Yea, pretty much.  Do we get depressed and eat ice cream?  It’s not a company policy.

The correct mission statement was Blockbuster’s lesson to learn, while Nogginjog’s lesson was to appreciate the contribution of others.  These two issues are difficult to learn and practice.  And practice is key.  Here’s the problem.  We have selective focus, which serves us mostly.  However, watch this fun video on change blindness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBPG_OBgTWg

When we are focused on ourselves or our tasks, we don’t see obvious changes happening around us.  It happens to me all the time.  I’m not sure that it’s preventable, frankly.  But if we value the contributions of others, meaning that, if we maintain a culture of diverse opinions around us, we can prevent change blindness to a larger degree.

In the story, Blockbuster suffered from change blindness, either in the form of being too focused on its brick and mortar identity or by not paying attention to the industry.  Nogginjog suffered from change blindness by not hearing Anon LLC’s sarcastic response to his exclamation of being a King.  That and, if he had appreciated Anon LLC’s companionship, he may have taken the extra step to befriend him, following his Twitter feed.  Either way, Nogginjog may have prevented the mocking of his peers and gained a customer.

So the moral to “The Story of Blockbuster and Nogginjog” isn’t to have a better mission statement or to not be cocky.  The moral is to appreciate the diverse world around you.  By doing that, your mission statement and your routine will serve you better.

We, at Nogginjog, opened our doors in May of this year, just 4 months ago.  We came from a solid background of theatrical improvisation.  Our first foot forward was an unsure step.  Contrary to the character in the story, we have actually been somewhat hesitant or unsure of ourselves, honestly.

We didn’t exactly know how to communicate the value of what we offer to a market that is not familiar with it.  But we are learning.  And appreciation is fundamental to that end.  And, if we do this right, we will always be learning about our market, because our market is always changing.

So, with all of this in mind, Nogginjog is changing its marketing plan.  In the next couple of months, slowly but surely, Nogginjog will be introducing a more targeted approach to what we do.   This new approach is based on much appreciated consultation and some botched sales attempts(being honest here).

First, we are eliminating our entertainment services.  This is not because we can’t provide them.  This is because we spread ourselves too thin.  We created a confusing menu of choices.

Second, focusing solely on training, we are making workshop choices specific to the challenges that exist in companies and those that we can address with expertise.

Third, we have changed our pricing and service delivery to provide more variety and function.

We are adding videos, pictures, testimonials, and resources to our website and marketing materials.

Nogginjog was formed from decades of experience in this wonderful, entertaining world of “comedy improv” and “applied improv”.  The foundation for what we provide is solid.

The translation of its value to the business world is what needed to change.  And we are responding to that.  We will constantly be responding to that.  That is our challenge.  And we appreciate it.

And, yes, we appreciate you.  “Aaah, isn’t that sweet.  Nogginjog appreciates me.  Well, of course they do.  I’m all that and a bag of chips.”, said in my best Jim Gaffigan-undertoned voice.

Stay tuned!

Jason Watts, CEO