From Aquaman to X-Men: What Sort of Marketer are You?

Aquaman. Source: Wikia.com

The onslaught has begun.

You can’t turn on the TV, enter a store or buy a theater ticket without bumping into the super hero de jour.  Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America – all are swooping into theaters following an expansive trail of movie marketing.

On the (winged or booted) heels of this invasion, let’s take a look at some of the world’s best super humans and how they relate to us.  Strap on your utility belts, tighten your capes and tune up your invisible jets – it’s time to identify what (marketing) super hero you may be.

Aquaman – B2B Marketers

“What?” you say. “Aquaman? He’s nobody.” My response: FOOL!

The earth is 70% sea, 30% land. Give me a hero that can navigate 70% of the territory – in the absence of givens such as AIR – and knows how to communicate telepathically with its denizens.  That’s the person I’m inviting to my marketing party any day.  Sure the average B2B marketer isn’t flashy, but he/she possesses the specialized skills and endurance to thrive in the especially challenging environment of long sales cycles, hard-core relationship building and measurement that can span years.

Wonder Woman – Social Media Marketers

Oh, to have those fabulous toys. The gold lasso of engagement! The invisible jet that can drop germinating questions over your community of enraptured followers! And let’s not mention the tiara of triumph we’d all like to wear to telegraph our success – regardless of gender.  Social media marketers have the glory of fabulous weapons and peer-titillating results. However, what’s often overlooked is how much thought, work and insight it takes to truly create and grow communities across multiple social media networks.  It’s not just spray and pray.

Wonder Twins – Networked Marketing Freelancers

Remember the Wonder Twins? They had the optimal arsenal of powers. If one didn’t have it a power, the other one did.  “Form of an ice flow!” “Shape of a chimpanzee!” (Or, more aptly, “Form of a direct mail campaign!” “Shape of in-depth marketing research!”)

Successful solo marketers or freelancers have an uncanny ability to find complementary talent and create powerful alliances. Specialize in PR but have a client interested in SEO? Done.  Wonder Twin powers, activate!

Inspector Gadget – The Generalist

Oh, Inspector Gadget. No matter what the challenge or threat, the Inspector could answer it with his bevy of experience, resources and (sometimes) sheer luck. Imagine this: You have a marketing project – no matter what the audience, scope or deliverables – and this professional delivers. They may not have the industry depth, but you can count on them to create, execute and measure whatever marketing project you can imagine. Sure, specialists may think they don’t have the chops, but with the span of marketing expertise they bring to the table … Well, all I can say is, “Go go Gadget marketing!”

And FYI to the skeptics: Yes, Inspector Gadget had Penny to help him out behind the scenes. But who hasn’t had their own Penny in times of need? I wish Pennys upon everyone!

Iron Man – B2C Marketers

Take the flash of Tony Stark, his resources and the multitudes that adore him and you have the perfect super hero for marketing to B2C. On a large scale, B2C unites millions behind a brand – Nike, McDonalds or Coke for example – and can create a cult following amongst the marketing community.

On a smaller scale, these super heroes flex their iron muscles by building a stellar, rapt audience in their local markets. Think about that nearby ice cream store you would go to war for or that Greek restaurant down the street famous not only for its quality of food but also for its quality of service.

Cue the Black Sabbath!

Encyclopedia Brown + Nancy Drew + Harry Potter – SEO Marketers

These awe-inspiring SEO marketers have no fear of those dark, quiet corners of your website. They thrive in delving deep into your online properties (and your competitors’), analytics and ad performances.  They mine for clues and evidence with the relish of the gold rush 49ers. They have the unique ability of seeing the details as well as the big picture. Investigation + insight + magic = Your SEO practitioner.

X-Men – Large Pools of Marketing Talent

The X-Men are the larger marketing agencies with a variety of strengths. Indeed, mutant marketing strengths! The pros: One-stop shopping, shiny (expensive) tools you probably can’t access yourself and a deep well of go-to talent and expertise – often on an international scale.  The cons:  The talent commands financial commitment and they might not have niche experience for specialized markets.  However, you’re looking at a slew of (often scalable) talent.

And let’s not forget …

The Incredible Hulk – All of Us at One Time or Another

Hulk smash. Hulk mad!

How many of us have not been tempted to kick a campaign to the curb after a slow launch or poor performance – perhaps without giving it enough time to get some legs under it? Or perhaps you have caught yourself defaulting to your norms (same ol’, same ol’) when the situation might require a different take?

The Hulk was good at brawn. Really good. But without the brainiac Dr. Banner to balance him out, I don’t think our green hero would get very far (or have a TV series that lasted four years).

Marketing with your heart brings passion to our profession. But you have to balance it with a zeal for reports and measurement to identify what works and what doesn’t. That’s smart. Hulk smart.

So now that I’ve barraged you with a string of super heroes (primarily from 70s cartoons), what super hero are you? What others would you add to this list?

Melanie Brenneman, senior account manager for Edge Legal Marketing,  focuses on creating and measuring results for public relations, marketing, social media, employee and crisis communications.  She was public relations manager for Fortune 500 software provider Open Text, was communications manager for legal technology provider DataCert, and started off life handling editing and sales duties for an international wire distribution service, where she advised on roughly 1,000 press releases each year for public and private corporations.  Melanie is a former board member of the Houston Chapters of the American Marketing Association and the Public Relations Society of America.  You can reach her via Twitter or LinkedIn.