Your Brand Is Not Batman

Today I had the chance to take part in an entertaining panel moderated by my friend Debbie Weil all about blogging and social media as part of a book launch event for David Meerman Scott's new book, World Wide Rave. Along with me on the panel were Greg Verdino, a fellow blogger and agency guy from Crayon, and Henry Posner, the social media and digital marketing guy from B&H Photo (probably my favourite NY photo store that I've purchased much of my photographic equipment from over the years). Our conversation ranged from blogs and Twitter to the role of social media in a broader marketing mix - and the difference between Batman and a Cowboy.

Batman has a utility belt. On that belt, he has batarangs, inflatable scuba gear, smoke makers, batcuffs, batraygun and just about anything else he could ever need. He's a crimefighter, and never knows what bad guys he is going to face next. He actually needs and uses all that stuff. A cowboy, on the other hand, carried just a revolver. He never needed all that fancy stuff, just one tool that did its job. The gun was the only thing a cowboy needed, and he used it strategically to stay alive.

Now think about this in relation to how your brand is approaching social media. Are you treating your brand like Batman, trying to have a presence everywhere, launch one of everything and using many things that you don't really need? The problem with that is that your brand isn't Batman ... and you end up spreading yourself too thin and doing nothing really well. Instead, think of your brand like the cowboy and find the one tool you need to succeed. Comcast found Twitter. Blendtec found YouTube. Forget about creating a social media utility belt. Only Batman needs one of those.