Remember when you were a kid reading comic books and watching cartoons like Spiderman, X-Men and the Hulk, and you imagined what it would be like to have super powers? Well as an adult I still do that on a regular basis. Over the past decade the resurgence of movies based on Marvel and DC comic book characters has been a dream come true for a kid-stuck-in-an-adult-body like me.
Most recently I saw X-Men Days of Future Past which, as most comic book movies do, instilled in me a lot of mutant-power envy. As a result I’ve spent way too much time since imagining how cool it would be to be able to manipulate metal like Magneto, control minds like Charles Xavier or transform appearance like Mystique.
As cool as living in the Marvel Universe would be, here in the PR world we’re not without our own set of superhuman abilities, many of which can be likened to that of our favorite super heroes and, yes, even some of the villains. And I see it as my duty as PR pro by day, comic fangirl by night, to share with you the super powers that PR professionals display on a daily basis. Because with great power, comes great responsibility (different movie, I know, but how could I not include that line?).
The noble Charles Xavier often uses his telepathy and mind-control abilities to help guide friend (or foe) toward a more righteous path. Similarly, it’s the responsibility of the PR professional to use intuition and strategy to understand our clients on a deeper level and guide them to success.
One of the best known characters among the X-Men, the Wolverine wields his deadly adamantium claws to eviscerate his enemies, much like the way we in the PR world wield our mighty pens to slash through lengthy white papers or product data sheets, only to be left with a clear concise message to entice a reporter.
The uber-powerful Magneto masterfully manipulates metal to his will, making him one of the strongest among mutants and one of the greatest all-time adversaries of the X-Men. Similarly, one of the greatest powers a PR pro can possess is the ability to bend, mold, and shape what may be a seemingly mundane piece of news into a masterful story of industry vision and insight.
Finally, my personal favorite, Mystique, is a force. Strong and intelligent, Mystique is a mutant metamorph, meaning she can cause herself to look and sound like an exact duplicate of any person. This relates to an especially valuable PR power for those like me working in the B2B high tech space. Often times we must morph ourselves into the savviest of techies in order to comfortably communicate with our clients and writers.
So while the mutant gene has yet to be discovered in our universe (there’s always hope, right?!), in the universe of public relations we must learn to cultivate our own super powers. To use for good of course (despite what our journalist nemeses might say).