Here we have a couple of panels from issue 7 of Invincible Iron Man, a series that’s written brilliantly by Matt Fraction. Here’s what’s happening: Newspaper editor Ben Urich is driving with photographer Peter Parker (you know him as Spider-Man) and Urich tells Parker about a man named Clifton Pollard, that he made $3.01 an hour digging graves in 1963. From the panels above:

Urich: “Here’s a hint. He worked at Arlington National Cemetery.”

Parker: “1963, 1963 — J.F.K.?”

Urich: “Bingo. Clifton Pollard dug the grave of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Came into work on a Sunday to do it, too. You know how I know? Jimmy Breslin was the only guy in America that thought to talk to him. And he wrote one of my favorite pieces of journalism doing it. That’s the kind of thing I want to do here.”

And on they drive to Tony Stark’s corporate facility on Long Island. But the point is a great one: Urich remembers that Breslin column because it was a singularly unique piece of writing. At a time of national mourning, while everyone in the media was zigging, Breslin zagged. He came up with a fresh angle that no one else imagined. That angle, plus great writing, long outlived countless volumes of words that were penned around the same time.

Read Breslin’s column here.

Takeaway for marketers: Don’t follow the masses. Look for the fresh angle. While everyone else is zigging? Zag.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2013 at 7:00 am and is filed under Marketing Stuff, Marketing Takeaways.