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Geek Marketer or Groover Marketer

By Mark on Sep 5, 2007 in Marketing/PR

Steve Rubel has a great article about The Geek Marketer, at Advertising Age. He describes perfectly what I do.

I personally don’t mind the term geek in reference to myself. However, the term could be construed as pejorative. I prefer to give the nod to Geoffrey Moore when describing those people I interact with. In his parlance I would be someone who specializes in Visionary or Technology Enthusiast Marketing though that doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue.

I used to work with a marketing chap who called these technology enthusiasts, groovers. I liked that term because it sounded like they were grooving to their technology thang <end attempt to sound cool>. One other interesting quote:

Most marketers - be they clients or agency side - are heads-down running their business. Therefore, companies are creating a new role. They’re hiring people who act as translators between the ultra geeks and the marketers, if you will, and shepherd the development of pilot programs.

I think that’s a fair assesment of what happens but it does sound dangerously close to the Office Space when Tom Smkyowski tells “the Bobs” “I am a people person, I take the requirements from the customer and bring them to the developers.”

I suppose my ability to quote Office Space by chapter and verse might make something of a geek or even a groover.