What John Hughes taught us about marketing?

9 INCH AXIOM: Be Top of Mind

‘ Don’t let you prospects or customers forget about you.  Out of sight = Out of Mind’

My high school teenage years were from 1983 to 1987.  I grew up in the Golden Age of music videos, hair bands and teenage movies.  John Hughes singlehandedly put the teen genre on the map with the release of ‘Sixteen Candles’ in 1984.  

Candles was followed in succession by ‘The Breakfast Club’, ‘Weird Science’, ‘Pretty in Pink’, ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’.  A week ago John Hughes passed away suddenly at the age of 59.  He left behind an endearing legacy and will be missed.

The Top 3 things John Hughes taught us about marketing:

1. Awareness is not a one time thing – “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” is the title track for The Breakfast Club.  The lyrics tell the story of strangers meeting, revealing their inner selves, bonding and then leaving to go their separate ways.  The takeaway here is to stay ‘top of mind’ with your target audience.  Once you’ve engaged your target audience or even converted a prospect into a customer it is vital to continue the conversation and stay relevant.

2. Get to know your audience by listening – John was referred to by film critic Roger Ebert as the ‘Philosopher of Adolescence’. He took great pains to listen and understand teens:

“Many filmmakers portray teenagers as immoral and ignorant with pursuits that are pretty base. . .They seem to think that teenagers aren’t very bright. But I haven’t found that to be the case. I listen to kids. I respect them. I don’t discount anything they have to say just because they’re only 16 years-old.” [Source: New York Times article]

3. Tell a story that resonates – John Hughes was a poet.  Ben Stein described Hughes “as a wonderful man, a genius, a poet. I don’t think anyone has come close to him as being the poet of the youth of America in the postwar period. He was to them what Shakespeare was to the Elizabethan Age.”  Hughes crafted stories that deeply resonated.  Time movie critic Richard Corliss detailed Hughes’ style:

“(Hughes) mined the emotional convulsions that make every kid feel he or she is the first lonely explorer on the dark side of the moon. In his mid-30s, Hughes got spookily in sync with the swooning narcissism of adolescence: that teachers are torturers; that parents are sweet but don’t quite understand; that friends and lovers are two distinct species, one domestic, one alien; that I feel all these things I can never express; that there must be someone out there who will love me to pieces. Hughes gave the young what they wanted in life and movies: romance, passion, pleasure, commitment and a little sex. His pictures were like teen psychotherapy with a guaranteed happy ending.

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) Video Tribute, my favorite John Hughes Quote, Backstory on Shermer, Illinois and a Quiz

Quote: Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.

Backstory:  Shermer was the fictional setting of many of John’s films.  He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook.  The town was originally called Shermerville.  Glenbrook High School in Northbrook was used in both Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Quiz: Take a look at the ensemble picture above and test your knowledge of John Hughes films.  Here is the challenge.  You have 2 minutes to write the down the first name or nickname of as many of the character names you can remember.  Hint:  There are 12 actors and 16 character names (John Hughes is the guy sitting down with the glasses)

Answers and grading scale in the first comment

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