You say persona, I say person-ah

Slides for talk at Forefront, Leeds, on Wednesday 26 November 2014 on considering the work of marketers in the 1930s to help us create more meaningful 'users' to create products round, by observing real people.

As it was a talk these slides might not join up without my commentary; but I hope you glean something from them.

I did a quick blog post on it here: http://www.ermlikeyeah.com/forefront-leeds-november-2014-reeves-rosser/

Transcript

1. You say persona.
   I say person-ah.
   

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2. New York, 1930s
   

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3. George Gallop
   Research Director, Young & Rubicam
   

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4. Measured the readership
   of ads.
   Accumulated the scores.
   Analysed the scores.
   

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5. Analysed the ads that
   performed well.
   

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6. Certain techniques
   consistently
   out-performed others.
   

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7. This is better to read…
   …than this.
   

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8. People preferred headlines
   that spoke directly to them.
   And then lots of copy that told them a story. Not
   something like Once Upon a Time there was three
   bears: a daddy bear, a mummy bear, and a baby
   bear. A story that told them about a product and
   what the product could bring to their lives that
   they didn’t already have.
   

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9. Understanding context.
   

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10. Understanding context.
    

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11. Understanding motivation.
    

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12. Understanding motivation.
    

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13. Functional reasoning.
    Reflect (the mores),
    but do not influence.
    

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14. The relevance test.
    

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15. Vaughn Flannery
    Art Director, Young & Rubicam
    

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16. Within months, Young &
    Rubicam ads were being
    read by more people
    than any other agency’s.
    

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17. This was the birth of

    direct response advertising.
    

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18. Rosser Reeves
    Chairman, Ted Bates & Co
    

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19. Unique selling point.
    

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20. Value.
    The one reason why a
    product needed to be
    bought or was better
    than its competitors.
    

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21. “You must make
    the product interesting,
    not just make
    the ad different.”
    

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23. +
    Your product +
    -
    Price
    Quality
    - / + +
    -
    -
    - /+ - /+
    + +
    

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24. + +
    -
    Your product +
    -
    Price
    Quality
    - / + +
    -
    - /+ - /+
    +
    

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25. Now, 2014.
    

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26. + +
    -
    Your product +
    -
    Price
    Quality
    - / + +
    -
    - /+ - /+
    +
    

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27. Personas.
    

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28. Personas.
    User stories.
    

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29. Gender.
    Age.
    Education.
    Social standing.
    Wealth.
    Some fucking snippet/habit.
    Personas.
    

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31. User stories.
    As a _____,

    I want to _____

    so I can ______.
    

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32. As a _____,

    I want to _____

    so I can ______.
    User stories.
    Persona.
    Action.
    Outcome.
    

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33. User stories.
    As a _____,

    I want to _____

    so I can ______.
    Persona.
    Action.
    Outcome.
    Motivations? Context? Environment? Anxieties?
    

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34. Motivations?
    Context?
    Environment?
    Anxieties?
    

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35. When _____,

    I want to _____

    so I can ______.
    Characters.
    

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36. When _____,

    I want to _____

    so I can ______.
    Characters.
    Situation.
    Motivation.
    Outcome.
    

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37. Observe people, how
    they solve problems.
    Understand the context
    of their environment.
    Understand anxieties
    and motivations.
    

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38. “You must make
    the product interesting,
    not just make

    the ad different.”
    

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39. FIN.
    

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40. Learn more about:
    George Gallop
    Vaughn Flannery
    Rosser Reeves
    

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41. Thanks!
    (c)2014 Studio of Things
    www.studioofthings.com
    

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