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.

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

2. New York, 1930s

3. George Gallop
Research Director, Young & Rubicam

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

5. Analysed the ads that
performed well.

6. Certain techniques
consistently
out-performed others.

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

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.

9. Understanding context.

10. Understanding context.

11. Understanding motivation.

12. Understanding motivation.

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

14. The relevance test.

15. Vaughn Flannery
Art Director, Young & Rubicam

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

17. This was the birth of
direct response advertising.

18. Rosser Reeves
Chairman, Ted Bates & Co

19. Unique selling point.

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

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

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

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

25. Now, 2014.

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

27. Personas.

28. User stories.
Personas.

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

31. User stories.
As a _____,
I want to _____
so I can ______.

32. User stories.
Persona.
As a _____,
I want to _____
so I can ______.
Action.
Outcome.

33. User stories.
Persona.
As a _____,
I want to _____
so I can ______.
Action.
Outcome.
Motivations? Context? Environment? Anxieties?

34. Motivations?
Context?
Environment?
Anxieties?

35. Characters.
When _____,
I want to _____
so I can ______.

36. Characters.
When _____,
I want to _____
so I can ______.
Situation.
Motivation.
Outcome.

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

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

39. FIN.

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