Smash.

Last week was all about ‘Smash’. At Wednesdays lecture we were given a booklet of information about the product, this included detail of where it could be bought, its competitors and a SWOT analysis. As a group we were then to create personas using information we would collect the following day. These personas would help us direct our thoughts of possible advertisements, who to aim them at and how to get them interested in the product.

What is a Persona?

A persona is created using peoples personal information. This information is grouped into similar categories to create fictional characters to represent different user groups. Personas can help guide decision making for the product or service. For example what should the website look like?  A persona could be used to show what type of web design would appeal to a particular group.

Example of 'Yahoo' personas. (Details obscured to protect proprietary info.)

Thursday morning we decided to split the group into two teams, team one would head into the town centre and the other to the university campus. Both teams would find out people’s name, age and occupation then ask a couple of questions. The first team would stop people in the city centre and ask them to draw their favourite meal and what makes them happy. The second team asked ‘what’s your favourite meal?’ and ‘if it was a person what would it be like?’

                    

Together we asked a range of people with different ages and backgrounds. Using the information we came up with 3 personas.

Students

Name: Ben Clark

Age: 20

Occupation: Student (Studying Business)

Likes: Sports and socialising with friends. Being on the go.

General Info.: It’s his first time living away from home. At the weekends he sometimes goes home for a visit and to get a home cooked meal. He’s starting to cook for himself and learning each time. Usually doesn’t have much money. He juggles his work, uni and his social life. He’s learning to become more independent.

Retired

Name: Betty Blair.

Age: 70

Occupation: Retired.

Likes: Day time TV. Spending her time with her grandchildren. Bingo.

General Info.: Betty gets tired easily so doesn’t leave the house much. She sees her family once a week and goes to church coffee mornings regularly. She had a pet cat and cares for her elderly husband.

Families

Name: Helen Fields

Age: 32

Occupation: Part time worker at a supermarket.

Likes: Catching up and having a chat with the neighbours. Relaxing when she gets a minute to herself.

General Info.: Helen has 3 young children; a son Jack who’s 8 years old and twins that are 2years old. She works part time at the local supermarket and in between working and looking after the kids she’s studying from home to become a nurse. Her husband works away a lot but is home at the weekends. She’s not got much of a social like and is too busy too spend time on herself.

Using these personas I had a few ideas of possible adverts for the product ‘Smash’.

1. An advert where a student has his/her parents visiting and makes them dinner. Mother says, ‘this is delicious when did you learn to cook?’ The advert then shows how the boy/girl quickly made a proper meal giving the viewer tips on the types of meals that can be made easily and cheaply with smash for example; fishcakes or Sheppard’s pie. The supermarkets can give away recipe cards when someone buys ‘Smash’.

2. An elderly couple sitting down to a meal in their cosy kitchen having bangers and smash. The tag line may be “Classic meals. Even better than you remembered with Smash”

3. This advert would perhaps show a dishevelled looking mother rushing in from work tidying up after the kids then serving up a healthy looking meal in time for her husband returning from work. Children and parents sit happily around the table digging into food and chatting. Tag line could read “If only other things in life were as easy as Smash”.