1. Subject Project – Smoke Alarms
Mathew Griffin – St
Subject Project – Smoke Alarms
Weekly Tutorial – 06/12/2017

2. Juliette – Homeware Manager
Two types of buyer: Time short and Bargain hunters. Key customers.
Sell items at a high price but they get more customers when there’s a sale.
Typical Demographic: Mixed gender, 50/50.
Cardiff is an affluent city. People look for modern items.
Different range of design styles. They remain consistent throughout the year. Different types of customer like different styles.
E.g. Older people typically like oak and wood. Younger people perceive it as vintage.

3. Median UK Income –Provisional Estimates FYE 2017
Ons.gov.uk. (2017).
Non-Retired Households - £29,300 (Provisional FYE 2017)
Retired Households - £22,400 (Provisional FYE 2017)

4. Monster Career Advice. (2017).

5. Median Disposable Income - UK
Ons.gov.uk. (2017).
Provides better estimate than mean
£26,300 (FYE 2016)
£27,200 (FYE 2017)

6. Ons.gov.uk. (2017).
15 – 19 - £16,032
20 – 24 - £23,216
25 – 29 - £31,059
30 – 34 - £33,844
35+ - £31,578
Average - £27,146

7. 19,447 – E
18,315 – S
16,341 – W
15,913 – NI
Evans, T. (2017)

8. Average First-Time Buyer Age:
Cardiff - 32
Fraser, I. (2016).

9. 9. MoneySavingExpert.com 10. Apple, Waitrose
1. Aldi
2. Lidl
3. BBC IPlayer
4. John Lewis
5. Dyson
6. Marks and Spencer
7. Yorkshire Tea
8. YouTube
9. MoneySavingExpert.com
10. Apple, Waitrose
Sheffield, H. (2016).

10. 10. Macmillan Cancer Support
1. YouTube
2. Google
3. Cancer Research
4. Netflix
5. BBC iPlayer
6. Spotify
7. Amazon
8. Heinz 
9. PayPal
10. Macmillan Cancer Support
several metrics including Impression, Satisfaction, Recommend, Reputation, Quality and Value
Tobin, B. (2016).

11. Strengths and Weaknesses in the Market - Home security - UK - May 2014
Landlords are required to fit smoke detectors in certain types of accommodation.
Ownership of some types of equipment remains relatively low, indicating scope for increasing penetration into more homes.
People want to keep their homes and families safe from fire or carbon monoxide leaks and so are likely to respond well to marketing of detection alarms.
Weaknesses
Even though ownership of smoke alarms is high, people do not check them regularly to see if they work. So there is more opportunity for self-diagnostics.
Some consumers are given free smoke alarms by local fire services. Competes with consumer sales. While this may be beneficial to the makers and suppliers, it hits the sales potential of retailers/installers.
There is high ownership of smoke alarms so this may mean slow demand for replacements or extras. So the industry should aim to encourage people to trade up to better products and replace existing alarms, as well as to have extra ones around the home.
Mintel, (2014)

12. Internal Market Environment - Home security - UK - May 2014
The 1991 Smoke Detectors Act requires that all new houses built since 1992 must by law have a smoke detector installed.
Letting agents recommend smoke alarms connected to the mains, reducing the likelihood that batteries will be removed or allowed to fail by tenants.
27% of alarms in failed to operate. This failure was more prevalent among battery-operated alarms (39%) than mains-powered (19%). The reasons for failure include the smoke failing to reach the alarm (45%) and missing or flat batteries (30% of battery alarms). No alarm in 34% of dwelling fires. So there is an opportunity to encourage households to install their alarms in more suitable places, or to install more than one device.
Mintel, (2014)

13. Sprue Aegis
Fire AngeI – Best selling alarm in 2013 (UK), ST-620 Thermoptek .
First Alert – World’s largest manufacturer of Smoke and Carbon monoxide alarms, 30 countries, 14 UK retailers.
BRK - Professional Standard
Dicon – Trade Brand
Mintel, (2014)

14. Average disposable income: £15,000 – £20,000
Target Market
20 – 35. All genders. New house buyers. Rent or buy. Bargain hunter. Brands and income emphasise this. Eye for modern, affordable products. Want to protect home is protected but they want to make sure that its their own.
Average income: £20,000 – £30,000
Average disposable income: £15,000 – £20,000
Lifestyle: Work or study 9 to 5. Schedule means that testing alarm is last thing on their mind. Social Media. Streaming. Prominent social life.
Issues: Aware of fire safety to an extent. Keep forgetting to test it or they are not aware that it should be tested in the first place. Little experience as they don't know when and how it should be tested. Believe that smoke alarms are unreliable.
Not families. Less disposable income, spent on children.
Journey map. Bedroom and living room idea locations.
Wake up. Breakfast. Catch up on current events and social feeds. Prepare to start the day.
Work/Study 9 to 5. Focused on work. Socialise with peers.
Dinner. Cook/Takeaway.
Relax.
Go out and socialise with friends.
Get ready for bed. Catch up on social feeds.

16. Frame £2000

22. Aesthetics Viability Mainte-nance Manufa-cturing Function Potential
Utilitarian
Dependent on material selection. Standard shape
Realistic = old fashioned. Geometric = modern
Simple, plain yet modern aesthetic.
Prism is aesthetically pleasing. Clichéd though .
Origami is modern. Potential for base to change.
Viability
Existing product. Best-selling.
Existing technology but it's limited. standard sizes too large and backlight could obscure image.
Easily viable. Simple statue/ sculpture on pedestal.
Potential technologies still in development .
Hologram is a simple reflection of light. Screens are very common.
Dependent on mechanism/ technology. Easily viable otherwise.
Affordability
£ Very affordable.
Transparent screen costs thousands of £'s.
Simplicity would mean low price. Material choice would increase it.
Unique technology would give for a high price.
Could be a luxury product. High price depending on aesthetics.
Mainte-nance
Supposed to be tested weekly. No encouragement to do this.
Little maintenance. Needs reset on a regular basis. Maintain batteries. Switch off to conserve power? User could get annoyed.
Little maintenance. Needs reset on a regular basis. Maintain batteries. Switch off to conserve power?
Should be tested on a regular basis. User is prompted to do so. Maintain batteries.
Little maintenance. Needs reset on a regular basis. Push button? Maintain batteries. Switch off to conserve power?
Little maintenance. Needs reset on a regular basis. Push button? Maintain batteries. Switch off to conserve power?
Manufa-cturing
Mass. Injection moulded ABS.
Frame on mass. Screen on batch. Uncommon technology.
Potentially ceramic, cast metal or crafted wood. Ornate nature = batch.
Injection moulded PLA. Mass.
LCD screen and glass prism. Mass
Ceramic or cast metal. Ornate nature = batch.
Function
10 year battery life. Differentiates between nuisance and emergency.
Captures precious memories. Confronts user with potential consequences of not maintaining smoke alarm usage.
Stylish ornament or centrepiece to style the home whilst simultaneously making user more aware of fire safety.
Works as a smoke alarm. Simply draws user’s attention. Makes them more aware of fire safety.
Potential
Function is sound but doesn’t tackle negative stigma surrounding smoke alarms.
Window display hard to achieve. Tech not on market. Backlight could obscure image. Digital screen used instead. Already been done though.
Historical context sells the idea. Modern aesthetic will bring it up to date. Range of aesthetics. Could annoy user if canary keeps dropping.
‘Safest’, obvious choice. Technology behind it needs to be spot on.
Long term potential. Different holograms, software updates. Future facing.
Origami aesthetic been around for long time. Could be very beautiful. Short term potential.

23. Where do I go from here?

24. Bibliography
Companies and Products. (2014). Home Security - UK - May [online] Mintel. Available at: [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].
Evans, T. (2017). How rich is your area? Interactive map reveals average disposable income around the UK. [online] thesun.co.uk. Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Ferguson, K. (2017). Interactive map shows spending power of regions of the UK. [online] Mail Online. Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Fraser, I. (2016). Where are the youngest first-time buyers in the UK?. [online] The Telegraph. Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Internal Market Environment. (2014). Home Security - UK - May [online] Mintel. Available at: [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].
John Lewis. (2017). Home Spring Summer Trends SS17 | John Lewis. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Monster Career Advice. (2017). Average Salary Information for the UK. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].

25. Bibliography Cont.
Ons.gov.uk. (2017). Household disposable income and inequality in the UK - Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Ons.gov.uk. (2017). Nowcasting household income in the UK - Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Ons.gov.uk. (2017). UK average income by age bands - Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Sheffield, H. (2016). The UK's 10 favourite brands from Yorkshire Tea to BBC iPlayer. [online] The Independent. Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].
Strengths and Weaknesses in the Market. (2014). Home Security - UK - May [online] Mintel. Available at: [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].
Tobin, B. (2016). YouGov | YouTube is highest rated brand among 18-24s, as streaming services dominate. [online] YouGov: What the world thinks. Available at: [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017].