Target Crisis: Lawsuit

If you look up Target's crises on the inter-webz...one thing in particular dominates.

Oh, the beauty of a lawsuit. It's probably a rarity that a fortune 500 company NOT be dealt a lawsuit. Target has been dealt several. One of which you can read about here. Basically, way back in '06 Target was taken to court because disabled people who visited their website claimed it was not easily accessible to blind people for various reasons. Target and the National Federation of the Blind settled the suit-- NFB won.

Target has also dealt with a race-discrimination suit. Yikes. Target settled the suit by paying $510,000 after 4 African-Americans claimed they weren't hired or interviewed because of their race.

Target seems to have improved their website for the most part in response to the NFB suit, but that suit is from '08, so I wouldn't know what the website looked like before compared to now. It's hard to research exactly WHAT Target did in relation to the racial discrimination suit from '07 however, they now have a whole portion of their website dedicated to diversity. So maybe they've made an effort to improve?

If you're a giant fortune 500 company you better have a damn good crisis plan.....just in case!

Investor Relations

Target hearts its investors. And it's investors heart target. Oh look....Target beating Walmart. Tee hee.



It's annual report is not spared from it's snazzy ads or website. It keeps with the theme. See the annual report here.

It's got some nice photos, but overall it's fairly boring. But I suppose with it's few pages of glossy photos, all with headings that been with with the word "Uniquely" it's far from dull, and since I am no fan of economics, and I find these pages appealing, we'll say Target tries for at least a smidge of market appeal with it's purty annual report.




Personally, I don't know what SEC filings even are...but in case you care, Target's are viewable right here.

Target's CEO is Robert Urlrich. He fondly signs his letter to investors with "Bob". See Bob sell. Sell Bob sell!



Bob says, in his latest letter to investors, that they "had a challenging year" but quickly follows it up with "but we did this and this and thiiiiiiis" The end of his letter heavily relies on the past actions of the company- you know, it's good reputation and years of service and blah blah blah. So even though Target's investors may not be too pleased with the 2007 report, Bobby makes sure we know what they DID do, and what they've DONE in the past. And gosh darn it, Bob makes the investors keep on hearting Target.






And, in Target's latest quarterly report, which you can catch a glimpse of here! You'll see that it is sadly and simply just the straight facts and a boiler about the company. Standard press release crap. Facts with a boiler tacted on. Booooring. No CEO quotes, nothing to excite the investor or concern him. If anything, this press release could spare it's readers from boredom comas by adding some quotes, or even telling the reader if the results are good or bad. Thumbs down to this press release, Target. Of all the things you do so well, investor relations may be the fairly weakest area I've come across so far.

Community Relations

Target. Does. Community. Veeeeery well.




To start with Target really has a strong grasp on what most communities need. Especially in the current economic climate. That's right..... Cha-Ching! "Target gives 5% of its income to communities...

...that's $3 Million every week."





I know... it is kind of surprising that such a large and profitable company could be so noble.

Their Noble-ness, if you will, is focused in the following areas:

Education
Arts + Culture
& Social Services


Mostly, what they do is give money to other organizations that specialize in these areas. However, the company also encourages it's employees to partake in VOLUNTEER work. Yay. Of course, the employees will always be seen in Target garb. (count it! a gold star for the PR department!)




It looks cool when your employees not only have the time to volunteer, but are encouraged to do so by their company. It just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside... reaction: Target cares! They really do! Not just with money, but with TIME AND EFFORT!!

And all of this community relations business goes right along with their mission statement. Expect more. Pay Less. Yes...expect more, in all aspects of the company which you are being a fine fine customer to.

Brand Image

Target seems to be pretty well-liked, if you will, by consumers. If "Target" was a person, it would be a man or woman who somehow managed to be frugal and have a flawless appearance at the same time. Character "Target" would be active in his/her community and do volunteer work and give donations in order to give back. "Target" would be the sweet, innocent, yet modern girl/boy next door who created DaVinci caliber artwork for fun on the weekends.
Target, the company works hard for it's image. In a world ruled by evil villain Wal-Mart (dun dun duuun!) How does Target train the consumer to pull up different mental images and ideas when they hear "Target" then when they hear "Wal-Mart?" Well Target just attacks from all angles. FIrst there are those catchy advertisements with trendy sounding music and an undeniable modern, artistic quality. Then there are the oodles upon oodles of PR campaigns the company uses. A recent campaign, begun in February 2009, represents the brand in a near perfect manner, and makes me feel like if I shop at Target I'm going to get an artsy, trendy, AFFORDABLE, designer piece of clothing. Like this: Basically, Target is partnering with designer Alexander McQueen to launch "Target Designer Collaborations." If that wasn't enough, we learn that McQueen is inspired by music by British rock band The Duke Spirit. I've never heard of them, but by golly, isn't it cool that at Target I can get a designer shirt that was inspired by the music of a rock band? You can see the press release here. Additionally, Target's PR works hard to make us feel that Target understands our fears about money as the economy continues to flounder. Here Target offers a video on how to be "frugilista and fabulous." Those are not words you will ever see created in a Wal-Mart campaign, I promise you that...
I've mentioned this before, but Target makes sure we know the company does good in our world. They really care about things like giving money to the schools in your town and about being "green." In a recent press release, which you can read here Target announces an eco-friendly outdoor living collection.
The only thing more important than the environment is definitely people. Target does a variety of outreach programs. This most definitely promotes the "caring" image. Targets cares about a lot of stuff. The community in general, the people in it, the environment and being green. But Target also cares about your family and it's budget in the state of this economy and is willing to teach you how to be trendy and frugal. When was the last time Wal-Mart attempted to teach you anything? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Shaun White 4 Clothing Line

Ever-so-recently (Feb.18), Target announced the continuation of the "Shaun White 4 Target" clothing line. You can read Target's press release on their website by clicking here. Shaun White is a Target athlete, and Olympic Gold Medalist. Doesn't he make Target look ever so lovely? The cool skateboarder/snowboarder most definitely appeals to the kids. And since Shaun is such a cool and well-behaved athlete (Seriously, not even his Wikipedia article has a bad word about him!) his fabulous reputation reflects well onto Target. It seems Target did a good job promoting the return of it's clothing line. When you google news search for "target shaun white 4 target clothing" you see that the PRNewswire was sent the release for mass release. Yay! Target gets a gold star for that move! When you switch over to check out the regular google results for the same strand, you see that plenty of bloggers/online news sources have picked up on the newsrelease...including CNBC and The LA Times. On page 2 of google results, the snowboard websites start popping up as reporting that their own Shaun White is teaming up with Target.
Target, judging from the internet reaction, has done a good job announcing their continued relationship with Shaun White. This announcement does further fab PR for the company, as it promotes their sponsorship of some action sport stars.Kudos to Target for connecting their reputation with the noble likes of Shaun White. Good reputations should share the wealth, the publicity, and all the sugary sweet goodness like that. Target + Shaun White= Looooove.

Use of New Media

Target doesn't seem to use a whole lot of new media, aka, a blog or a podcast. But what they do have they use well. Target's website is almost overwhelming, though despite this it's still quite user friendly. Colorful and red-and-white themed, it reels you in. Whether you're looking to check out the newest clothing options for women in the store:here, or trying to catch a glimps of the annuual report:here ...Target makes it all available at your fingertips.
Target also allows customers to sign up for e-mail updates of their latest sales or special promotions. I've been getting these updates since about a year ago after I ordered rain boots off their website. They are helpful, but could use catchier subject lines at times. Another nice touch is making their weekly ad available online:here!. A lot of grocery stores do this same thing with their circulars, and I think it really speaks to people my age who are poor college students looking for deals, and find it much easier to log onto a website and find what we're looking for as opposed to calling or digging through mail.
The website, being so pretty and helpful, is a very very effective use of new media. However, the e-mails are slightly less effective in my view. I'm not sure why, they are informative. Perhaps I just think of them as "junk mail" sometimes? Whatever the case, I personally find the Old Navy e-mails much better, as they only e-mail me when there's a really good sale. Perhaps Target would benefit from having a facebook account or a twitter account. Either would certainly put them up a step higher than competitors K-mart or Wal-Mart. Target would look that much savvier and trendy.

Expect More. Pay Less.

Target is the classier, slightly more expensive version of Wal-Mart. Though Wal-Mart is frequented by myself and friends because it's closer, Target is the place we journey too. We look forward to it. Lovingly, we pronounce it "Tar-jay" with a French accent. Brightly lit and modern looking the store is inviting and has a trendy feel (as evidenced by the Starbucks within.) I admit, my love seems shallow, but I swear it's not just about looks. In this blog, I plan to unearth the deeper, more mature side of Target.Target is a retailer that sells just about everything one could think of needing in day to day life. Things myself or friends have purchased from Target: Patterned rainboots, DVDs, clothing, toiletries, make-up, various snacks, a humidifier, weight loss shakes, bedding, etc. On their website http://www.target.com/ Target has their mission statement:

"Our mission is to make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and an exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More. Pay Less.® brand promise.
To support our mission, we are guided by our commitments to great value, the community, diversity and the environment."

Sounds pretty amazing to me. Target proves all of the extra stuff in the second sentence through it's actions as well. The are certainly not all talk. Target is going green, giving back to the community, and are strong supporters of diversity within their stores.

Target has a nice, squeaky-clean reputation through word-of-mouth and business magazines alike. Perhaps Target's most impressive, recent nod came from Fortune Magazine, which ranked target #11 on it's list of "America's Most Admired Companies 2008." All of the company's accomplishments are posted conveniently on it's website, displayed prominently. Target also showcases that it gives back to the community with a recent TV ad saying that it gives back 5% of all profits it makes to the communities of the U.S.

I'll admit, most of target's stunning good news I was unaware of until I visited their awesome website. I had seen the commercial that stated the percentage of money Target gives back, but that was the extent. Otherwise I had just never heard anything bad about the store through word of mouth.

PR wise, Target needs to get the good things it does out there more than they are already, one commercial and a section on their website that most people don't visit just isn't enough. Will I come up with better suggestions? Oh, I hope so. This Saturday Night Live skit might be considered a bit of good, though abnormal, PR as well. Enjoy.

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