IMC

                                      

        IMC Campaign for Target

                                                                                   

Table of Contents                                               Page

Agency Description                                                                2

Corporate Background                                                           3

Products                                                                                  4

Target Market                                                                                     5

Top-of-the Mind Awareness Survey                                      6

Competitor Profile                                                                 6

SWOT Analysis                                                                      7

Creative Brief                                                                         15

Creative Strategy                                                                    16

References                                                                              17

Appendix

     Products

     Competitors

     Questionnaire

      Focus Group Plan

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Henry Vinson’s Cyberspace Advertising

CEO: Henry Vinson

Address: 1735 New Hampshire Avenue

               Washington, DC 20009

Phone: 202.618.5700

Fax: 202.618.5707

e-mail: henryvinson@henryvinson.com

Web site: www.HenryVinson.com

Tagline: Let Henry send your Messages into Cyberspace!

Services: Advertising, Media Selection, Car Wraps, Bill boards, Subway signs, Public Relations, Environmental Signage, Web Site Design, television and radio commercials, Direct Mail, Newspaper and magazine ads, text messages, air stunt messages, Internet messages, Banner ads, Pop-ups, Promotions, events, and pageants.

Mission: To connect our customers with their target audience-using Cyberspace, traditional and non-traditional media, advertising, and any vehicle appropriate for the message.

Specialty Interest: We love new media and want to send your message into Cyberspace! We think outside the box to get your message to your target audience. We have youthful, cool kids on staff for messaging to the youth culture. We love cyberspace. We will send your message to your cool target audience using Cyberspace, car wraps, bus signs, concert flyers, school programs, land, air, sight, and sound. Let us send your message into Cyberspace!

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Target Corporate Background

     Target is an upscale discounter that sells trendy high quality products and services for home and office. Their stores are clean, spacious, and guest-friendly. CEO is Bob Ulrich and President is Gregg Steinhafel. According to www.target.com, in 2006, Target Corporation earned $2,408 billion. It trades as TGT on the NYSE at 60.47. In 47 states, Target has 1500 stores and 300,000 employees. After building the first Super Target in Omaha, NE in 1995, they have opened 175 more Target Superstores. They follow the 1938 Fair Labor Standards. The median age of the guests is 41, and household income is $58,000. 43% completed college and have children at home.

     History: Target has it origins with the  Marshall Field Company founded in 1881 and with the Dayton Company, which was founded in 1903. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 as a discount retail store selling trendy goods at affordable prices. The first Target Greatland opened in 1990. In 1995 Target introduced the REDcard, their store credit card and opened the doors to their first superstore in Omaha, NE. In 1968 the Dalton Company adopted the Bull’s Eye Logo. In 1975, Target became the number one producer of Dayton Corporation. It was renamed Target Corporation in 1995. Four years later the web site is developed as www.target.com, and online sales become successful, especially to younger, Internet savvy shoppers.

     Target core values are to provide discount, trendy goods at a fair price, embrace diversity, protect the environment, and give back to the community. Target returns 5% of its annual income to community organizations that make positive changes such as the American Red Cross, the United Way, and the Salvation Army.

     Target’s mission is to sell quality goods at a fair price. Expect more. Pay less.

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             Target sells trendy clothing, cosmetics, office supplies, meat, produce, and groceries. Super Targets have pharmacies, delis, photo processing, Food Avenue Restaurants, and banking. Expect more. Pay less.

Target Products.

See appendix for product visuals.

1.     Play station 3. Play Station 3 sells for $499.99. There are many accessories and games available. Every teen surveyed listed this item as a source of entertainment. Figure 1.

2.     Ipod. MP3 Player for $249.99, IPOD Nano. There are a variety of cases and appurtenances for this product. Downloading music is a popular feature. They listen to the iPod in school, at athletic events, and while shopping. They can tune out unwanted messages while listening to the iPod. It helps them multi-task. Figure 2.

3.     Pro Spirit Cropped Pants for $14.99. The cropped pants are now very popular, especially as we enter spring. They are chic and trendy. It matches the hoodie to complete a spring outfit for a teen. Figure 3.

4.     Pro Spirit Hoodie for $14.99. The hoodie is very sporty and fashionable while it provides protection from wind and weather. Figure 4.

5.     Stranded Screen T-shirt for $12.99. This T-shirt was a popular and casual shirt chosen for it modern message and color. Figure 5.

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6.     Mossimo Boys Bootcut Jeans for $34.99. The teens love this style of Jeans and can  

wear them to school and social functions. It looks good with the T-shirt in figure 5. Figure 6.

7.     Xhilaration Swim Suit for $14.99. For girls, the swim season is just around the corner. This popular, colorful 2-piece swimsuit will be popular at the pool and at the beach. Figure 7

8.     REDcard. The popular credit card gives the teen experience with managing credit. There is less chance of wild spending by using a store specific card. There is 10% off the first purchase. A credit card is convenient. Figure 7.

Target Market Description

     The target market for this campaign is teens, age 13-17, which falls into Generation Y. They are highly expressive, individualistic, and impatient. According to Hatcher in JMIC, they hear 3,000 advertising messages everyday, and filter most out. They are the first “online generation,” and watch television, e-mail, and text message at the same time. Not wanting to become sensory overloaded with too many messages, they pay attention to messages that affect them while ignoring the others.

     According to Wilson in www.Retailwire.com, they enjoy communicating with each other through podcasts, cellular phones, e-mail, and posting on MySpace. They respond to online messages, interactive campaigns, and pop-ups. Traditional advertising losses this Generation Y.

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      They enjoy protecting the environment, shopping concerts, and sports events. Many like trendy clothes and want to be “Cool.”

Top-of-Mind Awareness Survey and Competitor Profile

     From the local running club and women’s tennis club, 20 young men and women, age 13-20, volunteered to participate in the focus group to assess, analyze, and report consumer attitudes about Target brand. The results favored Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart. They also shopped at Kohl’s, Magic Mart, Macy’s, Abercrombie and Fitch, The Gap, J.C.Penney’s, and Kaugmann’s based on the survey.

     The top-of-mind awareness is high for Target. Customers favor Target.

     All participants rated Target as a favored trendy discount store where they will purchase clothes, cosmetics, electronics, and sports equipment. They rated Target about Wal-Mart its closest competitor for a favored shopping experience. The name is well recognized, and all remembered the bull’s eye logo. All used the web site for product evaluation and possible purchases. All liked the web site. All liked Target brands but were not entirely brand loyal. Most liked the layout of the stores and the openness. All enjoyed shopping at Target more than at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. Though they shopped at other stores, none shopped there very much.

Competitor Profile

     K-Mart merged with Sears March 24, 2005 to form Sears Holdings Corporation, which is SHLD on TNYSE at $5.59 per share. It has an annual net income of $1.5 billion from 3800 stores. It is the third largest discount retail store. Figure 1.

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     The largest competitor is the discount store is Wal-Mart, which opened its first store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. According to www.walmart.com. the mission is to foster open

and honest dialogue with elected officials, opinion makers, and community leaders that conveys the positive contributions of Wal-Mart to working families. “We believe that Wal-Mart provides value to customers, to its associates and to the communities it serves.” It trades on NYSE as WMT. There are 6500 Wal-Mart stores in 14 countries. In 2005, it made $312.4 billion in sales. Figure 2.

    

    

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

As a large retail, discount store, Target has much strength.

1. The company culture is based on discounted products at a fair price. Target is progressive, trendy, customer friendly, diverse, and concerned about the environment. They guarantee their products, will exchange, return, and refund unacceptable merchandise. The customer can view transactions and account information online and make corrections online.
2. Target’s company image is very positive in that it is trendy and customer friendly. Customers expect good customer service in large spacious stores. Expect more. Pay less. The stores are attractive and filled with many choices.

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3. The key staff has many years of experience in retail. The CEO is Bob Ulrich, and the President is Gregg Steinhafel. The Board of Directors and regional managers

have many years of retail experience. By keeping their key staff they offer continuity and loyalty. They enjoy fringe benefits such as pension plan, sick leave, paid vacation and paid holidays, bonuses, family leave, health insurance, and disability insurance.

4. Their position on the experience curve is very high since they started 126 years ago. Target started as Marshall Field in retail in 1881 and has been growing as retail store called Target since 1962. For 45 years Target has grown as an experienced discount retail store.
5. They operate efficiently and show yearly profits. Each share grew by $1.29 in 2007. In 2006, Target enjoyed net earnings of $1.119 billion.
6. They have excess operational capacity. They employ realtors who constantly buy  and sell retail and whole sale buildings. They have vast array of buildings in which to expand. Target has the capacity to build Targets and Super Targets.
7. Target’ 2 ring red target has a highly visible brand awareness logo, according to Henderson and Cote in the Journal of Marketing.
8. Target enjoys 13% of the Market Share.
9. Target owns many financial resources such as real estate, products, and investments. They own 1502 stores in 47 states, many buildings and pieces of

land in all 50 states and in Washington D.C. Their online store is a source of financial strength.

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10. For their pensions and disability policies, they own many annuities, stocks, and bonds. They have warehouses and a web site.
11. Target operates with 708 exclusive brands, which include Spectrobes for Nintendo DS and CD Nashville Now: Red Mix. Target has 95024 exclusive Target brands.
12. The market trend acknowledges that this demographic purchases $13 billion in goods, and that amount is expected to increase.
13. Target partners with fashion designers like Rachel Ashwell and Victoria Hagan. Their electronic partnerships help sell quality computers and MP3’s. The targeted demographic likes these partnerships.
14. Target offers a wide range of services and products that include optical, pharmacy, photo shop, food service, department store, and groceries.

Weaknesses

1. Target’s customers are used to good service in the store and online. The average customer age is 41. They expect a baby and bridal registry. This campaign needs to reach a less polite, impatient, rebellious, and more demanding customer age 13-

17. Online is a great place to reach this customer.

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2. The discount retail market is saturated with competitors such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Magic-Mart, Old Navy, and Tanger Outlets. The youthful demographic shops online at all these stores and in person. Department stores compete for the

same target such as Kohl’s, Sears, Kohl’s, J.C Penneys, Kaufmanns, Macy’s, and Albercrombie and Fitch. Specialty stores compete for cosmetics and baby wares

such as Bath and Body, Evelyn Crabtree, Body Works, Baby and More, and Toys R Us. Movies, entertainment, food, sports, and events vie for this demographic’s time and money.

3. Supplies come from around the globe. The high cost of transportation increases the global purchases. Many consumer products are made in Asia where labor is inexpensive. Many soldiers and union workers will make “made in USA” purchases. Clothes come from Bageldesh. Baby rattles come from China. Furniture comes from Canada. War, gas prices, disturbances abroad effect supply chain.
4. Society has changed. Teens aged 13 – 17 are impatient, rude, and very demanding. Unlike their parents who matured during civil rights and the Viet Nam War, this group knows more prosperity from their families. They grew up “online” and expect Target employees to have the same technical expertise. Their needs have been met, and they become used to instant answers and results. The usual advertising messages will not reach this group since they do not read newspapers or wade through endless television ads. The ad must stand out to reach this age group.

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5. The organizational structure is based on a public traded company. There are local managers, a CEO, company president, board of directors, and regional

managers. When a retail company reports to a public board, some retail decisions might not be made that permits Target’s growth, unless a profit is made in short time.  Some retail decisions do not yield an immediate profit in time for a board to see.

Opportunities

1. Technology. Target has an opportunity to develop and maintain a strong online presence. Since the teens have technical savvy, target needs a well-developed technical staff. Questions need answered quickly online, on the phone, and on text messages. Target.com can reach this demographic and personalize messages and shopping.
2. Target contributes $3 million per day to the communities. Target promotes organization that seeks to improve the community like civic centers, the American Red Cross, and the Salvation Army. Because of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and natural disasters, Target has many opportunities to donate money for good causes.

Threats

1.     Political and Regulatory environment. Target Corporation answers to investors and a board of directors. They are interested in profits. Some retail decisions do not show immediate profits, and a board of directors might not share the same vision for the store. Target operates in the public arena, and their finances are transparent. They

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must follow all country, state, national, and local laws. They must embrace diversity, avoid child labor, and protect the environment. They follow the 1938 Labor

2.     Standards. The pharmacy and optical shop must follow DEA, national, and professional standards. OSHA standards must be addressed.

3.     Economic Environment. The war drains billions of dollars from this country. It makes many people cautious about spending. Many children live in single parent homes with limited disposable income. There is a widening gap of the “haves and have nots”. Since 911 many people fear global war, and they save their money.

4.     Any teen activity, sport, concert, product, or event is a threat to Target because it competes for the same dollar. If teens continue to gain weight, the loose clothing and cover-ups will replace trendy mini skirts and bikinis.

Brand Positioning

     The Target Brand is positioned in the market place as a favorite store for trendy shoes, clothes, cosmetics, gifts, and jewelry. The CD's and DVD selection is good. The electronic selection is good. According to the focus group, there are no computers sold at the nearby Target, which is why Wal-Mart is favored for computer selection. See trendy selections in appendix under products.

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Brand Personality

     The human characteristics associated with Target are sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. Teens want to be independent yet be part of the “in” group. They want acceptance.

     As a sincere brand, Target helps clean up the environment on Earth Day and ring the bells for The Salvation Army. They sell wholesome products like shoes and jeans. The store is bright and cheerful.

     As an exciting brand, Target offers spirited make-up, nail polish, and music CD’s. The youth department is decorated in an imaginative way with very up-to-date furnishings, motifs, and products. Teens feel daring when wearing new swim suits and crop pants.

     Because Target is competent, it stands behind its products with a full guaranty. They have an easy return policy for in store products and online purchases. Online directions can be found for returning merchandise.

     Since Target offers suits, prom dresses, coordinated make-up, and jewelry, it is sophisticated. It avoids tacky displays of decoration on the person and within the store. The upper class shops at Target, and the clerks can be charming. Target is an upscale discount store.

     Teen boys appreciated a full range of jackets, sports wear, jeans, and boots for Target’s rugged appeal. Teens can buy skateboards, inline skates, hiking boots, and baseball gloves that are tough and outdoorsy.

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Teens want to exercise independence. Dressing as an individual helps teens feel independent.

     Teens want acceptance. Target clothing helps them be accepted.

 

Brand Perception Among Youth Audience

     A focus group revealed that teens regard Target an “in” place to shop. The products are trendy, and very “in.” Though they mentioned that their parents like Target, too, they found many products in electronics and clothing to their liking. They like stores that make them feel special. Many Target stores sell products just for teens such as  CD’s and DVD’s.

     They like to visit specialty stores such as Gap and Aberchrombie and Fitch. However, a better value is found at Target. Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart are where the family shops, not just teens. They prefer their own section and stores. They have positive impressions of all three discount stores, but really like Target.

     The focus group results are in the Appendix.

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Target Creative Brief

Why are we advertising?__________________________________________________

So that teens age 13-17 will chose Target for their first choice in shopping for their choices in clothes, cosmetics, shoes, school supplies, and electronics.

Who are we talking to?____________________________________________________

Teens age 13-17 who want an enjoyable shopping experience that caters to their needs, wants, preferences, and desires.

What do they currently think?_____________________________________________

Target is a trendy discount store that caters to their parents.

What do we want them to think?___________________________________________

Target is a trendy, edgy discount department store that caters to teens age 13-17. They have the coolest products in a gorgeous store where teens are made to feel important. All the “cool” kids shop at Target.

What is the single most pervasive idea we can convey?_________________________

No other store caters to teens age 13-17 who are welcome to shop for trendy clothes, chic jewelry, upbeat electronics, and cool shoes.

Why should they believe it?________________________________________________

As a discount department store, Target employs 300,000 people and made $2,408 last year. “Woman’s Magazine” touted Target as the best place to work.

Are there creative guidelines?______________________________________________

Bus wrap, 14x48 outdoor, full page magazine ads, 30 second TV and radio ads, direct mail, fashion show, academic banquet, Cancer Walk, promotions, BOGOF, coupons, Internet ads, banner ads, pop-up ads, e-mail.

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Creative Strategy

1.     Increase teen swimsuit purchase by 25% in six months. By teaming swimsuits with sandals, totes, towels, and suntan lotion the teen will be ready for the pool or the beach.

2.     Increase teen hoodie purchase by 25% in one year. The chic, trendy hoodie can be teamed with shorts, skirts, scarves, and totes. A summer of protection and fun awaits those who purchase a hoodie.

3.     Increase teen cropped pants by 25% in one year. This is a chic, new style for city wear and casual get-togethers. It can be coordinated with T-shirts, hoodies, totes, jewelry, and sandals.

4.     Increase REDcard sales by 20% within one year. No teen should go shopping with out the REDcard. 10% off the first purchase will be an incentive for purchase.

5.     Increase iPod sales by 20% this year. Include onpacks and accessories. Give coupons for iPod cases.

6.     Increase teen traffic by 25% this year. Have teen nights. Have a teen beverage and snack center.

7.     Increase online sales by 25% in one year. Obtain e-mails and offer online teen promotions. Keep in contact by e-mail. Host a fashion show. Host the academic banquet.

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www.target.com Privacy Notice p. 1-4

                  Target

              Competitors