3. TARGET
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Situation Analysis: Target
About the Organization
Target was created by George Draper Dayton in Minneapolis in 1902 as Dayton Dry
Goods Company. By 1911 Dayton Dry Goods Company is the fourth largest department store in
Minneapolis. In 1960 Target was introduced as one of the largest discount stores with higher
quality products. The Target icon was created in 1962 to demonstrate to consumers that “as a
marksman’s goal is to hit the center bulls eye, the new store would do much the same in terms of
retail goods, service, commitment to the community, price, value and overall experience.” By
1966 Target began spreading outside of Minnesota. In 1994 Target created the “Expect More.
Pay Less” campaign promise (Target Through The Years, 2014).
Throughout all of Target’s early development into today, Target has also been donating
and taking part in corporate social responsibility. Founder George Draper Dayton created the
Dayton Foundation with a $1 million endowment to promote the welfare of mankind. This
eventually became the Target Foundation in 2000. President Ronald Reagan also awarded the
foundation for its community giving in arts and social welfare in 1983. In the late 1930’s Target
decided to give 5 percent, or the pretax profit, back to the community, it was the second
company in America to do so. Also in 2010, the company offered a $1 billion promise towards
education by the end of 2015 (Target Through The Years, 2014).
Today Target’s missions reads, “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.” Under its Responsible Corporate Citizenship section, the corporation writes that
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“Target remains committed to its legacy of responsible corporate citizenship, ethical business
practices, environmental stewardship and generous community support. Since 1946, the
corporation has given 5 percent of its income to communities through grants and a variety of
programs like Take Charge of Education®
. Today, that giving equals more than $4 million a
week, largely directed towards supporting education” (Target Through The Years, 2014).
Competition
Target’s main competitors are other department and retail stores. Some of these other
stores include Wal-Mart, Sears Hometown Outlet Stores Inc. and J.C. Penny Company (Target
Corporation Competitors, 2014).
When Target went online in 1999 it allowed room for more competitors (Target Through
the years). Its online competition includes Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Amazon. A Forbes article
dated 2012 stating that Target is going to match its competitors prices and also offer over 180
discount coupons during the 2012 holiday season (Target declares war on competition, n.d.).
Target By The Numbers
In the year 2013, Target’s revenue reached up to $72,596 billion. Its Net Earnings stood
at $1,971 billion and its net earning per share reached $3.07 billion. Its total sales increased by
0.9 percent overall (Corporate Overview, n.d.).
Altogether, Target owns 1,917 stores. This includes 1,793 in the United States and 124 in
Canada. Target recently began operating stores in Canada beginning in March 2013. Its number
of employees has reached 366,000 (Corporate Overview, n.d.).
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Communication Strategy
Within Target’s corporation, CEO Gregg Steinhafel promotes teamwork among all of the
employees. He says “At Target, nothing happens without a large, collaborative effort.”
Internally Steinhafel prefers email and face-to-face exchanges with the large staff. There are also
company-wide initiatives put in effect to gather feedback in order to improves things at a
granular level. The CEO sends out surveys in which he claims, “We get well over 300,000
responses.” (Dishman, 2012).
Typical Consumers
According to Target’s corporate overview Web page its consumers have a median
age of 41. The median household income is approximately $60K. Around 42 percent of
consumers have children at home and around 57 percent have completed college. (Corporate
Overview, n.d.).
Target’s typical demographic mostly consists of women and the company tends to market
towards families. Target is designed to offer services for various ages mostly children and
middle aged female with children, and most stores are conveniently located (Tenzin Chodon,
2012).
Target is a discounted store so the products are cheaper than that of its competitors. It
tries to distinguish itself from the competitors by tactics such as price matching, including
generic drugs, on as well as offering more up to date home furnishings and clothing sections. It
also offers exclusive products and promotions such as reward programs, customer service, terms,
price, brand recognition, variety of selection and credit line management in order to maximize
revenue (Tenzin Chodon, 2012).
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SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Size
Target, founded in 1902, is fifth overall in retail/mass merchandisers and offers a wide
variety of goods at over 1,500 locations. It has established itself as a strong corporation that has
been with its consumers for a long time. It is the tenth largest Internet retailer in the United
States and is now international with 124 stores in Canada (Target Corp in Retail, 2014).
The Brand
Target features strong private labels including food, kitchen, and apparel (Target Corp in
Retail, 2014). It prides itself on being ‘cheap chic,’ by collaborating with brands that are not
known for being inexpensive. The ‘cheap chic’ strategy appeals to a broad customer base due to
high-profile design partnerships and clever and creative advertising. Target has successfully
associated its brand with a younger, edgier image than competitors. Compared to one of its main
competitors, Wal-Mart, Target differentiates itself by its store cleanliness, shopping environment
and experience, and being less crowded (Barwise & Meehan, 2004).
Corporate Social Responsibility
According to Targets corporate website, Target has focused on efforts that support
education, sustainability, health and well-being, responsible sourcing safety and preparedness,
team members, and volunteerism. Target exercises this corporate social responsibility in many
ways. For example, it donated $387 million to local k-12 schools since 1997 through Take
Charge of Education. (Corporate Responsibility: Here for Good, n.d.).
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Weaknesses
Data Breach
Prior to the data breach in November 2013, there was a breach in 2005, which also
included breaches on other companies such as TJ Maxx, 7-Eleven, Office Max and others.
Heartland Payment Services was able to spot an issue in the system signaling the breach leading
to Target’s awareness of the security issue (Givens, 2014). If Heartland Payment Services had
not brought attention to the issue within the system, Target would not have caught the breach.
Prior to the most recent breach on Target’s data system, it was noted that its prices were two
percent higher than those prices listed at Wal-Mart (Moskowitz, 2014).
FireEye Ignored
Six months prior to breach in November 2013, Target began installing a malware
detection tool made by FireEye whose customers also include the CIA and the Pentagon (Riley,
Elgin, Lawerence, & Matlack 2014). Target specifically decided to turn off the alert feature
within the system because it wanted people to detect a breach in the system rather than the
system itself. The company made a conscious decision to turn off the alert feature and leave it up
to the human eye to detect any issues (Riley, Elgin, Lawerence, & Matlack 2014).
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Opportunities
Growth
Target has launched many new business ventures in last five years. The company began
PFresh, a portion of some Target stores that sells fresh produce, meat and baked goods at low
prices. This creates a larger grocery presence to compete with Wal-Mart. In 2013 Target also
launched Cartwheel, an app that allowed people to have immediate access to coupons to use
online. This prompted a growth in Internet sales – rising from eight percent to 12 percent - and
could bring in more consumers based on Internet shopping. Early success with e-commerce has
led to Target’s purchases of Chef’s Catalogue and cooking.com, again trying to expand and bring
consumers better options. In the future Target plans to open more stores in urban areas with
denser populations to appeal to more consumers that travel on foot (Target Corp in Retail, 2014).
Re-establish Trust
While taking into account these open doors, Target should also consider a focus on the
data breach it had in the holiday season of 2013. If done properly, Target can use this to re-
establish trust with consumers and work toward a responsible and reliable company image. An
effective response is key to having the other potential areas of growth effectively reach potential.
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Threats
Wal-Mart
One of the main threats to Target is its competition with Wal-Mart. Although Target is an
established company between the United States and Canada, it is not nearly as large as Wal-Mart
which is the world’s largest retailer and grocery store and is listed as the third largest employer
in the world only surpassed by the U.S. and Chinese military (Carter, 2014). Additionally, Wal-
Mart holds 82 percent value shares of hyper-markets compared to Target’s five percent value
shares of hyper-markets (Target Corp In Retail, 2014).
Disgruntled Stakeholders
Another threat to Target is IHateTarget.net, a website with employee testimonial blogs
and complaints. The site's tagline 'We Hate Target and We Know We're Not Alone' (Target
Sucks, 2014) describes the internal threat Target faces from a key stakeholder-- employees. This
threatens to negatively impact Target's image and brand and deter stakeholders from continuing
business with the chain.
Department Store Decline
Finally, the revenue of department stores has been declining in general, and is expected to
declined at an annual rate of about 2.9 percent (Carter, 2014). Overall, however, the US GDP is
expected to rise 2.5 percent over the same period, so while people are spending more, they are
spending less in department stores specifically. Because of the saturated market and proliferation
of department stores, there is high pressure on margins (Carter, 2014).
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Primary Research
Preliminary Survey
A survey was posted online as an attempt to gain a broad and simplistic general idea of
how consumers felt about Target, security, and knowledge of the crisis. As of October 15, 2014
108 responses were filled out.
Summary of Survey Responses
On demographics, the percentage of female to male responses are 67 percent and 33
percent respectively, with 66 percent of the total responses belonging to people ages 18 to 21.
The second largest age group was 22 to 25 year-olds at 19 percent. (Appendix A-4)
When asked about behavioristic characteristics out of those surveyed, 39 percent stated
they shopped at Target within the last few weeks and another 33 percent in the past few months.
The cleanliness, options, prices and quality of products were all liked by more than half those
surveyed. A vast majority, 83 percent, spends less than 50 dollars on a regular trip to Target.
When asked where consumers shop the places most frequently visited were Target (70 percent),
Starbucks (49 percent), and Walmart (45 percent). Most people shop for groceries weekly or just
whenever they need to. A majority of people, 57 percent, shop for other needs such as electronics
whenever they need to. When asked if quality or price is more important, 43 percent stayed
neutral. Over 90 percent of people are always buying food, followed by toiletries and clothing
more than half the time. About 49 percent of people consider themselves bad to terrible at
budgeting, while 45 percent felt good to excellent at budgeting (Appendix -2).
Another key insight that was focused on in the survey was trust in a company. When
asked how important trust in a company is, 67 percent of responses rated above neutral feelings.
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The system hack of 2013 did not change the shopping habits of 90 percent of people, though 66
percent stated that it did concern them (Appendix-3).When asked if the hack directly affected the
individual’s trust in Target, 82 percent said no, that anyone could get hacked. About 81 percent
knew about the data breach and about 59 percent of people learned about the incident from the
news.
In-Depth Interviews
While trying to get a deeper understanding of consumers emotions, attitudes, and
perception of Target, 12 in depth interviews were conducted. The goal of the interviews was to
reach further into the consumers minds than would have been possible with the surveys.
Interview Summaries
The interviews showed interesting trends and insights that the surveys could not provide.
The trends picked up from the survey showed that every single respondent cared about trusting a
company and also knew of what had happened to Target during the breach last year. While that
is true nearly all of the respondents claimed they were still equally likely to shop at Target after
the breach. This shows that Target has built a strong trust with its customers over the years. But
when asked about whether or not Target could help to improve trust with customers every
respondent had a answer.
One respondent referred to a recent Home Depot reaction to a security breach and said,
“Home Depot recently had a security breach and they offered its customers a year of LifeLock. It
not only shows that they care about its customers, but it is a way to prevent future breaches.”
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This quote shows that while many customers still have faith in Target, they believe that Target
could do more to improve its situation.
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Executive Summary
Target has always been amongst the most successful and popular of all of the retail and
department stores. Although Wal-Mart, their strongest competitor, controls a vast majority of the
market, Target is still an enormous corporation that has continued to grow and open up new
stores throughout North America (Target Corporation Competitors, 2014). Though even with the
growth and popularity of the company it still can become hugely hurt and can be stunted by an
incident such as the data breach. Being such a large company consumers expect more of from
Target. They expect the company to help its users regain trust and fix what happened in the data
breach (Target Through The Years, 2014).
Website
One way to regain the trust of the customers is to give them a way to talk about the
problems they had during the breach and any problems they still have with Target since the
breach has subsided. A way to do this is by introducing a website/blog. The Target blog is going
to be launched entirely for the customers so they can express their thoughts and concerns with
the Target team and have the team be able to respond directly to the customers. The website
launched is called www.targetblog.com. This is a great way to interact with the customers on a
personal level. It will be an effective tool for both the consumers and Target to communicate
with each other and come to healthy smart solutions in which both parties are happy (Tenzin
Chodon, 2012). The blog is to be launched as soon as possible so customers can regain their trust
and go back to shopping at Target.
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Social Media
It is important to connect with constituents through social media in today’s world as it is
a hugely popular source of information for customers and businesses. Everyday social media is
proving to be more important and have more influence on consumer behavior so it is necessary
for Target to communicate to consumers through Facebook and Twitter (Corporate Overview,
n.d.). Both of these pages will be dedicated to communicating with any stakeholders of the crisis.
These are both easy and effective ways to talk to consumers, but require thought out responses.
The responses need to take responsibility for what happened, show a clear apology, and show
what Target is doing to prevent situations like this one from happening again in the future.
Commercial
A short 30 second video to outline what happened with the breach is going to show that
Target is dedicated to doing the right thing. This commercial is a way of going above and
beyond what is thought to be required of a company and will really help to get customers back
on Target’s side (Corporate Overview, n.d.). This spot is going to be exclusively on YouTube,
because millennials do not watch television as often as prior generations and instead are often
found on websites like YouTube. Millennials will also appreciate this ad, because it is short and
concise. A 15 second ad that gets the message across fast will get the point across to the
millennials (Carter, 2014).
Slogan
Among all of the different media, being used to apologize to stakeholders and fix
Target’s reputation a new slogan was created for this campaign called, “Dedicated to Doing
Right.” This slogan is going to be integrated into every piece created for the campaign as well as
all of the social media and blogs. The slogan is going to be a reassurance that will constantly be
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seen by Target consumers. When customers think of Target they will think, “Dedicated to Doing
Right,” even after the campaign has ended. It is a good thought to be attached to a brand, because
of the ever-growing importance of corporate responsibility that the younger generations are
determined to have (Corporate Responsibility: Here for Good, n.d.).
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Target Audience
According to Target’s Corporate Web-site, up to 70 million guests may have been
affected by the data breach. (Data breach FAQ, n.d.) The campaign will be geared towards those
directly affected by the breach, particularly in its most susceptible time period from
Thanksgiving of 2013 to December 15, 2013, the day Target closed the affected data point (Data
breach FAQ, n.d.) . The campaign will also target guests that fall under different types of brand
loyalty. By not only focusing on the average Target customer, but on specific types of ‘brand
loyal’ customers, the campaign will be more efficient in its efforts and regain trust in the
customers that might be most disturbed by the data breach.
Target Consumer Demographics
Since one of the main focuses of the campaign will be to establish trust and transparency
with its customers, directly communicating to those already impacted is crucial. In order to know
this, the campaign must address the typical Target customer. According to an article on
AdAge.com which presents the demographics of Target shoppers, 60.1 percent are female, and
53.8 percent are married (Carmichael, 2012). Single, never married people come in a close
second, at 22.7 percent (Carmichael, 2012). Customers aged 45-54 are the highest percentage of
Target shoppers, with the lowest percentage being the 18-24 age range, at 6.9 percent
(Carmichael, 2012). Finally, the highest percentage of the average income of a Target shopper is
$50,000 to $74,999 (Carmichael, 2012). These demographics of Target customers are important
in understanding not only who was mostly affected by the breach, but how to reach them.
Target Consumer Geographics
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Target has 1,801 stores in the U.S. and 133 stores in Canada, but the data breach did not
affect Canadian or online purchases, and only affected cards used in U.S. (data breach FAQ,
2014). Because the data breach occurred across the country, the consumers targeted in this
campaign will be all American consumers.
Target Consumer Psychographics
Our campaign will focus on targeting ‘experiencers’, who are “avid consumers and spend
a comparatively high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment, and socializing.”
(SBI, 2009) Experiencers like being entertained and established, have a social media following,
and like being “purchasers” (SBI, 2014). Targeting this particular psychographic is important
due to their involvement in social media, as addressed later in our Themes and Strategies.
According to Strategic Business Insights (SBI), Experiencers “have high-energy, resist
authority, boundaries and rules that inhibit their desire to express themselves.” (SBI, 2014).
Experiencers are optimistic, and excited by concepts, preferring the big picture to detail. (SBI,
2014). Inspiration, humor, and fresh material keep them engaged, but this group typically reacts
emotionally and viscerally (SBI, 2014). Experiencers are all about creating ‘buzz’ and owning
the latest trends in technology they can afford. (SBI, 2014). They are willing to take risk because
they have little to lose. This is the most ethnically diverse group, and a portion are bi-lingual.
(SBI, 2014) All of these behavioristics of experiencers-- their high-energy, optimism, short
attention span, affinity for the latest and greatest, and desire to grow their social media presence
make them the ideal group to target in this campaign due to their wavering loyalty to brands that
do not suit their needs.
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Behavioristics of the Target Audience
The two segments the campaign will target are existing customers and potential
customers. The goal of the campaign is to restore their bruised reputation the data breach caused,
and the best way to do this is focus on existing customers and those potential customers who
may choose not to shop at Target because of the breach.
User-Status Variable
Existing customers are typically semi-sole or discount users. They are semi-sole users
because most have an alternate store they shop at other than Target (Wal-Mart would be an
example) if their desired product is not available at Target or if an alternate like Wal-Mart is
promoted with a discount. Some are discount users because those who are semi-sole users of a
competing brand like Wal-Mart will switch over to Target if they have cheaper prices. Potential
customers are aware non-triers because they have not given Target complete brand loyalty
though they do frequent similar stores to Target.
User-Rate Variable
Most customers of Target are medium users because as found in a survey conducted for
primary research, 39 percent polled stated they shopped at Target within the last few weeks and
another 33 percent in the past few months. Potential customers are light or non-users.
Purchase-Occasion Variable
The purchase-occasion variable was a significant factor during the data breach because it
occurred right before Black Friday sales after Thanksgiving of 2013. Departments stores like
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Target thrive during Black Friday and Experiencers tend to participate in this event because they
spend a high proportion of their income on fashion, entertainment and socializing (SBI, 2014).
Benefit-Sought Variable
The Benefit-sought variables that draw consumers to Target include higher quality
products, good taste and symbolism of the Target brand. The main target audience of the
campaign will focus on a particular behavioristic of a Target consumer -- brand loyalty.
Targeting the ‘Brand Loyal’
After addressing the typical Target customer, the campaign will target a certain kind of
‘brand loyal’ customer. “Brand loyalty is viewed as a multidimensional construct, determined by
several distinct psychological processes” (Boundless, 2014). Some of these factors that
determine brand loyalty include the customers' perceived value, satisfaction, repeat purchase
behavior, commitment, and finally brand trust (Boundless, 2014). The Target data breach has the
potential to affect every one of these dimensions of brand loyalty. So, to combat negative
perceptions of the company and regain lost brand trust, the campaign will target two specific
types of brand loyal customers. These two include ‘Split Loyals’ who are loyal to two or three
brands, and ‘Shifting Loyals’ who move from one to another (Boundless, 2014). The other two
types of brand loyal customers, ‘Hardcore Loyals’ and ‘Switchers’ are less of a concern as
members of the target audience because they either buy the brand all the time and are less likely
to be swayed by the breach, or they have no loyalty whatsoever and are simply concerned with
the best bargain (Boundless, 2014). By including ‘Split Loyals’ and ‘Shifting Loyals’ in their
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target audience, Target will be more efficient in not only saving business but re-gaining trust
from those willing to give it.
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Themes and Strategies
Target’s focus will be to gain trust back through open conversations with its customers.
The main focus will be on social media and communication platforms like blogs.
The reason why social media is so important is because majority of experiencers have at
least one of these social media outlets. Experiencers are more likely to answer questions that are
on Facebook, Twitter and a blog related site, opposed to other sites. The strategy is to maximize
the amount of feedback received, which will allow for more transparent communication and
feedback with Target constituents.
According to the VALS consumer demographic, the median age of experiencers is 24.
Some of the characteristics of experiencers is that they buy and use new products because of
their need for variety and stimulation. They also use products to increase sociability and
entertainment. Experiencers also have the heaviest media quintiles with the internet. This further
proves that websites such as Twitter, Facebook and relatable blogs is the best type of strategy to
gain feedback.
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Media Strategy
The strategy is to inform the public that the company has acknowledged it is in the wrong
through social media and print. Social media sites will keep the public updated regularly and
used to answer any questions. The print advertisements will be used for common information
about the company and the security breach. (Target, n.d.)
Social Media
Social media outlets such as Target’s Twitter, Facebook, and blogging site will be
monitored and will continuously answer questions related to the event. The posts will be open
and honest about where the company was in the wrong and how it is trying to fix the problem.
The Twitter account will be used to tweet updates and answer the public’s questions. The Target
Facebook page will be used to reach audiences outside of Twitter and the blog posts. (Target,
n.d.) A 30 second video spot will be posted on all social media sites through YouTube and shared
through all Target social media outlets. The video will be of the new head of security hired after
the incident, and he will answer questions asked live from consumers.
Print
There will also be a brochure provided in stores to inform the customers about Target and
the changes the company has made. A flyer will be posted around stores to answer frequently
asked questions about the Target security breach. (Target, n.d.)
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Budget
As stated before, Target has continuously been amongst the most successful and popular
of all of the retail and department stores. Based on sales, Target is the third-largest discount
retailer in the world, receiving most of its revenue from its division in the United States
(Statistics and facts on Target, 2014). Target continues to be known as ‘cheap chic,’ with low
prices and cool products that are advertised and displayed with good taste, allowing the company
to stand out from the rest with interactive and aesthetically-pleasing ads.
Past Budgeting
Throughout the past five years, Target has increased advertising spending from around
1.35 billion dollars in 2009 to more than 1.7 billion dollars in 2013 (Target Corporation: ad
spend in the U.S., 2013). In 2010, Target Corporation posted the biggest increase in advertising
spending among conventional retailers, which put the company 18th on the Ad Age list of the
nation’s 100 largest advertisers (Troy, 2011). The company increased its spending by 12%,
compared to the 0.9% increase in the advertising spending of Wal-Mart, one of Target
Corporation’s most prominent competitors (Troy, 2011).
Budgeting This Campaign
Advertising on the internet and through social media and various online outlets will be
the most successful way of getting through to consumers during this technological-savvy era.
Managing social media is easiest and most efficient compared to spending money on one-way
communication.
According to Statista.com, global mobile advertising spending amounted to 9.76 billion
U.S. dollars in 2012 and is expected to grow to 41.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 (Mobile
advertising spending worldwide 2012-2017, n.d.). In 2012, there was a total of 10.04 million
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unique visits to Target mobile. Nearly 1.2 billion unique visitors from social networks to
Target.com are made monthly (Topic: Target, n.d.).
Digital advertising, including paid search and online video is to be increased by about
50%, especially because the holiday season is underway (Forbes, 2014). YouTube offers a wide
variety of advertising options to suit almost any advertiser’s needs, with the most expensive
being about $300,000 per day for homepage advertisements. A much cheaper option is cost-per-
click/cost-per-view in-steam advertisements, which provide a 20% increase in effectiveness
compared to offline advertising (Tompros, 2012). YouTube is a serious player in the online
advertising world and will be utilized as an advertising medium for this campaign.
The budget graph in the appendix illustrates the advertising budget for Target’s specific
campaign under three categories: Social Media, Print, and YouTube. ‘Social Media’ includes
Twitter, Facebook, and the blogsite. Social media is typically inexpensive to outsource, even
when a comprehensive strategy for all channels is to be developed. Social media packages can
cost around $80,000 for a 4-12 month campaign (Content Factory,The n.d.). ‘Print’ includes
brochures and flyers for every customer who walks into Target, doubled. Factoring in every
single customer times two and a few extra per store, the flyer will cost about $0.16 per unit,
equalling about $118,000 (Staples, 2014). The largest portion of the graph is for Target’s
YouTube advertisement. The spot is a 30 second advertisement which has a cost per view of
$.15 (Alleger, J. (n.d.). Target hopes to gain around 25 million viewers which would equate to
about $3 million total for the YouTube advertisement.
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Communication Objectives
Target is in need of a corporate communication campaign because of the
company’s recent data security breach. This breach resulted in the largest retail hack in U.S.
history (Riley, 2014). This incident led to outrage and many disappointed consumers, as well as
over 90 lawsuits (Riley, 2014). Target’s brand image and reputation is not a positive one and this
is something the company needs to change. Target is hoping this corporate communication
campaign will bring awareness to the issue at hand and aid constituents through the process of
fixing the company’s mistakes.
1: To see an 80% increase within one year of Target employees educated about the
systems the company has in place to avoid data breach.
On Saturday November 30th,
Target headquarters in Minneapolis was warned that
someone had infiltrated the company’s data system, and nothing happened (Riley, 2014).
Minneapolis did not react to the sirens, and this resulted in the biggest retail hack in U.S. history
(Riley, 2014). This also led to over 90 lawsuits filed against the company by customers and
banks for negligence and compensatory damages (Riley, 2014). In order to avoid further damage
to Target’s reputation and to not have an incident like this occur again, Target needs to educate
all employees as well as show all of the constituents how it is accomplishing their
communication objectives. Target will accomplish this with the transparency of its blog. On
Target’s blog the company will have an interactive section allowing consumers to comment
about their experiences, opinions, or to just interact with the user community. The company will
also create short video clips in order to slowly build the trust of the constituencies. These video
clips will feature commercials and Target explaining the different steps the company is taking to
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prevent another data breach. In order to successfully educate all of the Target employees, each
employee will have to attend a series of talks about the importance of data breaches and how to
avoid it. The employees will also be tested on what to do in case they recognize a breach: who to
contact, how to further prevent the breach, etc. Target is taking every step necessary to prevent
another breach, and it is being transparent with its constituencies with the use of the company’s
blog.
2: To maximize 70% of in-store protection at each cash register in Target stores to
avoid fraud within the next year.
For consumers and constituencies to feel safer shopping at Target stores around
the nation, the company is going to install safer and more protected credit card machines. For
starters, Target will begin issuing new chip-and-PIN cards within the next few months. These
Target cards will act as debit cards, where a consumer will scan their card and then enter a pin
(Data breach FAQ, n.d.). This will ensure more protection over the consumer’s card and make it
harder for a hacker to steal the person’s information (Data breach FAQ, n.d.). This will generate
a smaller the chance of someone committing theft as well as create a sense of security for the
customers. Target will also attain this goal by informing constituencies of the new technology in
every store, explaining the reasoning behind the change as well as how the technology will aid
the customer and avoid further fraud. This information will be included in the company’s blog
and will feature videos on how to operate the new cards and machinery. Target will also inform
constituencies about the new spy software it will have installed on all computer systems used
within the company. This will also be done through the company blog on easy to understand
videos and articles.
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3: To educate 40% of Target constituencies about a data breach and how one can
identify a data breach and it’s effects within the next year.
In order to educate a good portion of Target’s constituencies on how to handle a
breach and how to recognize if they are personally affected, Target will need to be totally
transparent and own up to the company’s mistake. On the Target blog there will be a page
addressing the breach, apologizing and answering frequently asked questions. These frequently
asked questions would just be the surface of the constituent’s education. This page will also lead
consumers to the short videos that will be featured. These videos will demonstrate to constituents
the tell tale of stolen information. The website will also go into detail about how to clearly
identify if the consumer was personally affected by the breach. There will be step-by-step
directions informing the consumer what to do if his or hers information had been stolen. Target
will include helpful information as well about subjects such as ATM skimming, which is an
everyday threat to anyone who has a debit or credit card. These videos will feature everyday
Target employees as well as the CEO and President of the corporation. This will create a sense
of loyalty and begin building up trust for the Target brand.
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Appendix-B Personal Interviews
Name: Age: Sex:
1. How often do you shop at Target?
2. Do you typically participate in Black Friday Shopping?
3. As a consumer, is having trust in a company important to you?
4. What factors build your trust in a company?
5. Have you heard about the credit card breach of November 2013? If so, did it affect your
shopping habits?
6. After learning of the Target credit card breach are you more likely, equally likely, or less
likely to shop online?
7. After learning of the Target credit card breach are you more likely, equally likely, or less
likely to shop at Target?
8. In what way, if any could Target regain the trust of their customers?
