Project Analysis - Target Corporation and a New Product.

 

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Value Proposition.

As a single millennial woman with no children, I enjoy being able to go to Zumba on Sunday mornings to dance the morning away and then spend an hour browsing around in Target to buy things that I do not need. Target is an American general merchandise retailer that operates in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Target's headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Target has operated in its hometown since it opened in 1962 under the Dayton Company. With being the 7th largest retailer in the United States, Target offers a wide variety of food and general merchandise. From clothing to household goods to electronics, Target customizes its assortment of goods of each of its stores to reflect its neighborhood and the local guests. 

Target (2018) describes its purpose and value to its customers as "To help all families discover the joy of everyday life" (n.p). At the center of all of Target's decisions, is joy. It does not matter if you shop at a Target in your neighborhood or at a Target that is out of state, Target's purpose is to make sure that you feel a sense of fun, ease, and inspiration as you browse their stores to shop. I would agree that Target does do a great job of making sure that you feel a sense of ease and calmness when you browse their stores. The bright lights, interesting items, and music makes it very easy for anyone to get lost in there for hours at a time.

Profitability

According to MarketLine.com (2023), Target reported that its revenue for the end of the fiscal year in January 2023 was $109,120 million dollars. This was an increase of 2.9% from the previous fiscal year. As being the 7th largest retailer in the United States that provides groceries, household items, electronics, and much more, it is not a surprise that Target's revenue increased from the previous year. Although inflation is hitting us pretty hard right now, people use Target as a staple for their fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, and meat for their meal options. As of today, September 3rd, Target's common stock is $125.52. This is -$1.03 from when they opened at $127.55. Although Target's stock has declined slightly, Target continues to respond very well to rapid changing top line trends.

SWOT Analysis Strengths

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Target's SWOT analysis strengths are multichannel sales, distributional network, and inventory turnover ration. Of the three strengths, I believe that the inventory turnover ratio strength is the best one to use to leverage for a new product or service being created. MarketLine (2023), explains that Target's "Inventory turnover improved in FY2023, which signifies that its inventory carrying costs remain low owing to fewer days for inventory turnover, enabling it to improve its operating performance" (p. 1). Target reported that their inventory ratio was a 6 during the FY2023. In comparison to their competitors like Dollar General and Kohl's, Target's ratio was high in comparison to their ratio of 4.2 and 3.6. A company that has a higher inventory turnover ratio than its competitors typically takes fewer days to clear their inventory. As MarketLine (2023) puts it, "With the given turnover ratio, the company takes 60 days to sell its inventory as compared to 86 days taken by Dollar General and 101 days taken by Kohl's" (p. 1). Understanding that Target's competitors take longer to sell its merchandise means that Target will have a greater chance of introducing a new product that can help them sell their products in a different way.

Product or Service Singularity

A new and unique product that would increase Target's development and increase it's product availability to its customers is the creation of an application that allows customers to purchase their groceries, household items, and many more through the use of the application on their Apple or Android smartphone. From working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and then going to the gym right after work, there are days when I do not have the availability to stop at the grocery store to purchase groceries for the week. Target's customers would need to purchase a membership that starts at $9.99 a month or $99.99 annually. Grocery delivery services like this are great because they alleviate the stress of having to deal with grocery stores during peak hours and it increases your chances of overspending because you intentionally purchasing items that you need versus being in the store and getting side tracked by new products.

New Product or Service Projections

Creating an application that allows customers to be able to access their groceries with the use of their phone would create increased profits as consumers would see the added benefit of less in-store grocery visits as an investment for their household. Meanwhile, Target would see this as an opportunity to create an additional streamline of income based on the membership fees and from groceries and household items being purchased from its customers as well. Target would still offer in-person grocery shopping, but the option to shop online for groceries will open up a whole new world for Target and even make them more accessible to its customers with certain disabilities in as well. 

References

Target Corporate: News, Careers, Investors, Sustainability & ESG. (n.d.). Target Corporate. https://corporate.target.com/investors

Target Corporation. (2018). Purpose and History. Target Corporate. https://corporate.target.com/about/purpose-history

Target Corporation: Overview . (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2023, from https://advantage-marketline-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/Company/Summary/target_corporation

Target Corporation: SWOT Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2023, from https://advantage-marketline-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/Company/Profile/target_corporation?swot

Nike Preliminary Findings and Limitations.

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Organizational Objectives

    At Nike, one of their objectives is to break barriers in terms of making sure that all folks, women especially, are represented in terms of their hiring process. Gender inequality in the workplace is a global issue that Nike is trying to combat. One of the ways that Nike is trying to combat gender inequality in the workplace is by "Enabling women to reach their full career potential while staying committed to fostering an environment that supports them in the workplace" (Nike, 2021, para. 1). Nike has been able to do this by using a diverse slate process in their hiring process. They use this as a means to fill positions using a diverse pool of candidates. Additionally, "Hiring managers are trained on guidelines, including how to post roles with inclusive language, create diverse interview panels and use appropriate escalation paths when representation targets were not met" (Nike, 2021, para. 1). Conducting research like this has allowed me to make sure that the athletic wear collection that I am creating for Nike is inclusive to all women of all backgrounds. This means that I am making sure that the collection is accessible to all women, even those that are outside of our target demographic. Not only am I conducting research that makes sure that the prices of our collection are accessible in terms of the price range, but I am also making sure that the size ranges are inclusive to all women as well. Today, the standard size of a woman is not a size 0, the standard size of a woman ranges from a size 10 to a size 14. Even outside of those sizes, we know that they are women who are above a size 20. It is important to create a collection that has sizes that range from a size 0 to a size 30 to make sure that all women can feel included. Although many of them may not have the intention to purchase any item from the collection, just knowing that their size is included lets them know that the collection is size-inclusive.

Industry Trends and Future Trends

    Currently, one trend that I could see having an impact on the success of my new product is COVID-19. COVID-19 has had a major impact on the fashion and retail industry. Since the beginning of the lockdown, COVID-19 has caused an existential crisis for many fashion and retail companies. According to Simon Wolfson, CEO of Next, “No one wants to buy clothes to sit at home” (Orendorff, 2022). Many consumers found themselves not purchasing from their favorite clothing brands because they felt as if it was pointless to purchase brand new jeans or other clothing items. After all, the lockdown caused everyone to have to stay home. Though many companies may have not seen an increase in their sales for jeans, many of them did see an increase in sales for their athletic wear. Arron Orendorff (2022) explained that “The activewear sector experienced a spike in sales during the shutdown” (para. 10). He says that the need for activewear was caused by “The need for comfortable clothes to work and workout in from home” (para. 10). I was one of those people that purchased countless activewear items because I was forced to work out from home once my gym closed because of COVID-19. Though we have seen strides to combat COVID-19, I do believe that it will continue to affect the fashion and retail industry in the long term. Another industry trend that could potentially affect the success of my new product is the short-term impact on the people who make our clothing. For obvious reasons, clothing from Nike does not already come pre-made. Those clothing items come from people who work in their manufacturing warehouses. When COVID-19 made everything come to a full stop, warehouse workers became the most vulnerable people. According to Fashion Revolution (2022) say’s, “Millions of garment makers have already lost their jobs as a result of the virus and have no access to social or financial safety nets to help them weather this storm” (para, 1). When products needed to produce items like jeans or t-shirts were not readily available to ship to warehouses, this left many warehouse workers with much to do, which in turn caused many of them to be let go since productivity was at an all-time low. Anyone who has worked for low wages and lost their job knows that things like car payments, daycare, utilities, and other things start to fall behind when you do not have a consistent paycheck coming in. Knowing that, the morale of many warehouse workers was at an all-time low if many of them knew that there was a possibility that they could be let go due to COVID-19 and its effect on the production of products. Whether it be 12-months or 1 to 3 years, COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on the fashion and retail industry that will continue to be felt even years later.

Marketing Strategy Alignment to Standards

    To promote my new athletic wear collection with Nike, I would use their Instagram platform as one of the ways to garner support for the athletic wear collection. When it comes to the use of social media, Nike does a great job of creating content that draws their consumers in to want to know more about their products and to purchase them as well. Kenneth Guyer (2021) explains, “Whether the company is sharing meaningful videos on Facebook, or encouraging audience interaction on Instagram, Nike knows how to connect with its audience” (para. 1). For example, Nike does a great job of using photos to showcase its products on Instagram. Instagram is one of the best platforms for companies like Nike to post content that is eye-catching and engaging to its consumers when they are trying to bring awareness to its brand and its products. On Instagram, Nike currently has 209 million followers and averages more than 2 million viewers on its posts. Using Nike’s Instagram platform to reach its consumers to bring awareness to a new clothing launch would be a great idea.

    Legal and Ethical Implications

    One legal or ethical influence in my proposed test market that might affect promotion, placement, and pricing strategies is the actual price range of the collection. Nike is famous for collaborating with well-known people like Lebron James and Virgil Abloh, to name a few. Collaborating with the likes of those people and producing product typically means that the price for their product may be on the higher side. Because of this, consumers may be wondering if a new collection being introduced in collaboration with Nike with a person who may be unknown will be priced in the same category or more. This may cause consumers to question if they should be purchasing products that do not fit Nike’s typical price range. To combat this, I would use quantitative research to help determine the price range of the collection. As previously discussed, quantitative research is research that is characterized by numbers. Using quantitative research, I would be able to collect data that showcases the range of prices for Nike’s products. Then, with that information, I can conclude how my collection should be priced. Realistically, I would like to price the items within the collection at a reasonable price because my target market is women that are employed with responsibilities that include paying for children, transportation, and groceries. With the help of quantitative and quantitative research and primary research from this test market, I would use this information to make more of an effort to market to them by having events that showcase the new product. By putting together a showcase before the actual launch, I am giving consumers the chance to come to look, touch, and know more about the product before they decide to purchase from the collection.

Limitations 

    Thankfully, I have not had that many issues when conducting research for my product proposal. One of the reasons why I do not think I have had issues is because Nike is a big corporation that has been around for years. Because they have been around for years, there is a large amount of quality data that can be used for my own research proposal. Although there is a lot of it, I have to take my time sifting through it to find data that is relatable to my research proposal. Additionally, I feel as though I have not had much trouble because Nike can be categorized as a fashion or retail company. When it comes to finding information about creating a product, you can bet that there are hundreds of resources out there in terms of how to create an athletic wear collection. From knowing where to get the fabric to understanding how to size your clothing collection, the internet will provide you with just the right information for putting together a clothing collection. 

References:

Fashion Revolution. (2020, March 27). The impact of COVID-19 on the people who make our clothes. Fashion Revolution. https://www.fashionrevolution.org/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-the-people-who-make-our-clothes/

Guyer, K. (2021, July 2). The Secret Behind Nike’s Great Social Media Content. Socialmedia.biz. https://www.socialmedia.biz/the-secret-behind-nikes-great-social-media-content/

NIKE Corporation. (2021). FY21 NIKE, Inc. Impact Report. https://purpose-cms-preprod01.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/17210319/FY21_NIKE-Impact-Report.pdf

Orendorff, A. (2022, March 12). 10 Trends Styling 2022’s Ecommerce Fashion Industry: Growth + Data in Online Apparel & Accessories Market. Common Thread Collective. https://commonthreadco.com/blogs/coachs-corner/fashion-ecommerce-industry-trends#fashion-ecommerce-trend-cornonavirus

A New Product for Nike.

     The company that I have decided to use for my Marketing Research project is Nike. Outside of being a fan of Nike because I am an avid sneaker lover and enjoy purchasing sneakers from them, I have admired Nike because of their efforts to be more inclusive in terms of showcasing bodies that are not the standard or average size. 

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    When it comes to athletic wear, there has always been an assumption that only average-sized women wear athletic wear because they are the only body type that participates in working out. But that is not the case. Women who have bodies that are not seen as the "standard" work out as well, and we enjoy wearing athletic clothing that we can feel good in while working out. Although Nike had already incorporated plus-size clothing into their brand, they decided to make a big move in 2019 by featuring plus-size mannequins in their London flagship store. In a press release, Nike stated "To celebrate the diversity and inclusivity of sport, the space will not just celebrate local elite and grassroots athletes through visual content, but also show Nike plus size and para-sport mannequins for the first time on a retail space" (Kai, p. 1, 2019). As someone who has gone from being morbidly obese to now being considered mid-size and who works out frequently (OrangeTheory Fitness is my home) away from home), I can appreciate that effort Nike is putting forth by trying to use mannequins to showcase how some women may look in real life. For me, it feels great being able to walk into a store like Nike and shop for clothing while looking at mannequins whose bodies may look like mine. This may not be a big deal for other people, but representation and body inclusivity matters.

    Because I chose Nike, I would like to launch an athletic wear set that can be transitioned from being worn to workout into being able to be worn during the day or night. This set could be worn while working out, but it could also be worn during a night out with the girls on a cool summer night. Although many companies have done this before, I do believe that many women who wear athletic clothing have a hard time understanding that leggings can be worn outside of wearing an oversized sweater with it. If you are intentional about your clothing, all of your clothing pieces can be transitioned into multiple outfits throughout all of the seasons.

References:

Kai, M. (2019, June 7). Inclusivity? Just Do It. Nike Adds Plus and Para-Sport Mannequins to Its London Store. The Root. https://www.theroot.com/inclusivity-just-do-it-nike-adds-plus-and-para-sport-1835321268

Influencers and Social Media.

    Today, how brands choose to market to their consumers has changed. For many brands, the use of word-of-mouth marketing may help continue to keep their business afloat, but many have found that a different form of marketing has helped them continue to gain profit and the possibility of a new target audience. Influencer marketing can now be added to the long list of marketing strategies that brands can use to market to their consumers. If a brand has something that is fresh and new, they can look to social media platforms like Instagram to see the who's who, their large follower count, and what type of content they post. If a brand likes the influencer and notices that the content they post typically gets a lot of traction from their followers, the brand may pay them a decent amount of money to promote their products on their social media platform. 

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    One of the things that I have noticed about this type of marketing is that brands like Nike, Starbucks, or Target tend to use influencers who may have already made a name for themselves on social media. For instance, the CBS article, The Influencers, showed King Bach talking about how he has become well-known, or famous if you must, with the use of social media. Before King Bach used Instagram to gain more of a following, he used Vine heavily and that is where he grew his fanbase. If you are familiar with Vine, then you too may remember scrolling down your timeline watching endless short videos until 3:00am in the morning. King Bach has over 37 million followers and with a following like that, if a brand were to ask him to create a 30-second video that talks about or displays their product, I am sure that many of his followers would purchase said product. Another thing that I noticed about this type of marketing is that the influencers who are chosen represent the standard of beauty. Meaning, many of the women are thin or slim built with beautiful faces. The men are oftentimes tall and handsome, and may even have a decent body. In the article, Gary Vaynerchuk, who runs a digital advertising company stated that if you want to be like Logan Paul or Kim Kardashian, you can develop a following by pretty, funny, or even good enough to brands like Nik or Starbucks want to pay you to promote their brands on social media platforms.

     One of the strategies that influencers are employing to engage with a brand's consumers is by creating content that resonates with the consumers. For instance, if an influencer is a known make-up guru on YouTube, brands like Fenty Beauty by Rihanna or NARS, you are going to send that influencer your make-up products. The influencer would then create content that incorporates the brand's product. The influencer may show themselves putting on lipstick or doing a hand swatch of their new foundation. If a consumer follows said influencer and is interested in those brands, that influencers content is going to make them check out the brand's website for those specific products. Thus, this creates a revolving door for the brand and the influencer. Another strategy I noticed is that brands tend to work with influencers that have already built a strong following for themselves on social media. For instance, Dunkin Donuts is a well-known donut company that many people enjoy here in the Midwest, but they decided to work with Logan Paul, an influencer with millions of people following him and his funny content. Dunkin Donuts did not have to work with Logan Paul because the brand already has a huge following, but the brand knew that Logan Paul has a huge following as well and because they knew that, they knew that many of his followers would be interested in their products given the funny content he created with Dunkin Donuts product in it.

    Influencers play a major role in marketing, especially social media marketing. It is obvious that influencers need some sort of brand to work with them in order to market their product, but influencers play a big role in making sure that the brand's product reaches their followers. For starters, influencers are the ones creating the content. Creating content takes time. From shooting a video to taking a picture, both things require the influencer to stop and think about what it is they want to do or say. Next, they have to come up with a caption that makes sense. Creating a caption for people who use Instagram to post pictures may be easy for them, but if you are an influencer who is promoting a brand you have to make sure your caption gravitates towards the consumer. The caption must make them want to interact with the brand they are promoting. 

     The use of influencers can have a major impact on the relationship between the brand and the consumer. If a brand decides to work with an influencer who is well-known and likable by many people, the brand may see an increase in product sales or traffic to its website. For instance, Tabatha Brown is a well-known influencer on Instagram. Her videos range from cooking videos to motivational videos. Outside of her great content, she is well known because of her down south personality that reminds you of your aunt. She recently posted a tweet from a vegan company that makes plant-based protein shakes. Plant-based protein shakes are hard to come about, but I believe that this company saw increased website traffic because they decided to work with Tabatha Brown, a well-known vegan influencer who has a warm personality that everyone enjoys. Influencers like Tabatha Brown and Logan Paul have an impact that could either persuade a consumer to like a company or hate them because of the massive amount of following and influence they have on social media. 

#EveryDayCare with Whirlpool.

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     Whirlpool, a brand you have probably seen if you are fan of doing countless loads of laundry during a rainy Sunday morning. This may be a brand that many people are familiar with, but the company found themselves realizing that most people would only interact with them when they had a product complaint to make. Knowing this, Whirlpool wanted to change how its customers interacted with them. They wanted to come up with a way for its consumers to engage with them beyond the use of its product.

    After realizing this and conducting research, Whirlpool found that consumers did not find value in the care they provided to their families. Many found that the appliances they used on an everyday basis were unfulfilling and repetitive. Interestingly enough, these same appliances used for chores like laundry and dishwashing were valued in many families and society as a whole. With this research, Whirlpool decided to change this narrative.

    To successfully meet the wants and needs of its customers, Whirlpool created a Crowdtap. The Crowdtap was created to inspire, foster conversations, and content across social media. With this Crowdtap they built a community of 17 thousand members that came together to share their stories using the hashtag #EveryDayCare. Using this hashtag, members would share their stores using text, images, and videos. Over 40 thousand submissions were entered into the Crowdtap and of them all, the best content was cross-promoted through paid, earned, and owned channels of Whirlpool.

    To address how the social and consumer experience was addressed, Whirlpool dedicated a microsite - www.whirlpool.come/everydaycare. This website was created to address the social and consumer experience by showcasing a library of stories from real people. Whirlpool encouraged its customers to contribute to the conversation by sharing their stories with the use of videos, photos, and other things. Whirlpool's consumers enjoyed the authenticity that come from the #EveryDayCare campaign. This microsite showed that Whirlpool addressed its digital media followers in a way that brought their stories to the forefront of the conversation. Instead of Whirlpool focusing on how customers only interact with them when they have a product complaint, they decided to focus on how their products and the act of using their products makes them and their families feel. 

    The campaign for Whirlpool was a huge success. As previously stated, their consumers appreciated the the authenticty in the brands new approach to engaging with its consumers. Real stories from real consumers were flooded on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and TV advertisements. Doing this inspired wave of consumers to join the conversation. The campaign was so impactful that the company saw a 12% increase in year-over-year unit growth and a 6.6% increase in its sales. Additionally, consumer sales went from -0.3 to +4.6. This was massive for Whirlpool since the company has not seen an increase in those metrics in years. The success of Whirlpool's #EveryDayCare campaign proved that its new approached impacted its consumers on an emotional level that was not happening before. 

Branding: A Day in the Life.

    Like most people, I use social media for just about everything. But within the last year I have scaled back on how many social media platforms I use and for how long I use the each day. The main social media platforms I use are Instagram and Facebook for my personal use. I use other miscellaneous platforms like Converse, Netflix, and Delta if I am browsing for clothing or tickets for flights. I was using Twitter a few years ago but I decided to get rid of it after I found that I was not tweeting as much I was when I first started to use it. When it comes to Instagram I use it for posting personal updates using pictures on my feed or little snippets of my day using the stories section. For example, I did a photo dump of my trip to Valleyscare with my significant other on Saturday. When I am using Instagram I tend to only give myself at least 10 minutes to scroll just because I sometimes find myself scrolling mindlessly when I have important things to do. Facebook is one social media platform that I rarely use just because I believe that Facebook has become too much over the last few years. I only use it to see updates from friends and family members that I no longer get to see. Facebook is one app that I do not have a problem deleting off of my phone and not using it for months at a time.

    I definitely have positive and negative reactions when I am using certain social media platforms. For example, I sometimes find myself feeling like I am missing out on certain things while browsing Instagram. When I see certain people moving into their dream apartment or house, having children, or traveling the world, I start feeling I am missing out on these accomplishments because I have experienced them yet. Once I get off of Instagram and remember that everyone's life progresses at it's own speed, I tell myself that in due time I will be moving into my dream apartment. I just need to patient and know that I am destined for great things.

(A photo of me and a stuffed animal I won at Valley Fair during Valley Scare.)

    I honestly have never thought about if social media satisfies my needs, but after giving it some thought I can see how my need of wanting to escape life sometimes. When things in my personal and work life are becoming stressful, I tend to browse Instagram or watch Bobs Burgers on Hulu for hours to process how I am feeling inside. For example, I use tend to watch Bobs Burgers when I am needing to self sooth if I am feeling a little out of place when I am feeling emotional. It sometimes is not a guaranteed fix but watching things that I know for a fact will brings me joy helps me to pull myself out of an emotional funk.

    I receive many emails for different companies. A lot of the emails I receive are promotional emails from companies like Nike, Converse, Vans, and many others. Many of these emails catch my eyes because they showcase new items that the brands are offering or there may be an occasional email that has a coupon it. Those emails really catch my eyes! If the email does not have any information in that I find useful, I just place it in my trash folder. Emails that use big font and pictures typically catch my eye the most. For instance, Old Navy does a great job of this. They normally use bold colors that explain the sales they are having at the moment. The colors tend to align with new clothing they are showing in the email as well.

(A screenshot of a text and a photo from an email from Old Navy that I was sent.)

    Today, the use of digital marketing has increased tremendously. One thing that I have noticed is that the creation of graphic design platforms have been popping up a lot lately. For example, it wasn't until I started being responsible for posting to the school that I work for Facebook page that I was introduced to Canva. To keep it short, Canva is a graphic design platform that is used to create flyers, presentations, documents, etc. I use this platform to create fun and engaging graphics that help get information out to our families. 5 years ago, I was not seeing platforms like Canva being used to increase digital marketing for brands to push their information. I have even seen Canva being used by social media influencers on Instagram as well. I can definitely say that social media influencers is a new thing as well. It it is true that many brands have gained a following online because of the.