The success of Target stores goes back to the very birth of the brand, according to Eric Erickson, Target’s VP, Creative Director.
Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart all started in 1962, Erickson told LSB Brandworks University 2008 participants, but both Wal-Mart and K-Mart came out of the low-price segment (Ben Franklin and Kresge, respectively). Target was the creation of Dayton’s department stores and has retained many of the values that came from the Dayton’s brand.
“We started with a legacy of customer service,” Erickson said. “We don’t call people customers, they’re guests. We’re looking for a relationship, not a transaction. Like a department store, Target is obsessive about clean floors and bright lights. There’s no Musak in a Target store, no voices on loudspeakers, no fork-lifts in the aisles.”
Target tested a cost-based strategy in a few stores in the 1980’s, Erickson said. “The test failed. Low price is not enough to connect with guests and differentiate the brand.”
Instead, Erickson said, the Target experience is built around “the thrill of getting a bargain.” That emotional connection is brought to life in Target’s tag line, “Expect More, Pay Less” which Erickson originated in the early 1990’s. “We are always looking for ways to bring the Expect More, Pay Less promise to life,” he said.
Perhaps the defining strategy of the past decade has been Target’s alliance with internationally known architects and designers. Oddly enough, the relationship began almost by accident in 1998 when Target agreed to sponsor the restoration of the Washington Monument. Michael Graves was chosen as the architect and created a scaffold that was so appealing that then-First Lady Hillary Clinton requested that the scaffold remain in place during the Millennium celebration.
Within months, Graves had agreed to design home products for Target – approximately 1,000 products in the first year – and Target in turn made Graves a household name for millions of Americans. The success was continued with designers including Todd Oldham, Philippe Starck, and Stephen Sprouse.
Target next took the strategy into clothing via its connection with Isaac Mizrahi. They knew they had hit pay dirt when Vogue magazine ran a feature with Mizrahi and Candace Bergen called Luxury for Every Woman Everywhere. A couple of years earlier, Vogue had refused to even run Target ads, Erickson said.
“Clearly the public has a desire for design,” Erickson said, “and designers wanted to speak to a larger audience.” The strategy is also a neat fit with the Target brand’s creator archetype. “We want to put order into our world by putting design into our homes. Design has been deeply ingrained in the Target brand since day one.”
Your brand’s values should be reflected in everything you do, Erickson said. Target’s mantra of “fast, fun and friendly” is a great way of measuring performance at every level. It is easy for a checkout associate to apply “fast, fun and friendly” to his or her performance. And Erickson said it applies equally well as a measure of whether his creative work is on-brand. “It’s a great yardstick for performance, but fast, fun and friendly couldn’t be part of our brand if we didn’t make it part of our culture.”
In the end, Erickson said, Target must execute a balanced strategy that both builds the brand and drives sales. “We cater to our customers’ wants and needs. We strive to maintain balance between Expect More and Pay Less.
He cited the recent Good-Buy campaign (built around the Beatles’ tune “Hello Goodbye”) as a successful example of balance.
- It had a laser-like focus on differentiation and an unusual combination of style, taste, personality and low price.
- We gained loyalty from creating a distinct and personal bond with guests.
- It was a balanced strategy: Wants and needs. Fashionable and practical. Low and even lower prices.
But no one campaign or creative strategy defines Target’s success, he said. Target succeeds because “We have a strong vision. We try to be different. We center our decisions around guests. We strive for a balance between art and science, quality and price. And we have a stable management team.”
Those factors allow Target to achieve a strong and consistent brand. And, Erickson said, “Stores that survive hard times are the ones with strong brands.”
Erickson began his advertising career as a copywriter for Dayton’s department store in Minneapolis. He and his team are recipients of numerous retail and creative awards. In 2007 he was inducted into Retail Advertising and Marketing Association’s Advertising Hall of Fame.
