Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Bullseye Missed its Mark

What is this?
It surely can't be Target--at least not the Target that I know, love and worship. No this--this is a misguided plan carried out by some profit obsessed executive thinking he had the magic answer to what consumers want. According to this article, the idea was to compete with the Costcos of the world--a perfectly reasonable endeavor. I think the execution lost something in translation though since I was so distracted by feeling like I'd been transported to a dilapidated lower tier discount store that I couldn't even bring myself to actually consider looking at the wares stocked there.

I don't begrudge a company wanting to enter the bulk market, but why must the display be so cheap looking? Was there something wrong with the standard shelving or was this some marketing ploy to make us believe that the deals are even greater because money was saved on the display? Though I'm not sure what shopper would be gullible enough to buy that line since even an elementary student knows that using something you already have is far cheaper than paying to manufacture something new. The Target brand has always been linked with giving customers a shopping experience--a place that feels higher end, but still has prices that are within reach. That was the reason for recruiting all of those top designers to do lower priced fashion lines. That's the basis for the slogan "Expect More, Pay Less." A hodge podge of items scattered around in bins next to cardboard tables does not fit that image. Not even close.

Even my 18 month old daughter knows that something about this picture just doesn't gel. Frankly Target, we expected more.

2 comments:

  1. Yikes - that orange hurts my eyes. And the cardboard tables? That sure doesn't look like the Target I konw and love, either. Ack! I hope they get their act together.

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  2. The article said it was only for a few weeks, so hopefully it will be gone soon. If not, you'll join me in a letter writing campaign right? :-)

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