Fashion concepts and applications

Target: On-Target Marketing for the Target Corporation

Target has a unique positioning strategy for a department store. It is slightly more expensive and less extensive in its offerings than Wal-Mart. However, unlike Macy's, one of the dominant mid-market department stores that focuses on clothing and home furnishings, Target offers a wide range of products, spanning from children's toys to groceries, as well as clothing, furniture and appliances. However, it cultivates a slightly more upscale image by using trendy, fun advertising campaigns that feature its bright red 'target' logo. It also has exclusive in-store designers that offer reasonably priced clothing and makeup in fun, trendy styles that underline the Target brand's uniqueness and fashion-forwardness.

The store's layout is another reason for customer's fondness for the retailer. The store is spacious and all departments are easily accessible. The shopping carts are large, red and bright in design and create an overall sense for the consumer that he or she is participating in a Target shopping experience, rather than completing an onerous chore. The store is laid out in such a manner that the various departments are fairly well segmented from one another. For example, the makeup department is far away from the baby clothes department, and there are many self-enclosed displays within the makeup department, so the consumer's focus is on the items, not distractions like shoppers in other areas. Clothing is located in the center of the store, along with a central block of changing rooms, while the tool, kitchen and home sections are far away, so a shopper looking at bathing suits will not feel as if his or her privacy is intruded upon.

Target makes use of both high-end and low-end marketing strategies. For example, there are dollar racks of children's toys and seasonal items at the doors, to encourage children to use the 'nag factor' to make their parents buy the products. This is similar to how a supermarket locates candy near the check-out registers, to encourage impulse buying, especially in regards to parents desiring to quiet their children. There are also displays at the corner of the aisles for discount sales. Some of the items showcased included a discounted Xbox, dinnerware, and new sofas, as well as toys for Christmas like Zhu pets.

Many of Target's most highly-promoted items in its weekly circular, however, are related to electronics, such its two-for-one game sales, and its deals on the iPod shuffle and digital cameras. Although the bright red target logo is prominently displayed, the ads seem diffuse and only contribute to an overall, specific marketing strategy of low pricing. The stress upon "awesome low toy pricing" and "bright home ideas on a budget" does not necessarily underline Target's image as a unique 'experience' or 'exclusive' as well as affordable retailer.

Although it might be observed that everyone enjoys a bargain, there is already another retailer that advertises itself as offering the 'lowest prices' all of the time in the form of Wal-Mart. Target can rarely offer lower prices than Wal-Mart, so stressing pricing alone in its current marketing campaign does not maximize Target's brand-specific marketing value. The absence of catchy slogans and images which built the Target empire further dilutes the marketing brand power.