Len Stein

President

Visibility Public Relations

As retailers wade knee-deep into the recessionary waters, Cheap chic retailer Tarjay needlessly added a patina of tarnish to its brand reputation last week when one of its "public relations person"s told ShapingYouth.org blogger Amy Jussel to buzz off in reply to her complaint about an ad depicting a young lady making a "snow angel" with her crotch target-on.

"Unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with nontraditional media outlets," The New York Times reported the anonymous PR person wrote in response to Ms. Jussel's complaint. "This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest." Whoa, let me out the door, please!

The resulting media brushfire, with Google listing 150+ stories from the likes of The New York Times, Gawker, CNET, and ClickZ News to the Marketing Pilgrim, surely impacted some Target shoppers. Moreover, it strikes to the heart of the retailer's core brand values, which include "connecting business and community, affordability and great design" and "making out communities better places to live." But not yet communities of bloggers.

Just what's wrong with this picture as we enter 2008? First, it sounds a silly note but Target did engage with the blogger, which calls its "policy" into question from the outset.

But more importantly, since the turn of the Century, the blogosphere has been fairly universally accepted as among the burgeoning ranks of legitimate media outlets. Technorati, and other several websites, chart the growth and popularity of blogs, which enables PR professionals to target appropriate bloggers to engage with. The major clipping services like Burrelles / Luce monitors blogs, as does Google's Blog Alerts. The leading paid news wires, such as BusinessWire and PRNewswire, include blogs among their distribution lists. No doubt Target's PR department receives clips from blogs on a daily basis.

Wikipedia notes Technorati counted 112 million blogs at year-end '07, among them a not so unmanageable universe of 1,504 devoted to retail subjects. But as all readers of blogs are human, and are consumers, let's conservatively say each blog has three readers (writer + two others) for a total of 336 million, which is somewhat larger than the USA populace. Surely, there are Target customers lurking among these millions.

And, what does this policy reflect of PR pro's understanding of brand value and customer loyalty in the age of the bionic consumer, where one misstep can sever longstanding relationships? Not much. It would appear that Target's PR people would do well to revisit "Branding 101" and review the importance of customer experience management at every consumer touchpoint.

In Brand Keys' 2007 Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, Robert Passikoff, "Differentiation has shifted to experience and emotional engagement, instead of rational product and service attributes. Nowhere was this more obvious than in the Retail category, but especially among Discount Retailers, where Target led the field (2. Costco, 3.Wal-Mart, 4. Kohl's, 5. Kmart). "Currently, the four drivers that affect engagement and loyalty of Discount Retailer shoppers are:

An intriguing proposal came from Mike Hinkle in web2journal. "What would be a more interesting is to come out with some special edition "early adopter" case for the iPhone attached to our $100 rebate. Make it Apple wicked cool, have Steve Jobs include 100 personally autographed, "Thanks for your support" letters in the whole batch. Make it a Willie Wonka type event. Do it with style, make it fun, include your golden tickets in the refunds. It would create a sense of exclusivity and give those people a sense of value."

1. Convenient Location and Value

2. Unique and Stylish Merchandise for Me

3. A Great Shopping Experience

4. Store Reputation

Of the four, the loyalty and engagement driver that gained greater influence is A Great Shopping Experience, the driver whose components contain virtually all of the service elements.

We wish Target well, and while we recognize that communications is but part of the marketing mix, it plays an increasingly powerful role in a marketplace filled with commodity players. With consumers avidly seeking more personalization and customization from marketers, Target would be wise to review its communications policies.

As for Ms. Jussell, who described herself as a faithful Target shopper, summed it up, "Any customer deserves a response to her concerns, so I found this to be a shortsighted, ill-conceived judgment call." One that may well have an impact at the cash register.