Target Rebounds After Breach

These days it seems like news of major retailer data breaches has become weekly events. But even the frequency of these breaches does little to calm the public outrage when they happen. Surviving to re-engage and thrive after a breach is a tough hill to climb, and no company seems to have managed that obstacle better than Target.

Back in 2013 Target experienced a massive data breach, compromising the credit card records of a huge number of customers. Business, as expected, took a serious hit. Sales stalled as customers began opting for cash – or not shopping at Target. Since then, Target and new CEO Brian Cornell have been working hard to bring the business back from the brink. According to CNN, their efforts have yielded a steady rise in sales and a stock price at an all time high.

Since Cornell took the helm, Target stock has jumped 40% while Walmart stock has only risen 11%. There are several reasons for this, including cost cutting measures that made Wall Street investors smile. But these internal measures were only the beginning. Cornell has also instigated a focused marketing campaign that highlights four categories in which Target has seen continued success.

In addition to a massive marketing push involving kids fashion, Target is also doubling down on messaging related to its baby products, children’s products and wellness. These retail segments have proven steadily profitable, and Cornell is wisely doubling down on his fastest horses.

This – ahem – targeted PR allows the company to focus on highly profitable growth areas while other product lines play catch up. Buried just under the surface of this approach is a return to Target’s winning message: “We are stylish, yet affordable.”

That message quickly and effectively separated Target from its closest competitor, Walmart, making it the choice of a hipper, trendier segment of the consumer market for whom Walmart had been both a necessity and a punchline. Target became a status definer. “Poor” people went to Walmart. Chic people – with similar bank balances – shopped at Target. The company rode that distinction to massive market success, ripping market share away from Walmart in market after market. The massive data breach stalled that juggernaut. But now Target’s decision makers have found a winning message to recapture that position…as long as they keep hitting the mark with the right audience.

This kind of precision during crisis communications is pivotal between success & failure.