...factors that influenced your ability to read it easily. 2. Restructure paragraph 1 into two readable paragraphs. Then, edit the phrasing in those paragraphs to make it simpler and more direct (without changing the writer’s apparent meaning). Also, repair any unclear sentence structures. The following letter has seven errors in the use of verbs. Click on a word (or group of words) if you think there is a mistake. If you click on a mistake, enter the correction in the box and click "Check". Use capital letters when necessary. Click "Hint" for help typing the correction. Note: You will lose points when you ask for hint. Click "See Solution" to give up and see all of the mistakes. ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form February 16, 2010 Zakir Khan, Patient Relations Officer Pineview Hospital 99 Jupiter Road Sault Ste Marie, ON P6G 1V9 Dear Mr. Khan: I write on behalf of my mother who is a patient in the Intensive Care Unit at Pineview Hospital from February 2nd to February 10th of this year. While she stayed in the hospital, one of the cleaning staff accidently throwed her hearing aid into the garbage. The nurse manager in the ICU was telling me that I should contact you about getting the hearing aid replaced. The nurse manager also has told me that the hospital would pay for the replacement. Please sending me the necessary forms so that I can begin this process as soon as possible because my mother is having great difficulty hearing without...
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...Case Study—Target: From “Expect More” to “Pay Less” In 1881, George Dayton the Founder of “Dayton Dry Goods” (now known as “TARGET Corp.”) had laid down the main principle of his belief in “the higher ground of stewardship”. Even today, that principle is still visible in their slogan “Expect More” “Pay Less”. As one of the largest, discount retail stores in the world only compared to the “Corporate Giant” Wal-Mart, they have always been the better quality store of the two. Target has always leaned towards one side of their slogan “Expect More.” This has always been good for Target as it uses a diversification strategy to stay unique and offer higher fashion clothing and appliances. But as soon as the economy leaned towards a recession, Target was faced to even their strategy plan to get the company back up from the recession, by letting people know that you can still “Expect More”, but “Pay Way Less”. 1. What microenvironmental factors have affected Target’s performance over the past few years? Microenvironmental factors that affected them would include Company, competitors, media, and intermediaries. Target itself, is a discount retail store, but is known to carry designer wears. Since Target is known for style, fashionable and slightly higher priced clothing and appliances, and in the end, they hurt themselves. Target should have done a lot better of a job in providing customer value and satisfaction then Wal-Mart or others. Customers would have stayed loyal if valued...
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...pricing” positioning during an era when customers were highly price sensitive. Initially the CEO of target, Steinhafel, responded to the recession by (1) cutting costs, (2) focusing on the value aspect of Target’s “Expect more, pay less” campaign and (3) expanding selection of grocery items. However all of these strategies were either short sighted or ineffective in contributing to the company’s bottom line. The first and second approaches of cutting costs and “expect more, pay less” campaign are reminiscent of a traditional red ocean strategy, in which this case, Target was trying to beat its competition, Wal-mart—who dominated the lower price positioning segment—by attempt to benchmark and adjust their own prices. Even during the hard economic times, customers didn’t necessarily associate the value price offerings with Target as much as Wal-mart. While 75% of consumers recognized Wal-mart’s traditional slogan… only 16 % attributed “Expect more, pay less” to Target. This strategy was deemed to be cannibalistic in the longer run since their stock prices and fair share of the market was already declining post 2007. The third approach was to aggressively accelerate the rollout of food content in stores and thus making its entry in the grocery business to drive the frequency of shopping trips. Since consumers shopped for groceries significantly more often than home and apparel goods, Target leadership felt the presence of grocery items could increase food traffic in to the store and...
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...COMPANY Case Target: From “Expect More” to “Pay Less” When you hear the term discount retail, two names usually come to mind: Walmart and Target. The two have been compared so much that the press rarely covers one without at least mentioning the other. The reasons for the comparison are fairly obvious. These corporations are two of the largest discount retailers in the United States. Category for category, they offer very similar merchandise. They tend to build their stores in close proximity to one another, even facing each other across major boulevards. But even with such strong similarities, ask consumers if there’s a difference between the two, and they won’t even hesitate. Walmart is all about low prices; Target is about style and fashion. The “cheap chic” label applied by consumers and the media over the years perfectly captures the long-standing company positioning: “Expect More. Pay Less.” With its numerous designer product lines, Target has been so successful with its brand positioning that for a number of years it has slowly chipped away at Walmart’s massive market share. Granted, the difference in the scale for the two companies has always been huge. Walmart’s most recent annual revenues of $408 billion are more than six times those of Target. But for many years, Target’s business grew at a much faster pace than Walmart’s. In fact, as Walmart’s same-store sales began to lag in the mid-2000s, the world’s largest retailer unabashedly attempted to become more like Target...
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...and learning activities for Lessons 1 through 6. Your assignment submission should be no more than 10 pages in length. A page is defined as double spaced, with standard margins, and using a standard 12-point font. The cover page, which should include your name and student number, does not count as a page. A deduction of 10% will apply if your assignment is more than 10 pages long. For additional advice on how to complete this assignment, refer to the Preparing Assignments page (a link is also provided in the Evaluation block on the course homepage). Read the case “Target: From ‘Expect More’ to ‘Pay Less’” on pages 103 to 105 of the textbook and prepare answers to the questions below. Do not answer the questions at the end of the case in the textbook. Question 1 (20 marks) Identify four actors in the microenvironment that have affected Target’s performance over the past few years. Over the past few years there have been many actors that have affected Targets Performance, the four major ones are, Competitors, Customers, Publics and The Companies Operations. The first major Actor in Target’s microenvironment is the Competitors. When the economic crisis hit in 2008 Target lost market share to its major competitor Walmart. The reason for this Loss was because Walmart positioned themselves in the marketplace as always having low prices on their products, whereas Target positioned themselves as having better brands than Walmart. In this case Walmart as the competitor...
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...needy of the world. Specifically, for every pair of shoes that TOMS sells, it gives a pair of shoes to a needy child somewhere in the world. So far, the company has given away tens of thousands of pairs of shoes and is on track to give away hundreds of thousands. Can TOMS succeed and thrive based on this idealistic concept? That all depends 1. What trends in the marketing environment have contributed to the success of TOMS Shoes? 2. Did TOMS Shoes first scan the marketing environment in creating its strategy, or did it create its strategy and fit the strategy to the environment? Does this matter? 3. Is TOMS’ strategy more about serving needy children or about creating value for customers? Explain. COMPANY Case Target: From “Expect More” to “Pay Less” When you hear the term discount retail, two names that usually come to mind: Walmart and Target. The two have been compared so much that the press rarely covers one without at least mentioning the other. The reasons for the comparison are fairly obvious. These corporations are two of the largest discount retailers in the United States. Category for category, they offer very...
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...Marketing Case Study, Target: From “Expect More” to “Pay Less” Introduction In this case we examine Target, a discount retailer who was always known for their ‘cheap chic’, “Expect More, Pay Less” value proposition. Heavy investment into this value proposition positioned Target in the market in a not too distant second position to WalMart with their slogan “Always Low Prices”. Over time Target’s success led WalMart to mimic certain aspects of Target’s value proposition but shortly thereafter the macroeconomic force of the “Great Recession” fell upon the market and WalMart seemed to reinforce its position of superiority. In response to this Target rolled out a new marketing strategy which involved adjusting the flavour of its value proposition to entice customers who were seen to have defected to their major competitor. In this case study we shall examine Target’s strategy in the face of these challenges and evaluate the effectiveness of it against best marketing practices. What microenvironmental factors have affected Target’s performance over the past few years? Four main microenvironmental factors have affected Target’s performance in a negative way over the past few years. Four main microenvironmental factors have affected Target’s performance in a negative way over the past few years. 1. Competitors: Pre-recession, both Target and its main competitor, WalMart had well developed and communicated value propositions. Target’s being “Expect More, Pay Less” and WalMart leading...
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...Target: “From More” to “Pay Less” Gregory Tatum Saint Leo University Target: “From More” to “Pay Less” The central problem for Target is maintaining their goal of affordable prices against a weakening economy and competitors who have an advantage over them when it comes to price. Target got a shock during the 2008 economic slump. Consumers are supposed to "expect more, pay less" at Target. But during the slump, shoppers clearly opted for "always low prices" at Wal-Mart, the retail giant's old marketing tagline. Although there are several facts of relevance to the case, the glaring one was the urgency in solving the problem. Some people have always said, “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” To put it simply, Target is looking to the Wal-Mart model, lots of consumables at discount prices, to help it hold off any serious decreases in profit. Chasing other retailers to low prices is a mistake as it is a battle that Target cannot win in. Target has spent years building its image as a cleaner, trendier, and generally more pleasant shopping experience than its competitors. This image has had immeasurable advantages in the marketplace. The inherent danger of beginning to focus on price is that consumers may perceive less of a difference between Target and its competitors. This would tarnish Target’s brand image and eat away at the tremendous brand equity that it has spent decades establishing. By moving to a focus on price...
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...Target’s performance during the period would be economic and possibly demographic factors. 3. By focusing on the “Pay Less” part of its slogan, has Target pursued the best strategy? Why or why not? III. Honestly, I think Target would have been better off by focusing on their whole slogan instead of just a portion of it. Why they think customers expects them to only live up to half of their slogan baffles me. If Target is going to portray “Expect More, Pay Less”, then I would expect more for my money at a lower price, not just seeing lower prices everywhere. Sometimes just lowering the price can make it seem like Target is groveling to compete with Wal-Mart. 4. What alternative strategy might Target have followed in responding to the first signs of declining revenues and profits? IV. Target should have promoted itself more and created better quality items at lower prices. They should have fulfilled their slogan and focused on their customers instead of being so worried about their competitors. In the end they are still overpriced on a lot of their items. Customer service should have been amped up. Forget remarketing themselves. Quality items at expected prices and customer service are things they should have focused on. Making sure there are no crazy lines, stores are clean and maintained, and making sure their slogan meets expectations should have been what Target focused on. 5. Given Target’s current situation, what recommendations would you make to Steinhafel for his...
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...TARGET: FROM “EXPECT MORE” TO “PAY LESS” * QUESTIONNAIRE 1. What micro environmental factors have affecter Target’s performance over the past few years? Micro environmental factors are first of all their suppliers; this guys have a direct relation with their prices. In terms of fashion, designer clothing is known for being expensive and more qualified than normal, however this company has made partnerships that has facilitated their costs. This at the same time allows prices to be flexible and low. Intermediaries are another important factor in the Target’s performance given to the fact that they are responsible for spreading the word of good service and quality to others. Competitors influence as well because of the pricing and product strategies that they may apply and that could eventually affect Target’s sales. Media is also a huge influence in Target’s dynamic, anything that benefits or harms the company is news material whether it is on editorial opinions, websites, articles etc 2. What macro environmental factors have affected Target’s performance over the past few years? The economic environment has definitely affected the development of Target’s income, this was explained in the case with the 2008’s crisis impact. After this anti ethical manipulation of the economy, people started having less and less acquisitive power, making them consider better their spending priorities. Also, there is the investment factor, when investors are affected by the crisis...
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...Integrated Company Analysis Target Corporation December 14, 2010 Group: B7 Eric Dowling Alex Davydov Matthew Melnicoff Soledad Querol Molly Rotsch Contents Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................................3 Marketing Analysis .............................................................................................................................................3 The Target Brand ............................................................................................................................................3 "The Guest" ....................................................................................................................................................4 Target's Competitors ......................................................................................................................................4 Expect More, Pay Less ....................................................................................................................................4 Rise of the Store Brand ...................................................................................................................................5 Up and Up......................................................................................................................................................6 The Introduction of PFresh......................
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...in the United States is Target Corporation. There have been many micro-environmental factors that have affected this company’s performance over the past few years. The micro-environment are the actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve its customers such as the company itself, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customer markets, competitors and publics (Kotler and Armstrong, p.66) The company itself definitely played role in affecting its performance over the past few years. Target wanted to be perceived as a discount retail store but also carry top designer products (Kotler and Armstrong, p.94). The marketing plans for the company affected its sales negatively and compared to the retail giant Wal-Mart, it was not doing as well as expected. At one point Target was continuously struggling that one of its biggest shareholders openly chided them and sought to take control of five of the board’s seats (Kotler and Armstrong, p. 95). The competitor retail store Wal-Mart is what had the most impact on Target’s microenvironment. Many Target stores are build right across the street or in the same vicinity and many consumers compare the two and usually assume Wal-Mart is the cheapest and better buy. Wal-Mart’s revenues have always exceeded that of Targets’ and during the recent economic issues it was posting quarterly increases of up to 5% along with larger jumps in profits (Kotler and Armstrong, p.94). This became a big issue for Targets success because according...
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...Types of Control Mechanisms Target uses four major control mechanisms to help manage their organization. The four control mechanisms include Expect More. Pay Less., communication, power, and trust. The control mechanisms are a force that helps exert control within the corporation. The controls impact the company differently and how Target handles the business, and the retail area. Target uses the Expect More. Pay Less as their mission so that shoppers find that the store is their preferred shopping destination. Target does this by showing that they can deliver exceptional guest experience, continual innovation, and outstanding value. The company also provides convenience and value by responding to their customers by offering fresh food, in the general merchandise stores. The stores offer the basic essential that include fresh produce, fresh meat, dairy, and frozen food assortments. Communication is also a very important control mechanism that helps Target provide good service to their customers. Marketing is also an important communication for the Target Corporation. Target planned their marketing to each of those who liked upscale discounting, quality of products, and their price competitiveness. They also used the “cheep-chic” strategy that helped them become a major brand and a consumer-shopping destination. They also use clever eye-catching marketing have partnered with high-profile design-oriented suppliers. The power of Target has grown since its beginning...
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...Environment 3 B. Target Markets 4 C. Current Marketing Objectives and Performance 5 III. SWOT Analysis 6 A. Strengths 6 B. Weaknesses 7 C. Opportunities 8 D. Threats 8 E. Matching Strengths to Opportunities/Converting Weaknesses and Threats 9 IV. Marketing Objectives 9 V. Marketing Strategies 10 A. Target Market(s) 10 B. Marketing Mix 11 VI. Marketing Implementation 13 B. Activities, Responsibility, and Timetables for Completion. 14 VII. Evaluation and Control 15 A. Performance Standards and Financial Controls 15 B. Monitoring Procedures 16 Target Corporation Marketing Plan I. Executive Summary Target is an upscale retail store offering trendy, high quality merchandise at discount prices. Their slogan is “Expect More-Pay Less”. Target Corporation operates Target.com, an online, electronic retail store, as well as Super Target, which offers a full line grocery store in addition to the Target retail operation. The company’s other key business include Target Financial Services, which encompass the Target Red and Target Visa card business. Target Corporation, originally called the Dayton Corporation, was formed in 1902 by George Dayton. The company recorded revenues of $59,490 million during the fiscal year ending January 2007. Target Corporation prides itself on its corporate responsibility which includes charitable contributions and being an environmentally friendly corporation. This, in fact, is one of Target Corporations’...
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...PART I: Overview of the Corporation: The year 2012 marks Target’s 50th anniversary. In the years since the department store evolved, Target has “watched our innovations lead to retail revolutions, and our team, guests and partners build better communities where we live and work” (1). With a mission to “make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and exceptional guest experience,” (1) Target has become known as an upscale retail store that does in deed offer trendy, high quality merchandise at discount prices. They place a lot of focus on their brand promise, “Expect More, Pay Less,” in order to ensure customer satisfaction. “Expect more of everything. More great design, more choices and more designer-created items that you won’t find anywhere else. And pay less. Its as simple as that” (1). Target Corporation is guided by their commitment to great value, the community, diversity and the environment and this is held very close to their heart. In keeping with their “Expect More, Pay Less” promise, Target distinguishes itself from competitors by offering affordable yet upscale products. History: Target Corporations, formally known as the Dayton Corporation, was founded in 1902 by George Dayton. At the time of formation, the store was known for “Dependable merchandise, fair business practices and a generous spirit of giving” (1). Dayton had recognized opportunities for growth in this market and took...
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