Target Wellness Proposal

Target Wellness Proposal

Simply Balanced Brand Extension and Mobile Fitness Application

Dr. Jeré Littlejohn

Daniel Everett, MC Hamner, Sarah Martin, Tyler Stanton, Wing Wong

3/27/20143/27/2014

Table of Contents

We Want To Help 1

Target’s Opportunities Spark Ideas 1

Only One Percent Chose “Health and Wellness” 2

The Proof is in The Charts 4

Results Show Importance Regardless of Bias 6

This Proposal Will Go Far 6

Simply Balanced Creates A Healthy Lifestyle 6

New Simply Balanced Items Generate Variety and Recognition 8

Mobile Fitness Applications Are the Future 9

A World of Fitness Waiting for You…On Your Smartphone 10

It’s Time for a Change 13

Target’s True Potential 13

‘Target’ App Receives Overwhelmingly Negative Criticism 14

Cartwheel App Shows More Success 14

Suggestions Given by Target’s Guests 16

A New Age for Target; Please Welcome the Simply Balanced App 17

Choose Target and Choose a Healthy Lifestyle 24

Executive Summary

Our purpose is to help enhance guest loyalty with Target guests so that they come to Target when they have a “Health and Wellness” need. This proposal will make Target gain department recognition and also expand the knowledge of Target guests in regards to everything the store and company has to offer.

The proposal and plan comes in two different parts:

1. Create a brand extension off of Target’s already coined “Simply Balanced” brand.

2. Create a Mobile Fitness Application for mobile devices under the “Simply Balanced” name.

Once the brand extension is created, the Simply Balanced brand will no longer just involve food, it will carry out through several other departments. This will create brand recognition and help guests understand that Target does provide many health and wellness benefits.

The mobile fitness application will ensure that even outside of Target’s walls, guests are still recognizing that Target can provide them with everything they need to maintain their healthy lifestyle.

We recommend that you take our proposal into consideration. This plan will enhance the company and each store nation-wide. Target guests will know the Simply Balanced brand and what it stands for. The mobile fitness application will be aimed for not only current Target guests, but those consumers who may have not even shopped in the stores, thus bringing in more guests and eventually more revenue for the company.

Simply Balanced Brand Extension and Mobile Fitness Application

We Want To Help

Target Co. has requested a proposal on how to increase guest recognition within the “Health and Wellness” department storewide. The goal is to increase guest loyalty so that they think “Target” when they have a health and wellness need. At your request we have come up with a two part business plan. Our proposal pinpoints the issue and will effectively help guests learn more about Target’s “Health and Wellness” department. This plan will also spark brand recognition between current and future Target guests which will lead to more revenue for Target Co.

Target’s Opportunities Spark Ideas

The first information we searched for was Target’s SWOT analysis, which shows the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as a corporation. For this project and purpose we really focused in on the opportunities portion.

As shown in Figure 1 on the following page, each section of the SWOT analysis is clearly filled in. Although the Weaknesses and Threats may be serious to the overall function of Target Co. we focused on what Target thinks could happen in the near future. Under the “Opportunities” section in the Target SWOT Analysis it reads, “Expanding presence in new and existing markets,” as well as, “Strong presence in e-commerce and innovations in m-commerce will increase.” This is where our team began

P a g e | 2

Figure 1

(Target SWOT Analysis, 2013).

to get an idea for a proposal. What stood out strong to us was “innovations in the m-commerce will increase,” meaning that additions will hopefully be added to the mobile technology economy within the next few years. This definitely caught our attention and helped us build the beginning of our plan.

Only One Percent Chose “Health and Wellness”

To get a better sense of Target guests, we started to gather information by conducting a small survey on Facebook entitled, “What do you think when you hear ‘Target’?” It consisted of four questions that were able to be

P a g e | 3

answered anonymously. Once the Facebook user had taken the survey, they were not allowed to again. The survey taker did not have to be a Target guest to answer the questions since it could be answered by simply a person’s opinion of the store. Seventy-five Facebook users took the survey. The questions that were asked are as followed:

1. What is your age range?

18-2425-3435-4445-5455-6465-7475 and Older

2. What is your gender?

Male or Female

3. When you think of the company and store “Target” which department do you think of first?

ClothingShoesElectronicsHomeOffice and School SuppliesHealth and WellnessGrocery ToysOther

4. How often do you shop at Target?

On a scale from 1-5, with one being never and five being three times or more a week

The survey went on for a little under a month and was shared publicly so anyone who came across the survey while on Facebook could take it if they were so inclined.

P a g e | 4

The Proof is in The Charts

Upon receiving our information from our 75 Facebook users, the results were put into pie charts documenting each question. The two questions that we felt were important to focus on were question number one and question number three; what age range do you fall into, and which department do you think of first?

Figure 2

47%

15%

12%

11%

9%

3% 3%

Age Range of Survey Guests

18-24

45-54

55-64

35-44

25-34

65-74

75+

(The Bullseye Brigade, 2014).

There were survey takers who answered that were in every age range, as shown in Figure 2 above. The largest percentage of survey takers was the

P a g e | 5

age range of 18-24 year olds at 47%. The second largest was the age range of 45-54 year olds at 15%. This age range is much closer to Target’s median guest age which is forty (Hipsher, 2014). What we thought was interesting though is the amount of users who are much younger than that median guest age.

Figure 3

37%

28%

13%

11%

4%3% 3% 1%

Target Departments

Home

Clothing

Office/School Supplies

Toys

Other

Electronics

Shoes

Health and Wellness

Grocery


The results of question three are the results that we found to be the most intriguing. Notice in Figure 3 above, that an overwhelming percentage of users chose the “Clothing” and “Home” department; thirty-seven percent and 28% respectively. Only one percent of the voters chose “Health and Wellness” and not one taker chose the “Grocery” department, which is an important factor to becoming healthy.

P a g e | 6

Results Show Importance Regardless of Bias

With every survey there is some sort of bias. We understand that in this survey there is one too. Only people who are users of Facebook could take this survey. Along with that, only Facebook users who came across this survey, whether it was on a friend’s “wall” or they saw it randomly, could participate in this. However, with the time we were allotted it would have been a stretch to complete a larger survey. Given more time we still strongly believe that the results would resemble those which we have already received. Our seventy-five responses gave us a glimpse into the pressing issue that Target has. How can Target as a whole incorporate health and wellness into stores to ensure guests, or even consumers who do not regularly shop at Target, are aware of everything the company has to offer? How can Target become more geared towards guest’s health and wellness needs?

This Proposal Will Go Far

Our proposal comes in two different parts that when combined will help Target earn guest loyalty in the “Health and Wellness” department, create brand and store recognition, and boost sales. The two steps are:

1. To create a brand extension of Target’s already coined “Simply Balanced” food brand.

2. To create a fitness, “lifestyle” App that incorporates those Simply Balanced brand items, fitness activities, and weekly goals with incentives given in the form of receipt marketing.

Simply Balanced Creates A Healthy Lifestyle

The Target bullseye logo is widely known and recognized. The color green is becoming known for “green energy” and a symbol of “healthy living.” The Simply Balanced logo on Target food items originally is a circle with the lettering inside. We propose that the brand logo become this green

P a g e | 7

bullseye, shown below in Figure 4, to better represent healthy living but also drive home the point that this is Target’s brand and healthy living, along with any guests’ wellness need, can be accomplished with help from Target.

Figure 4


Target’s Simply Balanced food brand has around 250 food products, some of which are organic, (Supermarket News, 2013). With the brand extension, Simply Balanced would move away from being just a food brand and weave itself into departments such as “Home,” and “Exercise and Fitness,” and possibly even “Pharmacy,” or “Clothing.”We believe that health and wellness does not just involve eating right or healthy; it involves all aspects in life. What a person consumes and how they exercise are obviously big parts of a having a healthy lifestyle, but how someone looks and feels also play a large role.

P a g e | 8

New Simply Balanced Items Generate Variety and Recognition

The “Simply Balanced” food brand is already being purchased by Target’s guests. If the brand extension is created then those consumers would know that brand and would likely be interested in new products under the same name. Brand recognition is not only important for returning guests who have bought the “Simply Balanced” food in the past, but also for new guests who see a pattern in the brand and understand and appreciate what it stands for. It will be easier for Target guests to recognize healthy options that can lead to a healthy lifestyle when they see the “Simply Balanced” logo on products.

When one says wellness, people generally think of just eating healthy or exercising but there are also other aspects of life that slips through the mind. Below is a list of departments and sample items that can be used to start off the Simply Balanced brand. The variety of different products that could be marketed is extensive, but here are a few ideas of new merchandise that could be sold under the Simply Balanced brand name:

Personal CareToothbrushestoothpasteExfoliatorsMoisturizersShampooConditionerRazorsShaving cream

Exercise and FitnessExercise BikesBarbellsResistance BandsYoga MatsFitness BallsPull up barsWork out DVD’s (possibly with personalized Target trainer)

Kitchen AppliancesBlendersSmoothie MakersJuicersCookware

P a g e | 9

Water BottlesWater filtersBPA Free glasses

Health and PharmacyVitaminsEnergy BarsProtein ShakesTarget Four Dollar Generics

Clothing/Active Wear Yoga PantsShirts/TanksTennis shoes SocksHair bandsSweat bands

As stated earlier, these are only examples of possible extensions to the brand. These products would probably need to be created for Target and for Simply Balanced. Over time though, with all the different products Simply Balanced could have to offer, guest would become very well acquainted with seeing the green bullseye and reading about how Simply Balanced items can help them stay healthy from day to day.

Mobile Fitness Applications Are the Future

In order to move onto our second part of the proposal, a little researching about today’s technology and society. Even though technology has enhanced society, it can be argued that technology has played a key role in the overall declining global health, for instance with physical activity. It is time to find a way to use our technology to enhance health. One of the best ways to use this is our mobile phone, moreover, smart phone applications.

In September 2011 a mere 17% of people reported using their smart phones to search for health information, this percent raised to 31% by September 2012. Subsequently, during this same year the users of health apps raised from 124 million to 247 million people, (Matthews, 2013).

There are smartphone applications for a number of different areas in health, which are including but not limited to:

P a g e | 10

Diabetes care Nutrition tracking Smoking cessation Fitness

A World of Fitness Waiting for You…On Your Smartphone

Mobile Fitness Applications allow users to track all of their fitness activities and do such things as post them on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. More than 13000 applications were recorded to be available on the iTunes App store as of August 2012Mobile devices are becoming more persuasive from a behavioral standpoint by allowing users to do things like facilitate the ongoing collection of data and the very timely feedback of education to promote a behavior change, (Patrick, Intille, & Zabinski, 2005).Along with users being able to track fitness activities using their GPS capabilities, they also have the option of immediate sharing of these fitness activities through social media.

Five applications were selected to use for our research on Mobile Fitness Applications. Criteria for the type of MFA to be reviewed were based on:

1. Operating System - iPhonePhone was chosen as it lead the market in the time of this review in smartphones

2. Social Sharing - TwitterAll apps to be reviewed needed to have the option to share through twitter due to the fact that researchers could not query the postings from other social networking sites such as Facebook.

3. DiversityTo encompass a large range of MFA’s

The applications that were chosen to help us further our business proposal are:

1. Nike+ app - to include one large company

2. Endomondo app - to include one non-USA based app

3. RunKeeper app - running/walking app

P a g e | 11

4. Dailymile - one community based app

5. MyFitnessPal - one health based app that included fitness and nutrition

Endomondo

Available on many different platforms and includes; Basic tracking of workout route Split times Calorie consumption Challenges Audio coach Users can follow their friends run via PC

In 2012 Endomondo reported that the application had over 7 million users and over 200,000 workouts a day with a 28% increase in exercise activities throughout those in Europe, (StreetInsider, 2012).

RunKeeper

Creators suggest that their application makes tracking your workouts fun, social and easy to understand so you can improve your fitness, (RunKeeper, 2012).RunKeeper allows your GPS to track:

Distance Time Pace Route Elevation of jogs

You can then sync your logs to the RunKeeper website to view at a later date.Runkeeper reports in 2010 that their application was downloaded over 171,000 times. (Ha, 2010)

Nike+

This application that includes a set of tools that allows users to: Measure distance Pace Map runs

P a g e | 12

Track progress

Nike reports in 2011 that their application has created a community of over 1.2 million runners, reported data analysis of these runs suggests that Nike has tracked more than 130 million miles and burned more than 13 million calories, (Nike, 2011).

DailyMile

This application includes: Fitness log Motivational tools Social networking hub

Incorporated to help people achieve their health and wellness goals while connecting with others who are trying to do the same

As of November 2011 DailyMile reported that more than 10.1 million workouts had been completed, 8.9 million member interactions through comments posted and member activity accounting for over 72 million doughnuts burned, (DailyMile, 2012).DailyMile reports that their application has over 300,000 members and adds 3000 new members weekly, (DailyMile, 2012).

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is an online community that provides useful tools, advice and support for people to meet their health and fitness goals.This site allows their users to:

Track what they eat Track how much they exercise Receive Tips and Support Access a food tracking service that allows over 1.2 million

searchable options

It’s Time for a Change

These statistics prove that mobile fitness applications are effective in promoting health and balance. Target needs a mobile fitness application of its own in order to promote people to live a balanced lifestyle. A mobile fitness application would not only do this but it would increase Target’s revenues noticeably as well.

P a g e | 13

Target’s True Potential

Here is where the second part of our proposal begins. Target has been trying to accomplish improving the overall wellness of their guests and to make Target “known for” doing such. We suggest that Target creates a new fitness app under the Simply Balanced name. The new app should be based around wellness and create a sense of simplicity yet effectiveness. We must provide incentives not only for adults, but also for teens and people who may not normally shop at a Target. The app should help Target maintain lifelong relations to their guests and provide new entry for more guests to come.

‘Target’ App Receives Overwhelmingly Negative Criticism

Target’s current mobile application goes directly against its ideal standards. As stated by the Target representatives that spoke with our class, Target aims to be the “one stop shop” place for their guests and the app that should promote this ideal is not up to par, (Hipsher, 2014). Even though it received a three out of five star rating in the Apple App Store, many reviews given by users are not positive. Based off the review section within the App store, here is what Target’s guests think of the application:

“I only gave it one star because it won’t let me give it zero.”

“Shopping cart doesn’t work.”

“Too many accounts and no passbook.”

“Doesn’t show in store prices!!!”

In fact, the only positive feedback was about the baby registry section of the app. So unless it was strictly designed for that then it needs to be fixed. Some concerns are overwhelmingly noticeable and dictating to the quality of the app, but even the smaller concerns needn’t be overlooked when it comes to the potential success of Target as a whole.

P a g e | 14

Cartwheel App Shows More Success

These reviews panned out to be a little better than the ‘Target’ app, which means that Target has taken some steps to better it’s mobile reputation. This app provides discounts ranging from 5-50% and the guests can choose exactly what they want to save on. New users are given ten slots in which they can use their own personal barcode to save on up to four of the same item per coupon.

Figure 5 on the following page illustrates the Cartwheel app with two slots selected, along with the personal barcode, and accumulated savings. The app accumulates your savings and the more you save the more ad space you unlock, thus having more potential to save. This feature reminds guests of the impact the app has on their savings

Figure 5

P a g e | 15

(Cartwheel App, 2013).

as well as stimulates the adrenaline craving side of people with being able to unlock more. The following reviews were taken from the review section of the App store:

“Pretty solid app, but has room for improvement.”

“Buggy and more complicated than necessary.”

“I love the weekly ad!”

P a g e | 16

The only negative reviews describe problems with the app crashing or difficulty pertaining to accessibility. So again, what drove all of these people to write exquisite reviews? Saving! And the new app should keep this in mind, give the people what they want and they will be happy.

Suggestions Given by Target’s Guests

What ever happened to the old saying, “The customer is always right”? In today’s world companies can receive immediate feedback because of the available technology. The customers, or guests in Target’s case, have spoken. Here is what they have suggested:

Online support for the app

Improved Pharmacy section

Simplify the app

Expand database for UPC codes (many items that are in store cannot be found through searching within the app due to lack of coding for them).

Add prices to “your shopping list,“ so guests can estimate what they are spending prior to doing so.

Our team has taken all of these suggestions and new ideas in effort to create an app of our own; The Simply Balanced App.

A New Age for Target; Please Welcome the Simply Balanced App

After research and downloading a few of these apps discussed above, we have pulled the best parts from each app that will help create a mobile application that will track fitness and health goals. Once these goals are successfully completed, each week the app will reward users with coupons. We have mainly focused on Target’s already up-and-running “Cartwheel” app for the design and basic layout of our Simply Balanced app. This will continue to build brand recognition for Target. Figure 6 is where the app will begin.

P a g e | 17

Figure 6


Here is the basic layout of a smart phone’s home screen. In the lower left hand corner of the screen is the tab created for the “Simply Balanced” App. This is going along with the recognizable Target bullseye, but using the green color to help define it as fresh, new, and healthy. By clicking this tab on the home screen, it will take you to the opening page of the app.

The opening page for the app will contain a list of separate categories that will either track fitness, calorie intake, or weekly goals. The fitness tracking aspect is highlighted in Figure 7, categorized by the title “my Lifestyle”.

Figure 7

P a g e | 18


The focus here is that by creating awareness for the “Health and Wellness” department, and if guests and users respond well to it, it will become a part of their actual lifestyle. This will lead guests to more easily associate Target with the idea of wellness.

Once the “my Lifestyle” category is chosen, the app will lead you to the page, Figure 8 below, where all fitness is tracked and recorded. This design is based off of the design from the “Endomondo” app. We agreed that this app had the most potential to be the simplest, easiest fitness tracking app that iTunes had to offer. We want this “Simply Balanced” app to be easy to use and understand for people of any age. This design template is very user friendly. At the top of the screen, the app tracks time spent exercising, all the user has to do to control the app, is to tell it when to start and stop recording. The user also has the ability to change what type of activity they are

P a g e | 19

Figure 8


involving in. The types of activities offered are numerous and range from running to cycling, to yoga. Once the “Stop” button is clicked, depicted as the red circle with the square in the middle, it will summarize information such as your distance traveled, how many calories were burned, and an estimation of your average heart rate. This is all useful information for anyone making an effort to set and complete their fitness goals.

Directly underneath the “my Lifestyle” category, will be another category option called “my Diary”. Once the category is clicked, a very simple food log is presented as in Figure 9 to track daily calorie intake of the user. This layout, also being very simple and user-friendly, is based off of the design of the “MyFitnessPal” app on iTunes. Click the “Add to Diary” option located in the green box next to the number of calories you have

P a g e | 20

Figure 9


to consume throughout the day. From there, four options will be given to the user: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Users then choose which category their meal falls under and simply search what, and how much of that type of food they have eaten. By including the portion size in the search, the calorie counter will be more accurate for the user. Once food is logged into the diary, they will notice the number of calories remaining that fits into their set goal will start to decrease. This gives the user an idea of how they need to choose to spend their calories throughout the day.

The third category on the home page will combine the previous two. This category will be called “my Goals”, as shown in Figure 10. The “my Goals” category will combine the fitness and diet aspect in order to track the users success is completing their weekly goal. In this category, a series of questions will be asked once at the beginning of each

P a g e | 21

Figure 10


tracking week. These questions will give the app enough information to understand if the user is trying to gain, lose, or maintain weight. The user will also set a number of how many pounds they would like to lose or gain throughout the upcoming week. It will not allow any dangerous goals to be set that would allow someone to gain or lose too much weight within a seven day span. If maintaining weight, it will ask the user how much they currently weigh, and it will see if their diet and exercise routine are enough to keep them at your same weight during the week. These goals that the user sets for themselves will generate the expected number of calories to be consumed in the “my Diary” category. The goals will reset every Sunday, sending the user a notification that it is time to set their new weekly goal.

With each weekly goal that is met, a page of coupons will be available for the user to use anytime during the next week. Each week, there will be new coupons promoted. The coupons promoted will include products described earlier that the “Simply Balanced” brand could be extended to. All products promoted on these coupons will be health and wellness oriented, to also

P a g e | 22

help promote making health and wellness a part of lifestyle. Figures 11 and 12 show how the “my Deals” category will operate.

Figure 11


Opening the “my Deals” category will bring the user to a tab called “all Categories”. This tab will include all areas of the Target store such as apparel, kitchenware, electronics, etc. By clicking on the different areas of the store, different coupons relating to that area of the store will be presented and the user will be eligible to use them for the week following completing their most recent fitness goal. Each week, the coupon will be refreshed and other items will be promoted through the coupons. Target brand product will be promoted heavily in the coupons in order to promote Target as a whole.

P a g e | 23

Figure 12


These rough sketch visuals should give you an idea of where the app would start in development. It is easy to use and lets the users become very interactive with Target, which, in turn, will lead to Target becoming a part of their new, healthy lifestyle.

Choose Target and Choose a Healthy Lifestyle

Being healthy doesn’t involve just one aspect of life, or in this case one department. We truly believe that if Target takes on our proposal it will lead to more guest loyalty. Guests will think of Target when they have any health and wellness need. The Simply Balanced brand extension will create brand

P a g e | 24

recognition and show guests that health encompasses many different areas in their daily life. The Simply Balanced app will create a fun and friendly way for current and future Target guests to keep up that healthy lifestyle that they all want to have. Target’s revenue will increase as well once the plan is embedded and guests become aware of the Simply Balanced Brand. We recommend that Target takes our proposal into careful consideration, as we do believe that proposal is part of the future.

REFERENCES

Endomondo, LLC. (2011) Endomondo sports tracker- GPS track running cycling

P a g e | 25

walking & more. (Version 8.9.2). [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from

http://itunes.apple.com

Hamstra, M. (2013, September). Target gets healthy. SN: Supermarket News, 61(38/39),

14-26.

Hipsher, B. (2014, February). Target. Lecture conducted from University of Mississippi, Oxford.

MyFitnessPal, LLC. (2009). Calorie counter & diet tracker by myfitnesspal. (Version 5.0.2)

[Mobile application software]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com

Target. (2013). Cartwheel by Target. (Version 1.5) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from

http://itunes.apple.com/.

Target. (2012, August). Target. (Version 6.3.5) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from

http:// itunes.apple.com/.

Target Corporation SWOT Analysis. (2013). Target Corporation SWOT Analysis, 1-11.

Vickey, T., Breslin, J., & Williams, A. (2012). Fitness--there's an app for that: Review of mobile

fitness apps. International Journal Of Sport & Society, 3(4), 109-127.

http://itunes.apple.com/

Target Wellness Proposal

Business

Transcript of Target Wellness Proposal