Retail giant Target is a social media powerhouse. It has a strong presence on virtually every popular and emerging social media platform. Its audience totals over 138 million across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Vine, and LinkedIn (Hitz, 2014).
Target’s overall social media strategy goal is to “spread
brand love” (Curry, 2013). The company succeeds because “it attracts consumers
using a 360° presence through numerous channels and in different functions to
create buzz and awareness” (Badenhausen, 2013). Target engages with its
followers through a variety of posts regarding company news, promotions, tips for using
products found in their stores, and seasonal messaging. However, the key to
Target’s success is its real-time responses to customer posts. The company even
has a Twitter page dedicated to guest service questions (@AskTarget). On average,
Target “responds to 64% of comments within the hour, and 99% of comments within
24 hours,” which emphasizes the company’s commitment to excellent customer
service (Hitz, 2014).
Late 2013, Target experienced a hiccup when a security
breach affected 40 million credit and debit card holders who made in-store
purchases during the holiday season (Burg, 2014). At this time, Target made a
few social media, and general communication, missteps that have had a significant
impact on its reputation.
1. Target didn’t immediately alert its customers.
(Burg, 2014)
A rumor leaked a week before Target actually confessed to the security breach.
This created bad PR for the company and distrust with customers.
2. After Target did notify the public, it didn’t
have the bandwidth to quickly respond to concerns. (Burg, 2014)
Target’s
phone lines and website were gridlocked, preventing customers from getting
answers to their concerns. Where did they go? Target’s social media sites ended
up becoming a platform for customers to vent about their aggravation with the
situation.
During this crisis, social media could have served a great
platform for Target to communicate with customers and ease concerns about the
situation considering its 138 million followers. In essence, social media would have made communication extremely fast and effective. Target did respond to questions from customers, trying to ease concerns (a huge positive, as many companies would have went "dark"). However, the company could have also had a more proactive approach with announcements and updates on the situation.
What other ways could Target have used social media to mitigate the negative impact from the security breach?
What other ways could Target have used social media to mitigate the negative impact from the security breach?
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References:
Badenhausen, Kurt. (2013, March 12). Subway, Google And
Target Are Top Brands For Social Currency. Forbes.
Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/03/12/subway-google-and-target-are-top-brands-for-social-currency/
Burg, Natalie. (2014, January 17). Five Lessons For Every
Business From Target's Data Breach. Forbes.
Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/sungardas/2014/01/17/five-lessons-for-every-business-from-targets-data-breach/
Curry, Joe. (2013, November 19). 5 ways Target uses social
to drive brand loyalty. iMedia Connection.
Retrieved from: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/35459.asp#multiview
Hitz, Lucy. (2014, May 19). Target on Social Media: How the
Retail Giant Markets to a Social Audience of 138 Million. Simply Measured. Retrieved from: http://simplymeasured.com/blog/2014/05/19/target-on-social-media-how-the-retail-giant-markets-to-a-social-audience-of-138-million/
Target's use of social media as a customer service outlet looks to be extremely well done. I've seen so many companies that only use social media as another avenue for advertising distribution, it's refreshing to see a company actually engage customers.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much of the decision to hold communication about the data breach was in the hands of public relations, versus the legal or security departments? I read through the Burg article on Forbes and it doesn't mention any reasons on why the company withheld the breach for as long as it did. I could well imagine the social media or public relations teams wanting to inform people about the breach but being held back by higher, or those teams not even being informed.
Besides communicating the breach earlier and on their own terms, Target probably did as well as could have been expected, except for needing to put on more manpower. A look at their corporate site shows that they have invested heavily into cybersecurity and revamping their store credit cards. That's a great public relations response, but I'm not sure if they want to keep bringing it up and reminding people about the breach.
Great reading Sabrina!
-Harley
Hi Harley,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response!
While I think you are probably right in that there were legal and business reasons whyTarget held back the news, I also think the company should have ensured it had control over the announcement rather than responding after it had been leaked. I'm not sure how much Target could have controlled this in the end but knowing news gets leaked all the time, maybe they could have been better prepared.
Thanks,
Sabrina
Hi Sabrina!
DeleteI agree completely, there's no good way to absolve the company of all wrongdoing. The breach at Target has had a surprisingly good effect in cyber security, at least. According to eSecurity Planet, senior management's concern about security issues jumped from 13% to 55% after the Target breach, and a survey " found that respondents' security budgets increased by an average of 34 percent in the year following the breach, with most of those funds used for SIEM (50 percent), endpoint security (48 percent), and intrusion detection and prevention (44 percent)" (Goldman, 2015).
They're predicting that 2015 could be even worse than this past year, despite the ramp up in cyber security, so we'll just have to see which company gets targeted next, and if they learned from Target's response.
References
Goldman, J. (2015, January 20). Target Breach Had Massive Impact on Cyber Security Awareness. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from http://www.esecurityplanet.com/network-security/target-breach-had-massive-impact-on-cyber-security-awareness.html
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ReplyDeletePlease let me know that you have received this message. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Sabrina,
ReplyDeleteYou give great examples about how Target has created relationships with their customers. Providing information that is relevant to their consumers will gain their attention, engage them and create loyalty. I completely agree with you that the real time response being the key to much of their success. As we have learned in previous classes, companies that provide excellent customer service and have great products, are usually very successful. Their response statistics are impressive. Listening to and engaging with customers creates feelings of trust and loyalty between the company and customers, and between customers. (Kerpen, 2011, pg. 67)
Target truly has all of the bases covered with their presence and activity on various social media sites. I think the fact that they are on so many different platforms, allows the reach to consumers to be very broad. An individual might have an Instagram and Facebook account, but may not have a Twiiter or LinkedIn account, depending on preferences. Participation with just one of these social media sites means that Target can engage with customers. More companies should take the 360° approach to connect with consumers. In actively building a company’s social network, stronger relationships can be established with customers. (Kerpen, 2011, pg. 65)
I remember the negative press Target received after the data breach. Any company would need some time to try to regain their footing considering the enormity of the problem, but they certainly should have been transparent with the customers much faster. Social media makes it easier for companies to be transparent with customers, and customers expect this. (Kerpen, 2011, pg.109) Even a simple, empathic message clarifying the circumstance and asking for patience could have possibly maintained their reputation and customer loyalty. Companies must respond to issues quickly and publicly to ensure that customers perceive the company as one that cares, listens to their customers and addresses problems assertively. (Kerpen, 2011, pg. 79)
Overall I think the company should have publicly acknowledged the situation much faster and even expanded the amount of employees they had available to handle phone calls and social media sites. Additionally, Target should have provided more of an incentive for consumers to keep shopping at their stores. They should have also aired a television commercials and internet videos apologizing for the incident and reassuring customers about their efforts to rectify the situation. Free credit monitoring for a year and a 10% discount off purchases is not enough to redeem themselves after an event of this type. Perhaps a one a time discount at a higher rate would have been a better option.
Below is a video of the CEO post breach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU6JYX1zMQI
References
Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.