Company Case Target from “Expect More” to “Pay Less”

One of the largest and successful retailers in the United States is Target. There have been many microenvironmental factors that have affected this company’s performance over the past few years. The microenvironment 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 materials (Kotler and Armstrong, p.94). The marketing plans for the company affected its sales and compared to the retail giant Wal-Mart it did not seem like it was doing so well. 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 to Kotler and Armstrong, the marketing concept states that, to be successful, a company must provide greater customer value and satisfaction than its competitors do (Kotler and Armstrong, p.68). Media publics have also had an effect on Targets performance. Media publics include groups that carry news, features and editorial opinion and have had an effect on this company’s performance (Kotler and Armstrong, p. 69). Target and Wal-Mart have been compared so much that