Creepy Or Really Good Marketing?

Awhile back I heard a news story about Target and their incredibly perceptive advertising – so perceptive that Target new a father’s daughter was pregnant before he did. If you haven’t heard the story before, I highly recommend reading this article in Forbes. In a nutshell, Target sent a flyer for discounts on maternity clothing to a high school aged girl. Her father was furious upon seeing the advertisement and went directly to the nearest Target to speak with a manager. He later discovered that his daughter was in fact pregnant.

Target knew the young girl was expecting based on a predicted pregnancy score they utilize. When certain products are bought in a designated time frame, the possibility the shopper is pregnant is determined.

So is this creepy or really effective marketing? My first thought is creepy. Target is able to know so much about me just by tracking purchases to my credit card without me knowingly giving permission. Now that we know Target has the capabilities to target its customers so well, this could encourage many shoppers to avoid the store all together.

On the other hand, I think this is incredibly effective marketing and it really doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I certainly have not stopped shopping at Target after hearing this story. In a way, I can see this as actually being beneficial for the consumer. I appreciate receiving relevant discount information for items I would need to purchase. I would actually get annoyed if I received marketing from a company that was not relevant to me at all. For instance, if I were to receive mailers from Target saying their video games were on sale I would immediately disregard it as junk mail; however, if I received a mailer with discounts on beauty items, I’d be more likely to make a purchase with it.

Bottom line is that Target really has developed a powerful tool for understanding the purchases decisions each customer makes. This is something that will definitely help to grow the business. If they can manage to keep their advertising more subtle, they will avoid creeping out their customers.