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Purple Cow
Case Study: Robyn Waters Gets It
How long has it been since you’ve been to Kmart My
guess, if you’re like most readers of this book, is “a long
time.” The same can’t be said of Target, though. Target is
the discounter of choice among professionals, design
freaks, and serious shoppers (in other words, people with
money to spend).
How did Target do it It certainly wasn’t their advertising
– though that’s pretty good. Nope, it’s because of people
like Robyn Waters, their VP of “trend, design, and
technical specifications.” (Yes, that’s her actual title.)
Robyn is the person who persuaded Michael Graves to
make a teapot for Target. She’s the one who searches out
amazingly cheap (but cool) flatware, and little pens with
floating targets in them. Instead of spending time and
money trying to buy market share with advertising, Target
has realized that by offering exclusive items that would be
cool at any price – but that are amazing when they’re
cheap – they can win without a big ad budget. Cool products
that appeal to people who both buy new stuff and talk
about it a lot are the core of Target’s strategy.
If a big-box retailer like Target can obliterate Sears and
Kmart, what’s stopping you from being many degrees
cooler than your bigger competitors
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