A few reflections...

Our group project asked us to identify a strategy for Target to cultivate millennial loyalty. I felt it was an interesting project, but I was not convinced at the start of the semester if we can really help that company in that way. Now, at the end of the semester, I still, personally, remain doubtful whether or not our idea is going to help Target. So what was our idea? Campus ambassadors. Not exactly an original one. Other companies like Apple and Chipotle have experimented with it. But not Target. So I guess it will be interesting to see if they actually try it. They do seem a bit desperate anyway. They are partnering with Deloitte, too, to administer a video challenge where students can come up with innovative ideas for Target.

Come to think of it, doesn't that mean Target, indirectly, has already launched a "faux campus ambassador program"? Getting MBA students to keep discussing about Target, its brand, its consumers, and ideas to grow seems to be an organic way to impress the minds of both gullible and cynical MBAs !! I am tempted to say "mission accomplished", but not so fast. So, what are the key takeaways of this project? Let me discuss them in detail below..

First, I felt the persona development exercise has been of value to me. I am interested in marketing high tech products and services..so mainly B2B. Yet, I think the exercise was useful. Although our persona was a 20 year old Hispanic woman, Eva, I feel the whole process got me thinking. It raised some serious questions. Who is my business looking to sell to? Why? What is it about Eva that makes us think we can connect with her? Such questions are very relevant in even B2B. While the questions would be more tailored towards an organization, they are very relevant. Why do I want to sell to this business? What's their brand and business model? In short, what makes them tick? 

Now, while completing the project, we actually updated Eva's persona. Initially, she was a 23-25 year old Hispanic college graduate. Eventually, we made her a 20 year old student. Now that was a very interesting experience. Two main reasons. One, it highlighted that personas can evolve and nothing is constant. In real world, both people and businesses keep changing based on their external environment and needs. Second, in our hurry to nail down a persona, it is possible we may have gone down the proverbial "rabbit hole". Initially, we went around building the persona and all prototypes from a digital and social perspective without evaluating the business and marketing need of Target. We had some ideas in mind and we just went ahead building on them. Only when we, later, took a step back to pause and reflect that we felt going "all in" on digital and social may not necessarily be the greatest proposal we can make for Target. So we backtracked and developed a different persona and different solution. So, overall, the iterative nature of the persona development was a standout. 

Second, what else? Infographics!!! I had seen them before, but never saw it the way I did during the class. Now, I feel they are a very strong medium for not just folks in marketing, but anyone. If done well, they can be used to tell a compelling story in clear and concise manner. I gave it my first shot to tell the story for food trailers and how some one can launch them. Win some, Lose some. I guess I ended with some "infauxgraphics", but overall I felt I got exposed to a new skill. Even if I won't make the cut as a professional infographics maker, I developed a new appreciation for it. After that, I am looking at all my other presentations in a new light. Is the content engaging? What story am I telling? Or what story am I selling? But I think overdoing it may risk appearing gimmicky.. now that applies to pretty much everything else too.,.. too much of anything good can be bad..

Now, what part of the project I felt was not very useful. Well.. frankly, I don't want to say it was not useful. I just did not agree with the overall philosophy of one item and I think I have mentioned it earlier during my "creativity blog". We did some card tricks to get people to start working and thinking creatively. Personally, I don't think that is the right way to approach this matter. Card tricks, mnemonics, illusions, etc help in that moment, but may not be useful in sustaining creativity. They "spark", but they do not "ignite". Now, it is very well possible that some students may have found it to be very helpful. I am happy for them, but I still don't think it works in the long run. Since I already wrote a detailed blog earlier on this, I will not discuss the problem any further. 

What's an alternative? I don't like to point out problems, but identify ways to solve them and improve on the process. So here is my suggestion. How about having an exercise on developing teamwork skills? Business schools (including mine) live under the illusion that if you assemble 100 people from 100 countries speaking 100 different languages and having 100 different backgrounds, then you are promoting an amazing learning experience. Incomplete. Incomplete. There is no guarantee all those people will automatically work together, contribute new ideas, and create a great learning experience for each other. Diversity may be a good thing, but only when the diverse elements are proactive and cooperative. Now, in our design class too, we were automatically sorted in teams. Fortunately, I had a solid, professional experience throughout the course of the project. Could it have been better? Sure. Managing meeting schedules, accommodating ideas and opinions etc 

So, Prof Walls, it will be helpful to have some kind of team building exercises at the start of the course. Why? Just to let people get a flavor of working with each other, understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. As a business leader, if I were to shape my own organization and had to choose among creativity and teamwork, I would pick teamwork everyday and every time. Why? I would rather have a non-creative yet solid and efficient team instead of highly creative individuals who cannot grow as a team. Now, I know, I am in danger at appearing as a hypocrite. On the one hand, I said card tricks may not work to inspire creativity. On the other hand, I am asking for team building exercises to create bonhomie and promote teamwork! Well, the kind of team building exercises I envision during the design class in future will include -- brown bag lunch discussions on random topics, sharing previous experiences, asking students to share a talent (could be anything).. and just have them loosen up.. MBAs, especially, are guilty of being tight and some times not very open to cozy-ing up to folks from other majors.. communications, lawyers, etc etc We already have classes at 12:30 pm so having these open forum brown bag discussions to get teams to "loosen up" should not be difficult...Or send them on a scavenger hunt or something ..real or virtual..Should be interesting.

Now, what were my emotional reactions? I had a major issue throughout the project. I just think Target today is being and will continue to be sandwiched between two juggernauts --Walmart and Amazon -- unless it can envision and execute a killer, winning strategy.. Cultivating millennial loyalty does not, at least to me, appear like that winning strategy. It has to be something revolutionary...Here is one thought..I don't think it is revolutionary either, but definitely interesting and worth exploring..

Imagine if consumers could walk, browse, and shop in their local stores without leaving their homes? If close to half of all US households today have some form of the modern gaming console, then can we envision something like this? Shoppers wander through a virtual, real time representation of their local store using their gaming console. They get to view the floor, aisles, displays, signs, and all items just like in the real store. They have their own shopping basket to select items. If they want, they can read reviews of items, and compare prices. They pay using their console. Finally, the store ships “from store” to their homes. ..And I actually already told this to WalmartLabs :) ..Don't know if they even read it or not..well, I just let them know anyway..

So, going back to the emotional experience. Now, I felt uneasy trying to sell an idea to Target, when deep down, I am not sure I am making the best recommendation.. That is just me. And I totally understand this may happen in future in real life as a professional where I may have to toe the "party line" even if I don't agree with it. But rest assured, I will make my thoughts known and register my uneasiness. However, if the issue is a moral or ethical one, I will not accept it and use proper channels to bring up the issue and its urgency. This has happened before. I ended up becoming the whistle blower with my previous employer...it is a wonderful story and deserves a separate blog I guess...

Overall, I found the class very interesting...vague at times.. like the whole "what i care for" exercise.. not being able to quantify stuff there made it vague for me. As I mentioned before, I had a solid, professional working experience with my team mates. Emotionally, well... Sorry Target, but may be you could have got me more excited by not handcuffing on "millennial loyalty".. May be, "What can Target do to be No. 1 retailer in US" would have been an ambitious, yet exciting, adventure for me..and allowed me to be more bold in recommendations...

I created the design blog on Day 1 with a few lines (right on top of this blog).... so I think it is apt that I wrap up on the same note...

Sitting on the edge of a lake

New designs I begin to make

And yet each discarded one

Lets me learn from my mistake