Guess they weren’t that excited to “get to know us” after all.
Target introduced itself into the Canadian marketplace via a Super Bowl ad in 2013 featuring its bull terrier mascot, Bullseye, riding in a motorcycle sidecar across the country. Not only was it the first of seemingly countless buzzy ads self-heralding its arrival, but ironically enough, it was also the last time the U.S. retail giant successfully shipped anything across the country.
Amazing what difference just two years makes.
Ever since Target announced last week it was closing Canadian operations, the commentary has not been kind. Few publications or pundits pulled punches on the corporate bosses who botched what should have been the easiest invasion since Sam and Frodo simply walked into Mordor.
“Pride took down a giant,” a National Post headline proclaimed. Others read more like film critic blurbs about a bloated blockbuster than they did of a retail cautionary tale:
“Hubris.”
“Arrogance.”
“Overconfidence.”
“Failure.”
To be honest, I am envious of the enterprising reporter or academic who gets to pen the book on what must be the largest retail bungle in Canadian history – multiple billions in losses, once-sterling reputation in tatters and an entire country with no desire to welcome them back. This is a boardroom drama populated with flawed and clueless characters.
In recent days, experts have been extracting small lessons from what transpired – “Six ways not to expand in Canada” (Toronto Star); “Target Canada’s failed launch offers lessons for other retailers” (CBC); “Nordstrom take note, here’s what Target’s Canadian failure can teach you” (CTV).
Much of the advice huddled around a handful of common themes. Writing for The Business Journals, Erich Joachimsthaler offered a concise summation of them. As I read his nuggets, I couldn’t help to project one of his key warnings onto our sector. Because in the end, everything comes down to one question:
Do we truly know our customers?
“While geographically and culturally very close,” Joachimsthaler wrote, “there are huge differences between Canada and the U.S.” Target’s sin, he contended, was assuming a homogenous consumer in the two countries. But customer experiences and expectations north of the border are just different enough to create confusion when not considered independently.
What were those words again?
“Hubris.”
“Arrogance.”
“Overconfidence.”
“Failure.”
Searching for that nuanced understanding of new customers – new students, in our world – is exactly where we find ourselves today.
Canadian postsecondary institutions are witnessing a rapid expansion of what we do, where we do it and who we do it for. We are aggressively catering to new customers – a more diverse and dispersed group than our previous ones. Where once we were happy to draw from a fairly homogeneous pool close to home, we now look the world over to potential students we covet, but may not fully understand.
Staying in tune with their needs – not only academic, but physical, emotional, technological and cultural – remains paramount to our success. It will only get more so over the next generation as the world starts to realize what a Canadian education offers.
And if we don’t keep up, we will be reminded of it.
“Repeat after me: The customer is king. Always was, always will be,” Joachimsthaler wrote of Target customers, but could just as easily been referring to our students. “But today, the king also holds a gigantic megaphone. It is the always-on, always-connected consumer that amplifies frustrations through social media while still in the store. When the store does not deliver, the consumer uses her social currency and tells her network to think twice. The demise is relatively quick and sharp.”
We have spent years cultivating an image in Canada, a powerful brand that says what we offer will fuel a better future for our students in a way different from our American counterparts. But we must deliver on that promise – and to do so, we must constantly re-evaluate, tweak and repeat.
“High expectations are a great starting point, but not if you can’t deliver,” Joachimsthaler wrote. “The lesson is simple – there is nothing more wasteful than to communicate an empty promise.”
A lot of that innovation is taking place right now, right in front of us – from e-learning solutions to internationalization to re-evaluating how students pay for university. We are far from all the answers on any of these topics, but we are working the challenges.
Target’s failings reminded me of the exciting times we operate in today. It also reminded me of what could befall us if we quit listening to those we are here to serve.
And if we should fail, I am guessing the headlines won’t be as kind.
