Dive Brief:
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In letter written to Gawker, an anonymous corporate Target employee says the retailer's executive team, even those remaining after the exit of CEO Gregg Steinhafel and CIO Beth Jacob,“still think it's 1996 and you can keep throwing up Target stores and suburban moms will love them. They pay lip service to how retail is evolving but it when it comes to actually making good decisions, they do horribly.”
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In a LinkedIn post that he said he also shared with employees, Target CMO Jeff Jones said, “The truth hurts but it can also set you free.”
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Jones also said Target will emerge stronger than ever because the changes it needs are not at the turnaround level. He compared the company's prospects to once-struggling companies like Apple, J. Crew, and Ford, that nevertheless reemerged as top companies.
Dive Insight:
Target CMO Jeff Jones is one of the last ones standing at a retailer that has been shaken by last year’s massive data breach and falling fortunes from a number of other issues.
Included in those issues, according to the anonymous employee that sent the letter, is a corporate climate that is inefficient, passive-aggressive, and pays only lip service to retail innovations. Jones’ response is impressive, a public mea culpa that appears to signal that the retail giant is on the case.
