Engaging Your Target Audience

For businesses, 'the customer is always right' is a well-known saying, but a Facebook troll believed to represent Target may have given complaining customers pause.

When Target announced last Friday that it was phasing out gender divisions for toys and bedding, it followed in the footsteps of other forward-thinking brands that have made similar overtures toward lessening or erasing the gender binary in stores. In 2011 and 2012 respectively and in response to claims of sexist labelling, London-based toy shops Hamleys and Harrods removed gendered store sections, opting to organise toys by category. Agender, Selfridges' gender-neutral campaign that ran online and in their flagship Oxford Street branch from the 12th March to the end of April this year, capitalised on this growing trend and drew international media coverage from fashion and left-wing bloggers. In Target's case, whether it was due to its location in the United States or because this will be a permanent change to stores nationwide and a possible harbinger of things to come, some people were not impressed and were happy to voice their concern on Target's Facebook page. But one man took to Facebook and the questionable role of defending Target's reputation. Facebook and Twitter users spread screencaps of the man believed to be a Target customer service representative, their iconic red and white bullseye used as his profile picture, as he responded to complaints over the proposed dismantling of gender segregated aisles.

One of the tamer comments from Mike Melgaard.

It's safe to say that those Facebook users targetted by the troll, Mike Melgaard, are unlikely to have been swayed by the response to their complaint, even after the truth became clear. But for those customers who aren't as dedicated to upholding a strict gender divide in people or shopping aisles, a willingness to engage and a sense of humour can humanise a company and endear it to people who would not have had a strong opinion either way. In the case of Target's unasked-for defender, throwing their toys out of the pram may have lost them customers they were arguably already going to lose, but the additional media attention from the screencaps which spread as indiscriminately over political lines as other memes may help to make up for the loss.

Target has distanced itself from the prank, issuing a statement that “this individual was not speaking on behalf of Target.” From the content of some of the responses, it was the wisest move, but there's also another old saying: all publicity is good publicity, especially if you can also take the high road.


While no social media guru would advise being patronising or rude, have you ever used humour to engage your customers or do you think it's best to remain professional at all times?