GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 1

This marketing plan has been prepared for the industry partner Target Australia in response to the

Kidswear --- Spring Celebration Dressing brief on behalf of RMIT University.

By: Group Arrow

Date Submitted: 25 Aug 2016

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
With a broad reach across the country and over 300 stores, Target offers occasion dressing that aims to cater a wide demographic and meet their needs

to dress up their children. The purpose of this marketing plan is to communicate the overall marketing strategy for the Spring occasion range and

provide recommendations and the necessary action required to implement the strategies. The current market indicates the childrens wear market is

experiencing growth, primarily driven by an increase in the younger demographic and the target market is increasingly engaged and connected on

digital and mobile devices through social media. The recommendations provided are in consideration to addressing the issues identified with respect to

the marketing mix. The collection will be named Garden Adventure and is a 24-piece collection (for girls and boys) that draws inspiration from French

chateaus and its geometrical gardens, as well as a hint of the surrealism art movement through the combination of playful prints and patterns.

A key finding is the opportunity exists for Target to tap into a more fashionable and trend-driven product offering as there is an increased demand for

trendy and fun childrenswear and therefore it has been recommended to introduce a new sub-brand named Target Kids Co. to position the sub-brand

as a higher end of the market and addressing its better and best segments. To support the launch of the collection, an integrated marketing

communications campaign will be implemented to promote the range and generating awareness through advertising through both traditional and

online channels drive sales through and sales promotions and is budgeted to cost $398,760 to implement. Target will purchase approximately 4.2 million

across its 300 stores nationwide for the six-month period and the collection will be available at all Target stores with only the top stores stocking the full

collection with all colourways.

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 3

1.0 INTRODUCTION
This report has been prepared for Target Australia for their childrenswear department in response to the brief provided by the industry partner. The brief

was to develop a Spring Dressing childrenswear range for children aged between 2 to 7 years old. The purpose of the report is to communicate the

overall marketing strategy for the Spring childrenswear range and provide recommendations and the necessary action required to implement the

strategies. The main objective is to answer the brief by developing and selling the range in Target stores and achieve the financial and marketing

objectives.

Prior to this marketing plan, both primary and secondary research has been conducted. This comprised of a situational analysis of the current market

Target is operating in. In addition, market research has been performed through collecting data from 250 questionnaires developed with the aim to gain

insights into the mindset of the target market to gain an understanding of their wants and needs. The scope of the report will involve an overview of the

current marketing situation of the internal and external marketing environments, a SWOT analysis to examine the Target brand and its childrenswear

product category, financial and marketing objectives, recommendations for marketing strategies and a buying plan and promotional budget.

Based on the data collected, it should be noted that there are some limitations in the report that need to be taken into consideration when

implementing the proposed strategies. A major limitation is there was no information collected about the target markets lifestyle and interests from the

primary data. Therefore, some assumptions will be made based on existing secondary research.

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 4

2.1.2 TARGET MARKET
PROFILE

The primary buyers for Target childrens wear is Australian mothers aged between 35 to 49 years old who come together to purchase quality products at

affordable purchase items for family members as gifts. Secondary buyers include fathers and grandparents.

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

Currently, the demographic characteristic of the Australian mother is 37 years old and lives in local suburban areas (Smail 2013). According to the

Australian Bureau of Statistics, the employment of an Australian mother who has a child under 5 years old; 65 per cent of employed mothers worked part

time and it has decreased to 55 per cent when the youngest child was aged 6-14 years (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2013).

PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILE

A survey conducted by MumsNow found that 99% of Australian mothers have a Facebook account with 50% spend between 1 to 3 hours a day (Drivers

Web Design 2013). This data suggests that the target market is constantly engaged and connected on social media. Furthermore, Australian mothers are

identified to be accessible to other social media websites other than Facebook such as Pinterest (43%) and Instagram (26%) (Edison Research 2015). In

addition to that, Australian mothers are found to be connected on the internet about 8 hours a day (Cannon 2016) and mothers are now connected to

social media platforms and use them to seek advice on their purchase decisions. This is also confirmed with a study on smartphone habits by Roy

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 5

Morgan Research it shows that Mums are 66% more likely to use their phones to enter competitions online and 54% more likely to read online

catalogues compared to average smartphone users (Roy Morgan 2015). Australian mothers are deeply influenced by word-of-mouth recommendations

from mothers groups and communities and has fast become a major influence in mothers buying habits. The study suggests that mothers primary

source of sharing information used to be face-to-face at mums groups or playgroups but now virtual communities are growing in popularity. This

suggests that for Targets target customer, recommendations from other mothers can be powerful than any other structured promotion (Collier 2016).

According to the survey conducted in our market research, it was found the majority of the target market normally shop for childrenswear through

physical stores. Therefore, while our research suggests that the target market is constantly connected to the internet, they prefer to make their purchases

in-store, suggesting the challenge for Target is how the company can use social media to drive sales by making them come in-store. Additionally, the

survey identified the target markets main reason for purchasing childrenswear was to:

1. To replace outgrown garments (69 out of 250 respondents) and

2. To dress up my children (53 out of 250 respondents)

The second most popular response indicates the target market enjoys dressing up their children, presenting a potential opportunity for Target to tap

into a more fashionable and trend-driven product offering.

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 6

2.3 COMPETITIVE SITUATION

POSITIONING

A positioning map is used to visually see how customers perceive brands. Shown below is a perceptual map showing where Target sits in the market

relative to its competitors. As illustrated in the map, Target is positioned towards the left and in the middle, depicting that Target is currently viewed as a

retailer that offers good quality and affordable childrens clothing. Two other brands that are positioned near at the top of the Target brand are Cotton

On Kids and H&M.

Figure 1. Positioning Map

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 7

3.0 SWOT

3.1 BRAND

Strengths Weaknesses

Iconic Australian department store known for fashion In-store layout and display is messy and inconsistent

and quality across its stores

Internal Origin Affordable pricing and wide variety of product mix Uncertain company management
Segments the market with its Good, Better, Best Poor execution of online activities (social media) to its
strategy retail stores
Collaborations with local and international designers/ Lack of online store features
celebrities

Opportunities Threats

Introduction of innovative retail technologies Increasing competition from domestic and global players

Increase store traffic through digital marketing due to price wars and economies of scale
External Origin strategies Changes in government policies --- increase of GST to 15%
Opportunity to establish Target at a higher position in Customers reluctant to spend (deflation) and becoming
the market --- potential new target market desensitized to sales

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 8

3.2. W.O --- PRODUCT CATEGORY

Weaknesses Opportunities

Shortage of stock Increasing demand for fun and trendy childrenswear

Variable in quality Collaborate with mum bloggers
Not perceived as trendy by target market*

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 9

4.0 OBJECTIVES

4.1 FINANCIAL OBJECTIVE

Target will aim to purchase $4.2 million for the Spring 17 Occasion Dressing collection.

4.2 MARKETING OBJECTIVES

Number Focus Objective

Objective 1. Product Target will launch a childrens Spring occasion dressing range in

September 2017.

Objective 2. Price Target will introduce a new price-point for its occasion range in

September 2017.

Objective 3. Promotion Target will launch an integrated marketing communications campaign for

the new Spring collection by September 2017.

Objective 4. Place Target will launch the new collection in all stores and on the e-commerce

store.

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 10

6.0 PURCHASE PLAN AND PROMOTIONAL BUDGET

6.1 PURCHASE PLAN

GIRLS PURCHASE PLAN

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 11

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 12
Total Purchase Plan (for Girls and Boys) = $4.2 million

GROUP ARROW | TARGET KIDSWEAR --- MARKETING PLAN 13