Sure, a significant proportion of Americans said they would shop at Target because of its purpose-based initiatives. Plenty also said they would not. Meanwhile, the prosaic, benefit-led messaging of Walmart was winning each and every retail day.
Target demonstrates all the mistakes and myriad implications of positioning on purpose. First, there was the inevitable backlash and back-backlash as one socio-cultural group objected to a focus on another. Target’s sales dropped by more than 5% in the second quarter of 2023 after conservative hostility over its Pride merchandise. When the company scrambled to remove this merchandise, it appeared insincere and faced a second backlash from the very community it set out to initially support.
And all the while Target’s marketing message was lost in a confusing, contradictory mist of non-benefit-based, introspective, non-competitive fare. All this purpose stuff was incredibly generic. And most importantly, it was all about the company and its various stances while almost completely ignorant of the consumer and what was in it for them. At the heart of the purpose argument was an overstatement of the importance of brands in the lives of Americans who really did not care what their toothpaste brand thought about Covid or where their lipstick stood on inclusivity.
Marketers needed to humbly get back into their lane and worry again about marketing stuff. Price. Product. Service. Availability.
To be clear, I support DEI initiatives. I think every corporation must become more environmentally aware and treat its workers with greater respect. But the idea that these causes will always make a company money is laughable. And unimportant.
The purpose of purpose is purpose. We choose to do these things because we believe them to be right. The idea that this righteous path will also always earn us more money is laughably naïve. In fact, it will usually cost us customers, sales, and profits. A principle is not a principle, Bill Bernbach famously reminded us, until it costs you money.
We now live in a post-purpose marketing era. Brands like Target have shown the inherent fallibility of purpose, while Walmart reminds us of the profitable validity of old-school, benefit-based brand positioning.
Cannes submissions were notably devoid of much of the purpose nonsense this year. DEI language has declined 68% in filings from S&P 500 companies in 2025. Companies are retreating to safer ground. Those still committed to fairness and equality are also remembering that the best way to build brand is to focus on everyday customer-based benefits.
Target’s incoming CEO has just announced three priorities for his business: merchandising authority, guest experience, and technology. It’s a list notable for what it does not include. Perhaps someone in Minneapolis has finally picked up a marketing textbook again.
Mark Ritson will teach the ADWEEK MiniMBA in Marketing in April 2026, a ten-week MBA level program for senior managers who never received (or have completely forgotten) proper marketing training. Sign up here.
