Target‘s decision to roll- back its DEI initiatives has seen communities previously supported by the retailer, hurt, angry and disappointed. CNN asked us to listen to the community chatter to understand how this will affect the retailer.

The results are clear if you build your brand and business based on progressive policies and have reaped the rewards of doing so, changing these will harm your integrity and business.   Brands need to live consistently by their values; this is the promise they make to the world and to the customers who believe in them. Those that hold firm despite the change in political landscape, in this case Target’s competitor Costco Wholesale will be rewarded.

Snapshot of what we are hearing:

Sentiment has been overwhelmingly negative. Looking at the share of emotions, anger was the predominant one as commenters took to social media to vent their frustration and disappointment. 40% of mentions of Target in conjunction with” DEI”  were negative and 49% of all mentions of Target in conjunction with” DEI” showcased anger Boycotting Target, switching to Costco and other retailers that are sticking to their DEI programmes, and the change’s effect on the Black community have been the main talking points. At least 15% of relevant comments mentioned the word “boycott” as consumers vowed not to shop at Target in the future.

Full CNN article: https://lnkd.in/eN3efi7Z