Target rebrand: missing the mark

I am a bit baffled by Target’s recent move to rebrand Target brand products with the Up & Up name.


If you haven't seen it yet, you can view it online, along with a Target video explaining the new name for their "value priced" products.


• I don’t understand what Up & Up is supposed to represent (if you are focusing on a better price point, the word “up” doesn’t do that)


• The arrow may somehow represent directing people to the Target circle/target symbol, but it’s not doing that on the packaging…so I’m not sure why the arrow.


• When a company like Target spends millions of dollars branding the company with the red circle/target symbol, and it’s become so iconic that often the company name isn’t used in advertising, with TV spots created around reinforcing the target symbol, why would you deviate from that?



• On packaging, I’m not clear if the different colors used on the products are supposed to represent different categories of product to make it easier for shoppers to identify in the stores, but I’m not readily seeing the connection. I would think that a change in graphic identity would link like products through color as well as symbol, so that all kitchen products are orange, all baby products are blue, all cleaning products are green, or whatever the palette calls for. If that’s the case, I’m missing the link, in the print ads (fliers) and in the store.


• I’m sure Target has invested significantly in case studies and plenty of consumer research to support the decision to rebrand the store-brand product, but as a Target customer, I find it confusing. I knew in the past that by shopping a particular aisle, I could easily find the product with the target symbol and know it was the store brand. I could compare the price and attributes with other brands and determine if I should buy the Target product. If I don't see that target on a package, I naturally presume that there is no longer a store brand.



• And because I like Target and Target’s normally hip advertising, I naturally associate positive attributes with many Target-branded products. But Up & Up? Sounds weak, generic, tacky, and like you’re trying to hard.


• Sure, it takes time for consumers to adapt to change, but I just don’t understand the benefit of having gone this direction…especially in this economic environment.


Sorry, Target. I’m not buying that this was a good move.