Target: Heavy Weight Champs of Gen Pop Inclusion.

If you’ve ever heard me do a talk about the importance of disability inclusion from the moral objective, there’s a 100% chance you’ve heard this story. It’s a story about how long before DEI was a thing, some creative leader at Target decided to cast a child with a disability and it changed my life.?

Not only did it change my life and outlook on disability, it also provided them with unwavering brand loyalty. I know what you’re thinking - “you’re a millennial woman from the Midwest of course you are obsessed with Target” to which I say “sure, but when I was living in South Africa for years doing international advocacy, and I would come home to visit my family,? the first stop I’d want to make was Target, just to wander the aisles.” My friends and family in ZA would literally ask me “What are you going to get at Target when you go home?” as if it would be a one time stop. From one well positioned piece of creative, they got an international brand evangelist for decades.

I get at least 3-5 texts or tags a week from people who follow me on social, wanting to ensure that I see the creative work that Target is doing for inclusive creative, and it always makes me smile. A handful of years ago I got to work with them on some campaigns (a career dream!) and it was a true, full circle pinch me moment. Now, I was one of the creatives making that story happen for kids like me. I think I got teary every day after leaving set.?

Target is what I call the heavyweight champ of gen-pop inclusion.? As a reminder, when it comes to advertising we have a framework that we use for disability inclusion:

Gen Pop: general inclusion alongside the remainder of the population

Functional: showcasing how a product or service benefits disabled people specifically

Narrative: the entire narrative surrounds disability?

(psssst if you wanna learn more, click here . Trying to keep these emails as concise as I can while still pummeling you with valuable insights and laughs).?

If you walk through their children’s section there are heaps of children with disabilities featured. Wheelchair users, children with gate trainers, children with prosthetics or missing limbs. It is my utopia. I think the world would be a significantly better place if every store looked like Target’s children’s section.?

“Okay Kelsey, so they’re the gold standard?” - you, probably.?

Not quite. Nobody does Gen Pop inclusion with the same frequency and excellence that Target does, so they’re the gold standard for that. And, the disability community knows this. We all talk about how great they are at that.?

But here’s the deal: Target isn’t just great at Gen Pop inclusion. They’re great about walking the walk internally, too. But you know what they could improve on??

Functional Creative, Narrative Creative, Placement and PR.?

Hear me out: Prior to writing this newsletter I knew that Target had their Cat + Jack adaptive line, and the Adaptive Halloween line. But when I went and did some market research, I found out that they actually have so many other adaptive products and features that nobody is really talking about - including the disability community.?

Don’t believe me? Spend 5 minutes on TikTok and search “Target Adaptive” and you’ll see tons of videos of people praising their Cat + Jack line, Billy Shoes, in store advertising… and no mention of the adaptive products for adults.?

I was talking with an agency leader I really respect last week and she was spot on in saying “well, there’s a line and we have to walk it carefully.” I wholeheartedly agree - 1,000%. Brands that come off as self congratulatory will come off worse than brands that just do the right thing in silence. But, there is a way to walk that line seamlessly.?

The secret? Hire disabled creatives + pass the mic.?

Of course I want you to hire me and my team (cough cough, DM me, let's talk), but if it’s not us there are heaps of disabled creatives generating organic, beautiful brand evangelist content for you already. Build on the reputation you already have with our community, and put some ad dollars behind it!?

Let’s use this video from a disabled content creator that was not sponsored. She’s highlighting all of the things she loves about Target when it comes to accessibility. This is someone who would absolutely use and buy their adaptive products if she knew they existed. Without any ad spend, Syanne managed to generate over 14k likes for them, highlighting the many ways the brand helps our community. Imagine what would’ve happened if they had her on a brand ambassador program or hired her as a UGC creator. Then when they have their newest adaptive products or initiatives, they could recreate this including those features, put some ad dollars behind this to white label it. Freaking magic, dude.?

Other immediate opportunities would be to partner with content creators like Misty here to do some content surrounding services like curbside pickup, or Emily here to create some content surrounding neurodiversity and Target same day shipping. They also could partner with some of the talent they use in their shoots like Abby and her mom to talk about new releases of Target’s adaptive lines and show how the products actually work, or work with parents who talk about accessibility to show how you work to make the entire shopping experience accessible .

If you’re like “mmmmm… i dunno might feel kind of cringey…”?

When done well, it’s not. Google owned the Super Bowl ads because of Javier in Frame (using the narrative framework), but their placement strategy afterwards by utilizing disabled influencers to talk about the same features as their creative in relatable ways to their audiences who intentionally follow them to learn about disability was chef’s kiss. Immediately after the ad was released at the Super Bowl I saw Chelsie (using the functional framework) and Abigal (using the Gen Pop framework) UGC ads served to me. Because I’m a sucker for all things dance and trash reality TV, and not a huge football gal, it was such a powerful example of how using UGC and white labeling to retarget your audience is such a good tactic for disability inclusive content.?

Here’s why this matters: We know that when disability inclusion is prioritized from the ground up, including creative, companies see 2x economic profit . We know that 84% of consumers view companies that feature disabled people in content as more trustworthy. The data is there, but you know what’s not??

Executive decision makers.?

While I wish everyone and their mom wanted to be inclusive because it’s the right thing to do, the reality is that good deeds are not a strategy for inclusion. Moral compasses alone will not get us there. We need data and numbers.?

If our community is not aware of your initiatives or inclusive products, we don’t know how to seek them out. If we don’t seek them out, the data will be skewed. If the data is skewed, your executives and decision makers might believe that disability inclusion isn’t a great business tactic. This is incorrect. When they don’t prioritize disability inclusion as a business tactic, creating accessible, accommodating and inclusive societies stops or slows. Bad news for us, bad news for your business.

When these kinds of initiatives and products are spoken about in ways that we want to see, the data will reflect that. It is much, much easier to convince executives and business leaders to double down on disability inclusion when THEIR data supports it, not just Yale’s.?

When products aren’t strategically marketed, positioned, placed and spoken about in ways that informs and inspires disabled buyers, you’re not going to get us to buy your products. The fact that Syanne went out of her way to show all of the incredible, inclusive initiatives that Target has and never mentioned the women’s adaptive line, men’s line or any of the Target specific initiatives is indicative that they could use a hand here. Good news is, I’ve got 1.5 to lend. You know where to find me.?