Why Target® knows the secret to life

This post is a response to "Don’t Waste Your 20s at Google or McKinsey", a trending post on LinkedIn by BloomReach CEO Raj De Datta.

The wisdom of the shelf

Did you know that Target stores carry 14 brands of laundry detergent? According to the company's website, I can now wash my clothes with anything from Arm & Hammer to Method to Tide.

Most people would probably describe this home care menagerie as a mark of redundancy or even consumerist insanity. But there's shrewd marketing at work in Target's bounty of brands. I'd go so far as to say that those shelves have something wise to say about how to build a good life.

"Embrace heterogeneity"

First, what exactly is Target up to by stocking so many brands?

On the eve of my business school graduation, Fred Feinberg, Michigan's professor of marketing and data science, offered one of the greatest pieces of advice I will probably ever hear: "embrace heterogeneity" in everything you do as a professional and participant in a community. Skip to the 6:30 mark for Fred's complete monologue on this subject, or read his words here...

If you seek to have a positive effect on the planet, or the people in your lives, or the broader society, you have to really take note – you need to watch, you need to listen – to differences. You have to embrace diversity...One size does not fit all:

Like most great advice, these words seem familiar, even obvious, in retrospect. Like most great advice, it's easy to forget to put these words into practice.

Here's what Target knows, and what all good marketers like Fred know: People have diverse needs. One brand, one product, will not do for everyone. Target embraces its customers' heterogeneous needs by supplying different brands for different people. Every detergent brand conveys a unique set of benefits, each of which appeals to a unique group of consumers with distinct preferences, beliefs, and characteristics.

By recognizing heterogeneity, Target welcomes many kinds of shoppers into its stores. In so doing it creates new customers, fosters loyalty, and (if it has planned correctly) lifts profits.

Celebrate your individuality

While I hear lots of talk about heterogeneity in business, I hear less of it in the "career advice" column, especially when it comes to advice given to new graduates on sites like LinkedIn. It's as if many thought leaders believe there is one optimal choice for all entry-level professionals. Depending on who's talking, everyone should join a startup out of school, or pursue a career at a Fortune 500, or become an entrepreneur, or learn to program, or master "big data", etc.

Seldom do I hear more experienced professionals acknowledge that people are diverse creatures with different strengths, weaknesses, and passions. When undergraduates ask me which type of career they should pursue, I lay out my own experience working for a startup out of college, but mainly I try to emphasize that they have options. My choice worked for me; it won't work for everyone.

Whatever stage you're at in your career, know that not everyone needs to join a startup, learn the same skill, or ascend along the same career path. As our CEO Jeff Weiner says, you need to optimize for both passion and skill by finding out what fuels you and where you can add the most value. Our companies and economy as a whole will be better off with heterogeneous workforces and communities.

There is no one brand on the shelf that is right for everyone. You are an individual. Embrace it.