A month after declaring a shift in its corporate giving strategy, Target Corp. on Tuesday unveiled the first new campaign under its new focus on health and wellness.
The Minneapolis-based retailer is partnering with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to sell a line of wearable fitness bands geared toward children. The devices, which keep track of children's steps and movements, are aimed at encouraging young people to be active.
Whenever a customer buys a band, which sells for $39.99, Target will donate $10 to fund therapeutic food packets that will be sent to malnourished children around the world.
"We know that one in four kids in the U.S. is inactive and one in four kids globally are malnourished," said Angie Thompson, a Target spokeswoman. "So this program helps address both of these challenges."
Kids will be able to keep track of how many steps they take, which are translated into points that unlock food packets that will be donated through a companion app in UNICEF's Kid Power program. Children can also go on "missions" in the app through which they learn about other cultures and can earn more points for completing various activities and challenges.
In addition, Target will also donate $2.5 million to the UNICEF program to support a related initiative in schools, Thompson said.
Last month, Target announced it was changing its corporate social responsibility strategy to move away from education, which had been its previous focus. As part of that shift, at the end of this school year Target will discontinue its "Take Charge of Education" program, in which holders of Target's Redcard can designate that 1 percent of their purchase total go to a school of their choice.
Target decided instead to focus on health and wellness, which executives say is the top priority of the chain's most-valued customers. But leaders have emphasized that Target will continue to support some education-related programs, especially if they have a health component.
