Company:Target Corp., Minneapolis, MN USA
Company Description:Target Corporation is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company was founded as Goodfellow Dry Goods in 1902
Nomination Category:Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category:Female Executive of the Year – Consumer Services –More Than 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Stevie Benjamin, Vice President of Media Strategies

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive since the beginning of July last year (up to 525 words):

Stevie Benjamin has been Target’s vice president of Media Strategy since February 2015. She leads the team driving Target’s media strategy, with an emphasis on creating integrated marketing campaigns that effectively leverage paid, owned, earned, and shared media. Stevie came to Target from MillerCoors, where she served as senior director of Marketing Connections and led media and digital marketing. In that role, she provided vision, strategy and innovation across all media with an emphasis on branded content development. Stevie was one of Ad Age’s “Women to Watch” in 2012 and the Advertising Women of New York’s “Game Changer” in 2013. Stevie also is the Chair of the Midwest Digital and Social Community, which is involved in preparing the Association of National Advertisers Digital Media and Social Community East Conference annually.

Since coming to Target, Stevie has led Target’s media strategy team through several notable initiatives:

• For Vogue’s iconic September issue, Target took fifteen of the most memorable images from Vogue’s archive and reimagined them through the lens of Target Style, infusing everyday products. More than 100 products were featured throughout the 20-page spread, including apparel and accessories, beauty, home, grocery, and electronics. Additionally, the team used Shazam’s visual recognition technology to create a fully immersive and shoppable digital experience. As Digiday reported, “The 832 pages of Vogue’s September 2015 issue…are stubbornly, defiantly analog. Target, however, is an exception.” Digiday also commented that, “Target’s spread was just a hint at the steps advertisers can take in order to bridge the physical world with the digital.”

• Target’s media strategy team drove several prime-time integrations this year, including work with The Mindy Project and Jane the Virgin. This spring, as part of Target’s integration with The Mindy Project, a pregnant Mindy wore a Target-exclusive Embark sleeping bag with arms and feet holes. It was a new and unexpected way for Target to showcase one of its internally-designed products. With Jane the Virgin, Target debuted its #SinTraduccion campaign this spring, aimed at celebrating the cultural duality of its Hispanic guests. Target debuted a commercial, developed specifically for Jane the Virgin fans, as the start of a year-long campaign that included broadcast, print, and social media.

• For the back-to-school season, second in size only to the holiday season, Target ran an integrated marketing campaign that focused on promoting a new School List Assist tool, showcasing the broad assortment of products, and making its guests aware of new promotions. The campaign included collaborations with kids influencers like Maddie Ziegler and EvanTube and a unique remake of the Jackson 5’s “ABV” by rising star Tori Kelly. As Teen VOGUE reported, “Target’s back-to-school campaign might just be our favorite of the season.”

• For this year’s back-to-college season, Target developed the ‘Made for U College Styler’ – a design quiz tool that provided personalized recommendations for room décor based on users’ social profiles. Reporting on the campaign, Mashable wrote, “For first-time college students unsure how to furnish their new home, Target is guessing that their social media accounts might hold a clue.” The U Styler drove more than four million page views from students looking for dorm inspiration.

Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 125 words):

Stevie Benjamin has been Target’s vice president of Media Strategy since February 2015. She leads the team driving Target’s media strategy, with an emphasis on creating integrated marketing campaigns that effectively leverage paid, owned, earned, and shared media. Stevie came to Target from MillerCoors, where she served as senior director of Marketing Connections and led media and digital marketing. In that role, she provided vision, strategy and innovation across all media with an emphasis on branded content development. Prior to her work at MillerCoors, Stevie worked at Verizon and several marketing agencies. Stevie was one of Ad Age’s “Women to Watch” in 2012 and the Advertising Women of New York’s “Game Changer” in 2013. She has a bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri.