This crisis evaluation was conducted in my Public Relations Case Studies class on the Target credit card hacking scandal. The hacking ran from Nov. 27 through Dec. 15, 2013, where payment card information of 42 million Target customers was exposed to fraud. Personal information including names, phone numbers and mailing addresses was stolen. My group chose this case because it is an iconic example of a major corporation struggling to communicate quickly and effectively with their target audiences in the midst of a crisis.

In our evaluation, we dissected Target's code of ethics, analyzing their standards for both customer and consumer relations as well as gave a short history of the company. We then laid out the events of the crisis from Target's initial response to the hacking to the eventual step-by-step process given to customers to protect their personal information. Finally, we gave our own recommendations on how Target could have reacted more quickly and could have communicated more openly with their key audiences in order to recover quickly from the hacking. In addition to this report we also gave an oral presentation to the class.

Client: Target
Date: Spring 2016
Skills: Research, Case Studies
Class: Public Relations Case Studies
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