18(b) How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

Prototypical answer:

ʺi. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?ʺ

Target Domain’s goal for the .target gTLD in terms of areas of specialty is to focus on protecting and promoting the Target brand by providing content that benefits Target’s guests, shareholders, and community giving initiatives.

With regard to service level goals, Target Domain, through its selected registry services provider, Neustar, intends to provide a high level of service, and will meet or exceed all of the ICANN Performance Specifications as specified in the Registry Agreement.

In terms of reputation, the goal of the .target gTLD is to enhance Target’s already exceptional reputation. Target has received numerous awards which demonstrate its reputation. Its corporate awards and recognition from 2011 alone included:

-A Great Place to Work:
• Fortune magazine ranked Target No. 22 on its list of ʺWorldʹs Most Admired Companiesʺ
• Fortune magazine included Target on its “They’re Hiring” list
• Forbes magazine ranked Target No. 23 on its list of “America’s Most Reputable Big Companies”
• BusinessWeek magazine included Target on its list of “IDEAL Employers for Undergrads”
• Universum ranked Target No. 38 on its list of “Top IDEAL Employers for Young Professionals”
• Institutional Investor magazine ranked Target No. 2 on its ʺ2011 All-America Executive Team: Most Admired Companiesʺ list
• DiversityInc magazine ranked Target No. 44 on its list of ʺTop 50 Companies for Diversityʺ
• Profiles in Diversity Journal honored Target with its ʺ2011 Diversity Leader Awardʺ
• Diversity Employers Magazine ranked Target No. 10 on its list of “Top 100 Employers for the Class of 2011”
• National Business Group on Health honored Target with a “Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles” gold award
• Alliance to Make US Healthiest awarded Target silver level HealthLead accreditation for its team member well-being initiatives
• Orion International included Target on its list of Top 20 Military Friendly Companies
• Navy Reserve recognized Target as one of the top employers for Navy Reserve Sailors


-Corporate Citizenship:
• Ethisphere Institute named Target one of the ʺWorldʹs Most Ethical Companiesʺ
• Corporate Responsibility Magazine ranked Target No. 42 on its list of ʺ100 Best Corporate Citizensʺ
• Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship ranked Target No. 29 out of 50 on its Corporate Social Responsibility Index
• Greenpeace rated Target the No. 2 retailer on its “Carting Away the Oceans” sustainable seafood scorecard
• Harris Interactive ranked Target No. 28 on its Reputation Quotient Survey for its performance in six dimensions of reputation
• Newsweek Magazine ranked Target No. 236 on its U.S. 500 and No. 346 on its Global 500 Green Rankings


-Brand and Store Experience:
• Fortune magazine ranked Target No. 7 on its “Top Tweeter: Social Media Champs” list
• The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences recognized Target with a People’s Voice award for Target’s iPad application

Pursuing innovation in the new gTLD space will help enhance Target’s stature as a leading company.


ʺii. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?ʺ

The .target gTLD will protect the goodwill associated with the Target brand that has been built through decades of providing outstanding value to Target’s guests and supporting the communities that Target shares with those guests. Maintaining a strong brand helps Target to differentiate itself from other retailers that are its competition and to benefit the public by preventing consumer confusion.

Target is recognized as a leader in innovation across the retail industry. From pioneering the concept of designer partnerships to consistently being best in class in store design, Target remains focused on not only meeting, but exceeding, its guests’ needs. To remain relevant to its guests over time, Target continually reinvents its stores, including layout, presentation and merchandise assortment, to create an engaging shopping experience. Target has followed the same path by evolving its online retailing to meet its guests needs. The .target gTLD is emblematic of Target’s determination to innovate.

Brand-oriented gTLDs have never existed on the internet before. Their addition to the current space will provide a new way for internet users to interact with companies online. The opportunities for innovation in this new space are endless and include: giving customers a unified online space in which to find information about a company’s products and services; providing customers with a greater degree of certainty about the source of a website; and allowing for development of elegant website architecture design in connection with sub-brands and locations.


ʺiii. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?ʺ

Target has long been committed to providing its guests with an online environment that combines 1) user-friendliness and 2) reliability with 3) innovation to meet its guests’ constantly- evolving online preferences. See http:⁄⁄pressroom.target.com⁄pr⁄news⁄target-launches-redesigned-e-commerce-aug2011.aspx. These factors have helped Target earn guests’ loyalty for years, both in stores and online, and they are the goals for the .target gTLD user experience as well.

ʺiv. Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.ʺ

The registration policy that will support the goals listed above is that the .target gTLD will be a closed registry. Only Target Domain will be allowed to register domain names, and Target Domain will register domain names that create a user experience marked by 1) user-friendliness, 2) reliability, and 3) innovation.


ʺv. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.ʺ

The only registrant will be Target Domain. Target Domain will protect its confidential information, and there will no need to impose measures, such as through registration policies, for protecting the privacy or confidential information of Target Domain.

Users visiting websites or otherwise interacting with content associated with domain names in the registry will have their privacy protected as described in the privacy policies and practices associated with each website within the new gTLD. An example of a current Target privacy policy is: http:⁄⁄sites.target.com⁄site⁄en⁄spot⁄page.jsp?title=privacy_policy


ʺvi Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.ʺ

Outreach and communications will contribute to acheiving the benefits of the .target gTLD for users. Advertisements in all appropriate media will be used as necessary to lead users to content associated with the domain names in the .target gTLD.

Outreach and communications will not be needed in terms of new registrants, since all registrations will be owned by Target Domain.

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