April 6th, 2009
WWMD?
One of my best friends has been working for Martha Stewart for a little over a year. Martha is not someone I think about a lot. I’m not in her demographic and I don’t watch daytime TV. But through my friend’s stories about working on the show with this phenomenon of modern popular culture, I have started to think about Martha more. Mainly, I wonder what it is that makes her so successful.
The other night my friend was describing the process of pitching Martha with ideas for the show. She described elbowing her way past publicists and producers to present an item to Martha for her consideration. As the star was walking out the door, turning down proposals with every step, my friend yelled, “Martha! What do you think of this? It’s a kit for making your own family cookbooks.” Martha hesitated and said, “Now that, I like.” And then she was gone. The cookbook kit is in. They’re taping the show on Wednesday.
Right at Your Door download What struck me about the story was how quickly the decision was made. By now we’re all clear that Martha doesn’t come up with every idea herself. She has legions of people crafting, baking, shopping, and gardening their way to inspiration. But it is I’ve learned from my friend, still up to Martha what goes on and what stays off the air. In my opinion, this is what sets Martha apart from her imitators and what makes her a success. This is a woman who knows her brand.
download Species dvd Living & Dying download And it is up to her people to know this brand, too. My friend’s pitch was successful because she’s learned not to waste Martha’s time. She has learned to see things from Martha’s perspective. She may not be Martha, but she is learning to channel Martha. She’s learned to ask herself WWMD?
Martha has unshakable confidence when it comes to two things: recognizing a good idea and knowing what her audience wants. Though she may be construed in her professional life as dictatorial, this is how Martha Stewart makes Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. work. She never does anything on-air, online, or in the magazines that’s not 100% Martha. And because the vision is all hers, she achieves a level of consistency that is both comforting and gratifying to fans (check out her blog. I swear she writes it herself: www.themarthablog.com)
Granted, Martha has the luxury of being her company. In this way, she probably has an easier time maintaining the brand. It comes from within her, she can tell immediately when something rings false, and she retains the control to do something about it.
SLC Punk! video Those of us working for brands started by someone else long ago and far away, or agencies where we’re shifted from pitch to pitch without regard for the product or category, are often left with the task of re-generating a vision we never had or creating a mission for a product we don’t fully understand (or worse, don’t believe in). Sometimes we don’t even know where the company started, by whom, or why. How can you channel an original vision when you don’t know the founder? (Forget about products built by committee or R&D with no greater purpose than to make money for the parent company…with those, I wish you luck.)
I don’t propose that Martha Stewart should be our model for the ancient wisdom, “Know thyself,” (based on some very public evidence of personal foibles) but she may be a model for a related bit of business wisdom, “Know thy business.”
Maybe it’s worthwhile to get back to the essence of your brand by walking a mile in your founder’s shoes. Every company has one. Take some time to revisit the origins of the company and see if you can’t understand where the original idea came from and what the intention was. If you can’t figure it out, it doesn’t resonate with you, or you walk that mile and find the shoes are hurting your feet…step out of them and walk on. There’s another brand out there that will fit.
posted by schuyler brown
Filed Under: Skyelab