The domestic diva, Martha Stewart, is watching her media
conglomerate do not so good things. It just reported plunging sales and a
second quarter operating loss of $2.9 million. Publishing and broadcast units
reported losses, down 16%. Ad pages are evaporating for most titles. Wherever
did all those loyal fans go?
Well, loyalty to the brand has never been what it was. Not
after Ms. Stewart was found guilty on four felony counts back in 2004. When you
are a human brand, it’s really, really hard to separate your personal life from
your brand activities, no matter how much Martha insisted that was so at the
time.
The scandal – and resulting jail term – didn’t effect
perceptions of her creativity, or entrepreneurship, or elegant wardrobe. None
of those human brand values changed. What did change – dramatically – was the element
of trust in the woman, and therefore, in the brand. Sorry, human brand. Eight
years ago “Brand Trust” accounted for a 30% contribution to consumer engagement.
Now it’s even higher. Nearer to 40%.
The trick for brand in that situation is to 1) understand
precisely what drives loyalty and engagement in your category (they do change
category-to-category), what expectations consumers hold for those drivers, and
how the brand matches up on those drivers and to those expectations. Then, all
you have to do is 2) get the human brand to behave accordingly. Usually #1 is
the toughest of the two steps because most brand metrics don’t really measure
those accurately. But looking back Martha wasn’t the most cooperative human brand
as regards #2 either.
But here’s a bone that can be thrown to investors.
Apparently Martha can look to man’s (and woman’s) best, and according to some,
most loyal of friends. Demand for her exclusive line of Martha Stewart-branded
doggie bowls and squeak toys is strong, and helped fetch $15 million of revenue
for the MSO merchandise division.
It’s been said that dogs are not our whole life, but they
make our lives whole. And under the right set of circumstances, a dog might
even be able to do that for a brand’s bottom line.
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