‘Original Maker’ Martha Stewart Talks Tablets, Magazines and Books
- By Sam Gustin
- May 3, 2011 |
- 3:49 pm |
- Categories: Books, Magazines, Media, Newspapers, People, WiredBiz, WiredBiz2011
Martha Stewart attends WIRED Business Conference Disruptive by Design in Partnership with MDC Partners at the Museum of Jewish Heritage on May 3, 2011 in New York City. Larry Busacca/WireImage.com
In many ways, Martha Stewart, lifestyle mogul extraordinaire, is the original maker.
Over the course of her career, Stewart, who appeared on the cover of Wired’s 2007 “How To” issue, has empowered millions of people to be creative in their own homes.
“We’ve made a business out of DIY,” Stewart told the Wired Business Conference. “We turn dreamers into doers.”
There is virtually no area of the media outside the reach of Stewart’s company, Martha Stewart Omnimedia, from print and digital publishing, to broadcasting, to branded merchandise.
In fact, Stewart said, she’s been accused of spreading herself too thin. She doesn’t buy it.
“I’m criticized for branching out into too many things, but I love all the things that I do,” Stewart said. “I love the products and I love the things we’re creating.”
One result of playing in so many media spaces has been the creation of an iconic brand. The challenge now, Stewart said, is to build a business commensurate with that brand.
“We’ve created a brand that’s bigger than the business, and now we’re growing into the brand,” she said.
Stewart has a point. Last year, MSO had sales of $231 million — revenue is down since the end of her partnership with Kmart. But the Martha Stewart brand is undoubtedly worth more than that, and with her current partnership with Home Depot, she’s confident that sales will increase, she said.
Stewart is an unabashed proselytizer of tablets, and in particular Apple’s iPad. (Onstage, she sang the praises of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.) Interestingly, one of the appealing aspects of the tablet for Stewart is its sheer size. She said she’s not a fan of most mobile phones out of concern for her eyes — a legitimate point if you think of the millions of people who now spend a sizable portion of their day staring at tiny text on their handsets.
From a commercial perspective, the advent of the iPad has opened a whole new vein for Stewart, ever the media mogul, to mine.
“You cannot do justice to a magazine on a little device,” Stewart said. “Once you see the tablet and experience it, it’s great. I just hope they can bring the price down so it can be more universally available.”
Of course, Stewart hasn’t given up entirely on printed books and magazines.
“There will be, for many years, people who really want the book, and there are certain books that are better as books than on the tablet,” Stewart told Wired.com after her appearance. “Illustrated books and books where you have to flip back and forth from front to back. That’s still really hard to do on a tablet.”
“But the younger generation has been brought up on computers and pretty much computers alone,” Stewart continued. “They’re going to want everything on the tablet.”
As for herself, she said with broad smile, “My house is full of books. I have my books on the tablet, and my books on the table.” But, she added, because she travels so much, she does the majority of her reading on the tablet.
What’s next for Stewart? As usual she’s thinking big.
“We’re toying with making on online school for homemakers,” Stewart said. “Martha Stewart University.”
Full Coverage: Wired Business Conference: Disruptive By Design | 2011
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