Martha Stewart Takes Her Brand Where it Belongs: Online Video

Believe it or not, Martha Stewart of all people has leapt ahead of the curve in online video.  Her Hallmark TV deal is over, and she’s chosen to focus her efforts on online video for the future of her brand.  Martha Stewart, like any brand out there, has to figure out a way to make her brand relevant to the next generation of consumers, and she’s got some pretty compelling reasons to switch her promotional strategy to online video from television.
When you think about it, it really does make sense.  People watch Martha Stewart to get instructions on various recipes and crafts.  Why not make that content readily available to consumers so they can access it when they’re ready to start their project?  And the numbers are there to back her up: According to ComScore, her Adults 18-34 audience has grown over 60% from August 2011 to August 2012.  We all know her TV ratings never grew that much in that age demographic, especially when it was on the Hallmark Channel, one of the oldest-skewing cable networks.   Engaging this age demographic is going to be key for the future success of the Martha Stewart brand.

Luckily, Martha Stewart already has a great base of interested customers to tap into with the rise of Pinterest.  These days, young women  like me are feeling inspired to be more like Martha Stewart (with DIY crafts, delicious recipes and organizing/cleaning tutorials aplenty) and will be able to share all of the great Martha Stewart videos they find on their Pinterest boards.  I have ended up doing many of her projects that I have found on Pinterest and before I became a Pinterest addict, I would never have considered myself a crafter.
Now that consumers have multiple devices and high speed internet at their fingertips, I think we’ll start seeing more instructional programming from television begin to really flourish online.  This programming has been on the decline for the last several years, so I’m glad to see that it’s finding a new place in the media landscape because there still is a demand for instructional programming.  In the next few years I think we’ll start to see networks like the Food Network and HGTV use their digital properties for instructional programming while using their TV platform for more their higher-rated entertainment based shows.