Market segmentation and targeting of Martha Stewart Omnimedia

Market Segmenting and Targeting: Martha Stewart Omnimedia

Who are they?

According to the "Investor Relations" section of the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. website, the company "is a leading provider of original 'how-to' information, inspiring and engaging consumers with unique lifestyle content and high-quality products" ("Investor Relations," Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., 2007). This provides a clue as to the main, target demographic of the company, that of women. The stress upon lifestyle and the media and entertainment aspects of lifestyle products suggests that the demographic of the company is primarily, if not exclusively female. The website itself has sections devoted to food, crafts, home decorating, wedding, and other traditionally female concerns. The subject areas suggest that most of the target audience has school age children, probably more than one, given that most of the meals serve 4 or more, and either owns or rents a home, since most of the home advice is targeted to residential rather than apartment dwellings. The wedding advice also tends to be more 'planning' advice that would be applicable to a mother of the bride, as well as a prospective bride, suggesting a slightly older female demographic.

Their demographics

Some sections of the company target a slightly younger audience, such as "Body and Soul" magazine, which stresses spirituality and physical health, in addition to food and how-to products, and this publication has advice on nutrition and decorating smaller domiciles. Also, other "Everyday Food" specifically targets working women who must prepare food quickly after work. Some foods are targeted at weight-conscious consumers, while others stress entertaining and more traditional recipes. Regardless, the stress of the company is on self and home improvement and family issues, which tend to place the target demographic in the range of a late 20s to early 40s consumer with children, who is married, is a homeowner in a non-urban location, and probably has a career.

What segments are the ideal targets of the market?

Marketers estimate that although women slightly more than 50% of the population, they women "buy or influence an average of 85% of everything that is sold in the United States," and that number is even higher for food, household items and home improvement items (Clark, 2007) Women are ideal marketing targets because they have "huge appetite to communicate" and often recommend products to their friends, and use products, in part, to convey their identity, such as being a caring and effective homemaker (Clark, 2007). Martha Stewart's outreach spans wide in its size of market, comprising lower-middle class women wishing to use crafts to give their homes an added sense of amenity, as well as more wealthy consumers, although she does not specifically stress the value added nature of her brand, even of her K-Mart line. Women are also quite receptive to marketing with a personal touch as is conveyed through the use of Martha's show, deploying technology to generate brand receptiveness and loyalty. Even as time grows more scarce for working women, Martha's stress upon the ability to make fast and easy meals that still convey the gracious living image might suggest that younger, professional women with children who still want to cook healthy meals and generate good family memories around the table might be an ideal demographic to target for future campaigns, particularly given this audience's additional disposable income.