Martha Stewart & Public Relations

"News" for K-Mart

Research sells a story. Case in point: HomeWorld Business magazine.

The trade publication did a survey to see if consumers would continue to purchase her products post-conviction. The research validated what we already know; Martha's retail business has not been impacted by the conviction. This has been reported on several times in the trial's aftermath.

But I give HomeWorld Business high marks for riding the Stewart wave. It is garnering them additional awareness and vetting them as a credible home retail business source.

Research is a powerful public relations tactic. This allows me to segue to my research soapbox and make a general observation.
Marketers everywhere clamor for metrics, yet most are still reticent to spend money on research. If you want to measure something at the end of the program, you must start by measuring it at the front end of the program. Research and metrics are directly related.