While the cat's away...
Martha Stewart has switched the focus from her salad to her pending sentence. In the meantime, the business world must move on and we're seeing several stories emerge as a result.As lawyers
seek a new trial, everyone wants to know who will replace Martha Stewart. Keep in mind the gravity of this discussion—Stewart's Midas touch extends to much more than
MSLO and K-Mart. A scan of any newsstand shows us Martha's publishing impact. Nearly every home publication has followed Martha with "home how-to" articles. Pick up a
TV Guide to chart a similar TV evolution. Now consider that publishing and TV are currently her two weakest assets in light of the guilty verdicts and pending sentencing. Competitors know to focus here, rather than retail, to gain market share.CBS is trying to cash in merely on the process of replacing her with a reality TV-based search. But
The Boston Globe offers up some more worthy
candidates. Now, if the Fab Five were seriously deemed Martha's replacements, it would spread the
person as brand issue across five people instead of one and defuse the problems that
brand personification can create. It would also be a testament to Martha Stewart's importance in that no one person can replace her.In lieu of regular news stories around the trial, even simple
personnel moves at MSLO are under the microscope. We have a good two or three months before her scheduled sentencing. We should expect a few more of these items to present themselves.
