Martha serves lunch, lesson in engagement

Martha graciously posed for a photo opp with Gina after the MSO luncheonOn Monday, a BR contingent representing our Ball Horticultural client had the pleasure of attending a Martha Stewart Omnimedia (MSO) luncheon, hosted by the preeminent hostess herself. The event was MSO’s opportunity to share their audience insights and multi-platform marketing opportunities with advertisers. Martha and her team demonstrated their astute marketing and business sense by showing how advertisers could connect with customers where and how they want to receive information, while leveraging social media to get real-time feedback.

Playing off her mantra of “Once you stop changing, you’re done”, Martha noted that today’s most effective marketing is all about experiences and connections to a brand. She defined her MSO consumer audience as “women who do” — entertaining, crafts, gardening, decorating, cooking. 

To keep relevant to this active audience, the MSO team carefully tracks emerging interests and technologies. They listen carefully to their loyal consumer and build products around what they want. Here are some of their key insights:

• Increased interest in local and seasonal foods has stirred an interest in vegetable gardening, canning and preserving among the younger “tattooed set”
• The ability to interact more closely with their passions — through Twitter, their own blog posts or by participating in surveys/events 
• Interest in cooking with their children as well as the joy of cooking for their family 
• Discovering new treasures within their own hometowns; people, places and things that make their town unique 
• Receiving content on their mobile devices. For example, the new iPhone app from Everyday Food which converts the magazine’s recipes into a shopping list. The app was created because of reader requests!
• Women who do are driven by events — both formal and informal — to enrich their lives and associations

Consumer and B2B marketers alike can learn from Martha’s business mastery — stay in tune with your customer and what motivates them, and find unique ways to connect with them that create a lasting impression and affinity.

Comments

[Megan]

WOW! Very impressive and sounds like a great event!