Selling Style From Sinks to Counters†

Martha Stewart, KB Home Lure Buyers Despite Slump

Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2007 — All across the country, home builders are gasping for air as sales plunge, inventories rise and profits disappear. But in one small corner of the housing market, the sales picture is a little brighter: There is steady demand for houses designed in part by Martha Stewart and built by Los Angeles-based KB Home.

Queen Of The Product Pitch

Martha Stewart isn't shy about integrating ads into her show

BusinessWeek, April 30, 2007 — It's just four minutes into an Apr. 4 episode of The Martha Stewart Show, and Donna Brock from Cleveland, Tex., is on the line asking for advice on how to clean her bathroom. Simple, Stewart says: "Disposable toilet scrubbers, from Scotch-Brite." She plucks a scrubber wand from a box and goes to town on a toilet in the middle of the studio. Watching from home, Brock notes how easy the wand is to use under the bowl's rim.

Dowdy Craft Business Gets Martha Stewart Makeover†

Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2007 — On a recent episode of her daytime television show, Martha Stewart set out to make a decorative songbird out of wool and felt. It didn't go smoothly. She struggled to wind the wool into a head and strained to insert wire legs. "This is a tough little bird," she told viewers, frowning. Now Ms. Stewart hopes a high-stakes crafts project for her company will be less exasperating.

The Reinvention Of Martha Stewart

BusinessWeek, November 6, 2006 — The domestic guru is once again the face of her brand, but she's no longer calling all the shots