Have We Had Too Much Martha Stewart?

 In the last few years, we have seen Martha Stewart and her products everywhere.  She attempted a reality show that failed, she has a syndicated daytime show that’s ratings have fallen and her products are everywhere, literally.  She has deals with K-Mart, Macy’s, Michael’s, KB Homes, furniture stores, wine, magazines, cookbooks, craft books and mostly recently Costco to unveil a line of foods.  She is also attempting to conquer the internet with a website, blog and soon an information site like Wikipedia.

Martha Stewart has made a living off of Branding herself.  She has been probably one of the country’s most successful self-made stories, but is the Martha Universe starting to fade with her aging demographic?

At Seeking Alpha, a contributor with the alias Smart Guy AB, asks many of these very questions.  We are starting to see dwindling TV ratings and MSO stocks and many are starting to question if the Martha Stewart Brand has run its course.

The Martha Stewart show has been picked-up for a third season, but is dropping from a 95% syndication reach to 60%.  Here is more from Smart Guy AB:

The surprise here is that the show was actually renewed given its dismal ratings: during November sweeps, the show garnered just a 1.1 rating, a 20% drop from last year. This put it behind Jerry Springer (1.4) and just ahead of Judge David Young (0.9). Archrival Rachael Ray scored a 2.1.

Then came word that the company would shutter its Blueprint magazine. According to the company, the magazine was “Geared to women ages 25-45, Blueprint targets a different demographic than our core consumer…thereby broadening our advertising reach.” Like nearly every other effort MSO has made to expand its reach (The Apprentice, KB Homes (KBH), K-Mart), Blueprint was a disappointment.

The company is placing new bets on recent deals with Macy’s (M) and Costco (COST), but the success of these new partnerships remains to be seen. MSO’s revenue from K-Mart will drop by over $40M in 2009, so it will have a lot of ground to make up.

I give Martha Stewart credit for finding a successful niche. She is a hero to my mom and millions like her. Yet there is only so much Martha that this core market can consume, and I believe it has nearly reached its saturation point. Every attempt to expand her brand to other demographics has flopped, and she has been replaced as the “it” homemaker by Rachael Ray. I have no doubt that MSO can profitably milk its loyalists for steady revenue during the next few years before its 66-year-old namesake decides to retire to the tropics. But there is absolutely no reason for this company to be priced as a growth story.

I love Martha, but I wonder if the writing is on the wall.  It seems that age has not slowed her down, but I often wonder who will pick-up the reigns and if there will be much to pick-up?  So many people are attempting to make themselves a brand, like Rachael Ray, but are there lessons to be learned here?