Martha Stewart gets it! She knows her brand. She knows her customers. And she knows how to satisfy their needs! It’s what’s called a real marketing concept.

I’ve written and spoken about this brand-savvy woman many times before, but we just got the news that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. is buying the rights to the Emeril Lagasse franchise for $45 million plus (I’ve pasted the coverage below with the respective links). Oh, what a marketing professional!

In brand terms, Martha Stewart is a personality brand.

Now, all personality brands are definitely NOT created equal. And if you take Donald Trump, you will understand exactly what I mean!

Trump is a personality alright but does his personality help his core business? I think not! He’s a great promoter –maybe one of the all-time, legendary best— and he can really grab those headlines (who can forget the Rosie spat?) but did any of this have to do with his construction and casino businesses? No way. It promoted the Trump name without making people think for a second about what needs his brand satisfies in their quest for quality products and services! And what does the Trump name have to do with buying a luxury residential living unit or having a pampered resort experience? Trump reminds us of himself but he forgets about you, the consumer, his target market(s), the guy or gal he wants to make a purchase!

Martha Stewart is entirely different. Even when she had her legal troubles she decided "to focus on my salad" as she famously did on the CBS News Early Show in 2002. She was concerned about her target market and not external elements that had nothing to do with her brand! If you remember that interview, the host had asked about the charges against her, but Martha had a salad to make so too bad. Being focused on her salad seemed funny at the time, but being focused on who she is and what she does –her brand— enabled Martha Stewart to stage a comeback that few could have predicted. And it’s also the reason that this master of the culinary, home and garden arts has long been considered one of the most powerful women in America. Whatta Brand!

In short, Martha Stewart knows her brand or, said another way, what she’s about! She knew that focusing on charges of stock fraud was not her brand –it was a distraction. Her brand like any successful brand is an expression of her – her energy, her attention to detail, and her knowledge about the home arts and a genuine interest in the things that her readers, television audience and consumers care about.

Her recipes work because she is the kind of woman who tests recipes to make sure they work. Take a look at her blog, The Martha Blog, and you get a sense of just how her brand and her business go hand-in-hand. Even the photo captions have niggling little details (i.e., "Ile flottant or, more correctly, oeufs a la neige with spun sugar.") that tell you that Martha really is focusing on her salad and helping you make yours.

The union with Lagasse makes perfect sense. Here’s a guy who pioneered the "Bam" that made cooking fun for millions (see photo above of Emeril in mid-bam). His brand is solid too and it fits with who Martha Stewart is and the brand and business she runs.

Here’s the story and links:

Martha Stewart Living expects the deal to close in the second quarter.

Lagasse joined the Food Network in 1993 and has hosted over 1,600 shows. His programs "The Essence of Emeril" and "Emeril Live" reach more than 85 million homes daily.

And if you want to learn more about Martha Stewart or Emeril, here’s the wikipedia links: