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CNN Live Today

Interview with Mark DiMassimo

Aired June 25, 2002 - 11:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Mark DiMassimo is in New York to talk about Stewart's perfect image. He's CEO of DiMassimo Brand Advertising. Good to see you, this morning. How are you?

MARK DIMASSIMO, BRANDING EXPERT: Good to be here. Thanks.

HARRIS: All right. Got to ask you, what do you make of her performance this morning? If you were advising her exactly on how to market her way through this madness right now, would you have suggested that she react that way?

DIMASSIMO: Well, look, I don't believe that she's listening to her brand experts right now. I believe that she's listening to her lawyers. And she's doing exactly what her lawyers have told her to do.

So I think if she were talking to her brand experts, she would be doing something very different. She would be talking about this. She would be laying it on the line, and she would be putting it behind her. But, obviously, she doesn't want to participate in building a case against herself, and this is where, I believe, that Martha Stewart the person may be at odds with Martha Stewart the brand, and the interests of that brand.

HARRIS: Yeah, you know, I heard someone make a suggestion, and this is one I doubt she'd take, because it seems obvious that she has decided that she is not going to say anything about this. But someone suggested that if she were to just, just to handle this like Oprah would, the whole thing -- she could probably go and turn this into a plus.

DIMASSIMO: You know, I think the Oprah example is something that Martha really should study. Oprah tells the bad news on herself. She controls the negatives. She kind of takes the sting out of the envy that goes with great success and power.

But I really -- you know, by telling on herself and, thereby, she really gets to control the story, and she gets to create her own timing. Martha's created this image of sort of a domestic superhero, a domestic goddess who is perfect and maybe a little superhuman in every way. And she's amassed a lot of power and a lot of money and people get envious. So, I think, you really have to, in a way, take a little bit of the poison of envy and humanize yourself a little. Otherwise, that kind of happens to you. HARRIS: All right. Then, give us an assessment, right now, of where her brand, if you will, stands?

DIMASSIMO: Well, I think, the stock price and what happened yesterday, which was -- I mean talk about losing more than one-fifth of the value of the equity of your company in one day ...

HARRIS: That ain't a good day.

DIMASSIMO: It's not a good day. It's not a good day. I'd say that's a pretty good measure of what's happening with her brand right now. But, as we all know, the stock price of any one day and, even a crash, isn't necessarily predictive of what'll happen in the future. How she handles this -- first of all, how she resolves the legal issue and, secondly, what she does to resolve the brand issues, will control the future of the brand. There's -- there could still be a bright future for the Martha Stewart Living brand. But, right now, it's very much in jeopardy.

HARRIS: Well, she's a pretty savvy lady. Maybe she'll figure this one out. We'll be watching to see if she does or not. Mark DiMassimo. Thank you very much. Appreciate the advice this morning.

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