Why the loyalty to Martha and Oprah?

"What is it about Martha Stewart and Oprah that makes women so crazy over them?"

That's a question I was asked last night while addressing students in the Masters of Marketing Communication program at St. Thomas, one of our local universities. The question came from a man in his 40's who honestly couldn't understand why women acted that way - kinda crazy. He stumbled as he searched for a "correct" way to comment about the audience's seemingly blind loyalty. But the way he asked it, made it sound like having millions of fans who evangelized everything you did, was a bad thing. The unspoken part of the question, I believe was this, "I just don't understand what all the excitement is about. Oh yeah, I get - getting excited about getting free car, but why the loyal following?"

I appreciated the question as it also pointed out the very essence of what my talk was on, i.e. that marketing as we knew it - even last year - was dead. The difference between then and now is as dramatic as pushing a rope, or pulling it. Martha and Oprah know how to pull a rope.

What Martha and Oprah have in common is tapping into a woman's spirit. Martha did it by making it not only OK to feather your nest, but to use the finest feathers in the most creative way. On top of that, she feathered her own nest to which women said, "You Go Girl!" While Martha was helping us fix up our external world, Oprah worked on making us feel better on the inside and to inspire us to have better lives wherever they may be.

It's easy to see what women like in Oprah, she's worked hard, made lots of money and yet continues to help us on a personal level. No wonder everyone wants to be her girlfriend. She's firm, but fair, and famous for her benevolence both to her staff, her audience, her viewers, and to her Angel Network projects. What's not to like and support?

But why would women stick by Martha, after all she's a convicted felon? One word - Loyalty. Martha never dissed her friends, the consumers. Her products continue to provide what they promise, inspirational ideas to make you feel special and grounded in an increasingly stressed out, technology driven world. She made a poor decision (maybe), haven't we all, but what she did wasn't against her customers, only herself and because of that, she was punished. Don't get me wrong, Martha wasn't a saint before she went to jail, but thanks to public persecution, she came out as one.

I later commented to my student questioner, "Don't you want to have millions of women championing your cause? The question for you isn't, why are women acting this way, but how do you get your female customers to act the same way about your company, product or service."

By providing something that women wanted, both Oprah and Martha built a loyal following, made ba-zillions, plus made the world a prettier and more generous place. That's a bottom line that women and men can live with.

Terri Whitesel, CEO, Interpret-Her