• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 13, 2004

If you were a beleaguered publishing company built around a tarnished celebrity icon seeking atonement you couldn't do much better than to diversify by acquiring a title named Self Healing. Aside from sending a symbolic message to investors, advertisers and Martha Stewart's loyal subscriber base, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia's acquisition of two health related titles - Thorne Communications' Self Healing and New Age Publishing's Body & Soul seem to make good business sense given the growth of the health industry and the affinity with MSO's lifestyle publications.

The $6 million cash deal also makes MSO less dependent on the "Martha Stewart" brand name, which is expected to go through a long process of rehabilitation as its namesake completes are criminal incarceration.

"This is another important step in evolving MSO as a 'how-to' brand building company offering multiple brands built on expert information, inspiration and products dedicated to educating and improving lifestyles," stated Sharon Patrick, president-CEO of MSO, alluding that the acquisitions were the first entry points of a deeper MSO expansion into those markets.

"Body & Soul provides MSO with the opportunity to both enter a new, promising market and to launch 'natural living' as a new 'omni' lifestyle category and brand for the company," she added, "Akin to Martha Stewart Living, Body & Soul's editorial concept combines seven niches in an emerging natural living category."

The diversification strategy makes sense and follows last week's announcement by MSO that it will launch a non-Martha branded TV program, "Everyday Food," on PBS stations beginning January 2005. MSO's flagship TV show "Martha Stewart Living" was dropped by its national TV syndicator King World Productions earlier this year when TV stations refused to carry it in the aftermath of Stewart's criminal charges.

Meanwhile, Body & Soul joins Everyday Food and Petkeeping with Marc Morrone as non-Martha branded magazine titles in MSO's portfolio. That's a good thing given what's happen with flagship title Martha Stewart Living.

Through the first seven months of 2004, MSL's ad pages are down 42.8 percent from the first six months of 2002, according to estimates from the Publishers Information Bureau.