"The story is not that I'm leaving Martha Stewart, it's that I'm going to Media Link, and that's a big distinction," Wenda Harris Millard tells The Deal in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. Millard called from San Francisco, where she had just accepted ad:tech Expositions LLC's Industry Achievement Award. As we reported, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE:MSO) announced Tuesday morning that Millard is stepping down as co-CEO and president of media in a reorganization of its media business.
Media Link LLC was founded seven years ago by advertising consultant Michael Kassan. He is perhaps best known for helping Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) sway public opinion -- and more importantly that of the U.S. Department of Justice -- against Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) proposed deal with Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), as detailed recently in a lengthy Wired article. Other clients have included AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Sony Corp. and the Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS).
Millard says Media Link's business is "exploding." She continues:
"The complexity of the media and the marketing world is pretty stunning now. Large companies are struggling to plan media and understand what the right mix is for various products. They need help figuring out, 'How do I take advantage of new technologies and which ones while retaining my core strategy? Who should I acquire and who should I partner with?' There are huge opportunities for helping companies understand partnerships and alliances that further their marketing efforts."
When asked how big a role social media and companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. play in today's media landscape, Millard responds: "Social media is part of it of course, but there's way too much emphasis on it and undue attention paid to it. There are bigger fish to fry and equally as big fish to fry."
When asked to provide details on her departure from MSO, Millard says only, "I resigned to the executive chairman of the board."
In The Deal's Decade of The Deal video series, Millard recently shared her memories of the infamous merger of American Online Inc. and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) in 2000, back when Millard was a founding executive at online ad pioneer DoubleClick Inc. You can watch the video below. - Mary Kathleen Flynn
Paulson's proposal to purchase an equity stake in Yellow Pages publisher Idearc is the second time in recent months an investor group has used its prepetition debt position to execute a bargain price 'exit LBO.'
