Secret of success is to focus on customers

Over at Business week,Paul Armstrong takes a look at the media model and instead of revenue looks at the customer model.

He prescribes that

newspapers should focus on the needs of readers and become part of their routine.

Well it is a classic business model,although not in the Henry Ford model who was purported to have said that the customer can have any colour unless it is black.

when you realize that some of these papers have been around for more than a century, surviving multiple wars and economic upheavals, you know quickly that the current period is more than the economic crisis and loss of advertising confidence: Something is deeply "wrong" at the core.

he says

The customer has changed as society has changed

Give the audience what it wants, how it wants it, and then offer a hook. That may be exclusive, unique content or a reason to use your interface over others. This could also be design, portability, sharing functionality, whatever. Media, get into our daily routines any way you can and make sure you stay there. Once there, cultivate additional income through advertising that adds to, rather than detracts from, the reason we came to you. The new game is not about control; it is a call for utility, freedom, and the user experience