to add page views in order to increase ad inventory. No, they are not adding quality content and functionality in order to enrich the customer experience. They are simply restructuring their flows so that a customer might have to endure an extra page in order to accomplish the same task. And therefore to see one more page of ads.

Not good for the customer, that’s for sure. C’mon, folks, can’t you try a little

After many conversations during my last visit to the Bay Area and several networking events back in NYC, I noticed a strange and unwelcome similarity in the remarks and ripostes of leaders of traditional and digital media companies. Each in their own ways, they commented profusely about revenue streams, commerce, and traffic, all very reasonable concerns.

But missing was the prominence of the CUSTOMER.

You remember the customer, don’t you? Not long ago, the business bookshelves were littered with advice about meeting the needs of the customer, developing a 360 degree view of the customer, and ensuring a delightful customer experience. And the interactive domain was supposed to be the perfect environment for giving the customer what s/he wanted whenever s/he wanted it, while being able to measure and therefore optimize the delivery.

But recently the customer has been taking a back seat and that’s not good for the media, especially content companies, over the long haul.

The latest generation of digital content providers seems to have been swept away by the gold rush fever that the shifts in ad spending have generated. Very few companies that I spoke with have any sort of customer lifetime value models factored into their media and marketing decision making process. And therefore their retention programs are rudimentary at best. They are chasing traffic because that means ad dollars in the short term.

Deceptive keyword purchases and tricky web ads seem to be the order of the day. (I thought that sort of thing went away with the death of direct mail sweepstakes.) Many are trying to develop ways to add page views in order to increase ad inventory. No, they are not adding quality content and functionality in order to enrich the customer experience. They are simply restructuring their flows so that a customer might have to endure an extra page in order to accomplish the same task. And therefore to see one more page of ads.

Not good for the customer, that’s for sure. C’mon, folks, can’t you try a little

.

You remember the customer, don’t you? Not long ago, the business bookshelves were littered with advice about meeting the needs of the customer, developing a 360 degree view of the customer, and ensuring a delightful customer experience. And the interactive domain was supposed to be the perfect environment for giving the customer what s/he wanted whenever s/he wanted it, while being able to measure and therefore optimize the delivery.

But recently the customer has been taking a back seat and that’s not good for the media, especially content companies, over the long haul.

The latest generation of digital content providers seems to have been swept away by the gold rush fever that the shifts in ad spending have generated. Very few companies that I spoke with have any sort of customer lifetime value models factored into their media and marketing decision making process. And therefore their retention programs are rudimentary at best. They are chasing traffic because that means ad dollars in the short term.

Deceptive keyword purchases and tricky web ads seem to be the order of the day. (I thought that sort of thing went away with the death of direct mail sweepstakes.) Many are trying to develop ways to add page views in order to increase ad inventory. No, they are not adding quality content and functionality in order to enrich the customer experience. They are simply restructuring their flows so that a customer might have to endure an extra page in order to accomplish the same task. And therefore to see one more page of ads.

Not good for the customer, that’s for sure. C’mon, folks, can’t you try a little

nd therefore optimize the delivery.

But recently the customer has been taking a back seat and that’s not good for the media, especially content companies, over the long haul.

The latest generation of digital content providers seems to have been swept away by the gold rush fever that the shifts in ad spending have generated. Very few companies that I spoke with have any sort of customer lifetime value models factored into their media and marketing decision making process. And therefore their retention programs are rudimentary at best. They are chasing traffic because that means ad dollars in the short term.

Deceptive keyword purchases and tricky web ads seem to be the order of the day. (I thought that sort of thing went away with the death of direct mail sweepstakes.) Many are trying to develop ways to add page views in order to increase ad inventory. No, they are not adding quality content and functionality in order to enrich the customer experience. They are simply restructuring their flows so that a customer might have to endure an extra page in order to accomplish the same task. And therefore to see one more page of ads.

Not good for the customer, that’s for sure. C’mon, folks, can’t you try a little

value models factored into their media and marketing decision making process. And therefore their retention programs are rudimentary at best. They are chasing traffic because that means ad dollars in the short term.

Deceptive keyword purchases and tricky web ads seem to be the order of the day. (I thought that sort of thing went away with the death of direct mail sweepstakes.) Many are trying to develop ways to add page views in order to increase ad inventory. No, they are not adding quality content and functionality in order to enrich the customer experience. They are simply restructuring their flows so that a customer might have to endure an extra page in order to accomplish the same task. And therefore to see one more page of ads.

Not good for the customer, that’s for sure. C’mon, folks, can’t you try a little

to add page views in order to increase ad inventory. No, they are not adding quality content and functionality in order to enrich the customer experience. They are simply restructuring their flows so that a customer might have to endure an extra page in order to accomplish the same task. And therefore to see one more page of ads.

Not good for the customer, that’s for sure. C’mon, folks, can’t you try a little harder and accomplish both goals – better experience, more ad revenue?

The traditional publishers are not faring any better but it is for a different set of reasons. They all had very well-structured businesses - some by product, some by channel, some by affinity. And they developed ways to integrate their activities so that the units didn’t get in each other’s way.

Then came the web and mobile … and they have tried very hard to adapt. There were grand utterances like “We will integrate the internet into everything we do.” Sounded nice but few did what they said and it was the wrong approach anyway. Most went down one of two paths – creating a separate internet/digital unit or bolting some net resources onto each business unit.

WRONG!

The digital space is not an additional channel or an add-on. It is a superset of everything that came before and much more. It overarches the world as we knew it. It’s not one extra way for the customer to interact with content. It’s a place where the customer can and wants to interact with all forms of content at the same time, as their needs dictate. This is not about having a nice house and deciding to add on a family room, it’s about sitting down with an architect and renovating and reconstructing the entire home.

Traditional content companies have been busy pressing the old structure to keep up and have been reluctant to rework the entire blueprint. That’s one reason why they are struggling.

There are a few who seem to be getting it if they can integrate things quickly – Hachette recently bought Jumpstart Automotive Media