Every media executive I’ve ever worked with has talked of the importance of “owning the customer”. Of course, as I’ve written about previously, all too often publishers use that description when, in reality, they have little relationship with their readers. As eBooks become the dominant format and Apple and Amazon the key platforms, this tenuous relationship becomes even more frayed.
That’s why I was pleased to see “Defining the End Customer” as one of the topics at the upcoming Book Industry Study Group program: Developing the 2020 Publishing Program.
The event is a hybrid model – more structured than an unconference, but with the interactivity and participation not found in traditional conferences.
For the “End Customer” exercise, the organizers have set a very realistic framework for discussion. Participants will look ahead to 2020, an environment where publishers have little choice but to market directly to end users. The exercise will explore ways in which publishers could build a database of customers and engage them on an ongoing basis.
This is one of three participatory exercises at the BISG NEXT event. The other two focus on the Core Business, and one near and dear to my heart - Mobile Strategy. I’ll cover more details on these in upcoming posts.
If you’d like to participate, visit the BISG registration page to sign up. The program will be held Thursday, March 31 in NYC.
I hope to see you there.
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