The hen came first. And here’s why.

There’s no dearth of talk about digital. Pick any seminar or conference about any industry, and chances are you’ll find a session or two, in the least, on the subject of digital. It could be digital healthcare or e-governance or social commerce, but there’s no escaping the ‘d’ or ‘e’ or ‘s’ words. Add ‘m’ to that list in a mobile-first world.

And in case the conference is even remotely related to advertising or media, chances are that a session or two from a host of others will not involve those subjects.

Those topics are critical. They are the present, not the future. We’re living in a digital age. And yes, you’ve heard all of this before. But why do I get the sense that we’re not hearing enough of the right content at some of these conferences? And if we do, why aren’t they being absorbed in the right context?

If an event is meant to inspire, it cannot do so with a flowchart of how a campaign should evolve. It has to showcase the work that moved the market to action. And even when it does, it is easy to miss the message that worked its magic, given the excessive attention paid to the enablers who helped deliver that message. Sadly, some of these events, including some global dos, are inspiring a search for channels and enablers, rather than ideas.

As the gentleman from YouTube explains in the pages of this magazine, if the ad is not delivered to the right person, it serves no purpose. The same holds if it’s not something s/he’ll be willing to watch. With science and systems, you can perfect the former to a certain standard. Only with an idea and its execution, can you can earn the attention.

We all know people who run agencies that are based on the premise of ‘performance’ in very raw terms. We all know that likes can be bought. We also know of ‘robots’ that

Is an enabler going to offer some path breaking solution exclusively to you?

work real cheap. So that cannot be a measure in itself.

Secondly, do brands seriously believe that a tech major or agency or enabler is going to offer them – and them alone – some path breaking solution?

Other things remaining equal, content – or ideas – will remain the differentiators. Now, how does this link back to the headline (above)? That was just a device to make you read this message.

Many from the MENA advertising industry are blessed to be based in a market where the leadership has a stated vision to nurture innovation. The industry possibly cannot wish to be in a better time and place. If it is not realising its potential, advertising has only itself to blame. And it can only realise its potential when it stays focused on the message, rather than the medium.

Even a medium like ‘Lifebuoy Roti’ had the message embossed on it. With due apologies to McLuhan, I humbly submit that the medium should never be mistaken for the message.