In response to those “you are as you are” articles

“You don’t need any more motivation. You don’t need to be inspired to action.”

These were the statements that introduced an article I read recently (may be worth reading it for context) . It was one of those motivational-type pieces – reminding everyone who read it that it was okay to “just be”. Now, I have no issue with “just being” – in fact, I am pretty sure it’s impossible to not be – but it also had an air of complacency and that worried me.

Digital advertising: in a state of emergency

“When last did you click on a banner?”

I am yet to get an answer that doesn’t begin with a panicked expression, a hurried attempt to remember or make something up, and eventually the response: “yes but I am in the industry, so I am desensitized/uninterested/jaded etc.”. Think about that for a second, “in the industry”. I would assume that would presuppose interest/caring/curiosity, yet even industry natives are ‘over it’. Digital advertising promised to be the answer to the need for measurement, the transparent visionary. But, somewhere along the line, it got lost. It got wasteful. And it got annoying.