I want to see human drama

Not too long ago, I was asked this: "Why isn't digital advertising spending growing in Asia, despite online and mobile being so prevalent?" Essentially, they wanted to say, "TV should have died out ages ago."

Asia isn't just bustling cities like Tokyo, Singapore, or Hong Kong where people are always connected to the internet. Nor are all those living in Asia professionals or businesspeople. For example, farmers who don't use the internet are also our fellow citizens.

We need to observe what media they engage with daily. You'll understand why newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio—often called "traditional media"—remain so robust.

Why do people use digital media? Is it because they want to use Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube? No. What matters is what they find there: stories, images, music, videos.

Digital media is merely a pathway. We become engrossed in the same things our parents and grandparents were engrossed in before the internet—only now we access them digitally. They used picture books, newspapers, radio, and television instead.

Our job is to harness the potential for broader reach and deeper social engagement that the internet has brought. To captivate people with our messages so they want to play, participate, and share with others.

I call this the "human drama." Our desire to care about things, to enjoy them, to connect with others stems from being social creatures. We join online communities because we want to interact with others. Daily dramas bind us to the world around us.

The reason social media has taken the world by storm is because of this human drama, as old as the history of this planet. Just watch " Charlie bit my finger-again! " on YouTube. Such a simple, adorable video has been viewed over 500 million times worldwide.

If human drama were absent, you'd think fewer than 50 people on Earth would be hooked on social media. Perhaps television has died somewhere in the world, but human drama will never cease. The drama is now unfolding before a much larger audience. Only the screen is different.

(Supervised by: Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network Business Division)