Ran across an old AdWeek from 7/28/08 the other day. Avi Dan penned an amazing piece about advertising experiencing “…a new creative revolution:, one’s that’s media driven.”

His point was that digital intelligence about consumer engagement and the cost to achieve that engagement is now measurable. This means that ad solutions will be more media-driven. Not, that that’s a bad thing.

Content is fast becoming the best way to build customer trust and ultimately engagement with brands. Now that content can be created and  published to the Web by anyone with a computer and Internet access, we have mountains of digital content. Talk about the long tail. Consumers are relying less on traditional media gatekeepers to edit their content. They are using blog posts, discussion forums, and their own social networks to prioritize content and to help make their buying decisions. Search is now king. Google is often referred to as a “reputation engine” because consumers are using search tools to sort and prioritize content bypassing more traditional advertising entirely. Not a good thing for most ad agencies.

For me, the field of advertising has to expand more into the content production business to really profit from digital. Producing sharp, clever content that reaches the right consumers is what advertisers have done for years. But today, the content isn’t necessarily an “ad,” it is more likely to be a online video about a new product, an iPhone app, an interactive game, or a podcast with experts providing useful information – not sales messages. The concept of “content” then is quite liberating, since it can be anything.

From music to gaming to video, content is now digital currency. Creating great content that strategically reaches target audiences for clients and making sure that content is easily found in the right spots will be ad agencies’ new focus. Avi Dan was right. Media is now everything. Consumer Research, Strategic Planning, Content Production and Media Placement will become key agency functions to serve clients in a digital world. More to follow.