For anyone who hasn’t read the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the great question of “life, the universe and everything” is, according to Douglas Adams, 42. To find out how one arrives at this figure, I suggest you go and read the book. Without wishing to spoil it for unread Hitchhikers, Adams inadvertently highlights one of the most pressing issues in the media industry at the moment: what is engagement and how are we measuring it.

There is now an overabundance of engagement metrics. But with different agencies measuring different points of engagement, how does help brands choose the correct platforms for their campaigns.

When the great and the good of the metrics companies were gathered on stage at the Festival of Media LatAm, representatives from IBOPE, ComScore and Ipsos passed the problem straight back their clients, correctly stating that while they can measure practically everything, brands and agencies need to be sure about the questions they’re asking. Engagement with the brand is different with from engagement with the campaign, and both of those again are different from engagement with the platform on which the activity takes place.  This doesn’t mean the industry needs a standard, but it does need an education.

(And for the non-Hitchhikers among you, here's the secret...)