For long-haul flights like Dallas-Sydney or New York-Johannesburg the pilots take on a special focus.

While in cruise mode they discuss emergencies that are improbable … but possible.

Like engine fires, sudden decompression or turbulence that could lead to a critical situation.

You don’t just fly the plane, it seems, you make the best use of flight time by planning for possible dramas.

So the captain and first officer put together emergency scenarios.

They pinpoint alternative airports.

They judge the suitability of those airports with respect to the kind of difficulties that could arise.

Call them Darwinian in this respect.

They’re planning to put the plane down safely, no matter what.

How about marketers these days, how Darwinian are they?

Fair question as there’s turbulence when it comes to digital.

According to Cnet only 38% of traffic on the web is human.

Marketing Week says only 9% of digital ads are viewed for more than a second.

They go on to say the vast majority of digital advertising is not being viewed at all.

The research firm, Lumen, found that only 4% of ads received more than 2 seconds of engagement.

Marketing Week sums up the problem with this thought …

Many marketers are still failing to apply effectiveness techniques learned from print, direct response and out-of-home to new channels.

They’ve forgotten how to sell.

Well, amazing technology is our genie, but what use is it if your messaging is little more than tripe.

Tripe may be harsh but one thing’s clear …

Too much creative work needs to improve if only to reach the dull level.

More to fraudulent web traffic, Business Insider predicted it would double in 2017.

They went on to say …

According to a new study commissioned by WPP the amount of global advertising revenue wasted on fraudulent traffic, or clicks automatically generated by bots could reach $16.4 billion.

Maybe this is why Procter & Gamble’s Marc Pritchard pulled back from digital.

You might say he’s not unlike long-haul pilots scoping out alternative airfields for a safe landing.

Because when you’re the world’s biggest advertiser — or any advertiser, for that matter — the last thing you need is an engine fire.