South Africa, July 14 -- I want to tell you about a guy, Charles Reep. In the 1950s he became soccer's first data analyst, and his conclusion was that goals came from just a couple of quick passes: win it, play it forward, finish. Direct and simple. It shaped how a whole era played.

Watch a goal in today's World Cup matches and it looks nothing like that. It's built in stages. Keeping the ball, players pulling defenders out of position, movement off the ball, a dozen touches across the whole team before the ball ever reaches the striker. The player who taps it in gets the headline, but the goal was made long before that moment, by everyone.

Advertising today works the same way. The old idea, that one ad on one channel gets you the sale,...