Bringing a patient and scientist together to talk about a disease. Watching a child with severe medical issues light up with joy at the sound of a piano. Learning how a small business can go paperless with a few simple clicks. This is content that moves, content that matters. This is what we produce at The Boston Globe’s BG BrandLab.

At the Ad Club’s 2017 Media Innovation Day, we asked media leaders what sort of content moves them, engages them, inspires them. Here’s what they had to say.

Barbara​ ​Goose,​ ​Chief Marketing Officer​, ​John Hancock

“We used to be on an annual cycle. Then we thought about things on a monthly basis. Today it feels like every day you come in and something could have happened overnight that’s going to change what happens in your day. So it’s about pivoting to the things that matter at the right times.”

Cindy Stockwell, President, Trilia Media

“When you’re not fast-forwarding through things, you’re always looking at the quality of the message and whether you think the message is well-targeted or if it’s going to convince someone. So I do think you always look at content with sort of the hat of advertising and media.”

George Sargent,​ President, Boston, Havas Media Group

“I’ve always been very brand loyal in the content I’ve consumed. What keeps me coming back is the quality of the content and the user experience. Brands, publishers that do a great job of that, I keep going back. When they’re doing a bad job, I’m turned off.”

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Andrew​ Graff​, ​CEO, Allen & Gerritsen

“I am a skimmer. I can skim a ton of content really quickly. And it has to be mobile. I don’t consume anything in old forms. I read a lot of print but I read it on my iPad. And it has to have a great user experience.”

Peter ​ ​Naylor, ​Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, ​Hulu

“Images are a big deal, copywriting and headline writing is a big deal. The rise of visual web is undeniable, with things like Instagram and video going everywhere. And then it really is the subject matter . . . With the stories that matter the most, instead of going through 20 newsletters, I just want 20 minutes to get really smart on something. That’s a choice people need to make.”

Julie Polmonari, New England Sales Lead, Waze

“(Engaging content) is something that seems to get me. If it’s relevant to me, that becomes more engaging. If it’s an ad or an article that can tie in to my experience, something that feels more tailor made for me.”  

Dorree Gurdak, Executive Vice President, Weber Shandwick

“When I travel, I try to pick up three magazines that I would never read. Maybe I pick up a men’s magazine and force myself to read content that I wouldn’t normally be served up from Facebook or elsewhere. You have to push harder to get those alternative views sometimes.”