ABSTRACT
Rapidly advancing interactive communication technologies and their increasing use by consumers have unprecedented and unavoidable impact on brands and how they should be managed. We argue that the role of brands in the contemporary age of digital connectivity is being elevated and simultaneously shifted. On the one hand, brands have more visibility and power than ever before, yet on the other hand consumers have the ability to easily generate, share, or ignore brand messages limiting brand managers’ control over brand meanings. This chapter discusses the digital transformation which connects networks of consumers and companies to each other on a phenomenal scale and explores the impact of this connectivity on brands as well as on branding. First we discuss the mechanisms by which brands play their signi cant role in contemporary consumer society. Then we introduce what we call the digital age of connectivity and explore its implications for consumers. We follow this with an identi cation of implications for brands and branding and conclude the chapter by providing practical words of caution for brand managers in their quest to adapt to the age of digital connectivity.
