Branding in the digital age : a '2020' vision for brand management

The proliferation of digital media, together with increasingly mobile internet connectivity, has arguably been the most significant influence on brands and brand management in the first two decades of this millennium. An important development in academic research on branding and marketing in this time has been the widening spectrum of research methods, as well as topics – ranging from qualitative and experiential to highly technical and (big)data-based approaches. In many ways, this development reflects that modern-day branding is a multidisciplinary scientific artform. Successful branding needs more than marketers; it needs ethnographers, designers, and data-scientists alike to overcome challenges and firmly grasp the opportunities that the digital age brings. What guidance can we provide to them for successful branding in the digital age? Combining the findings from the five papers included in this Internet Research special section and insights from leading practitioners, we present brands with a clearer ('20/20') vision for successful branding from the year 2020 onwards. We do so in this editorial essay by identifying and elaborating on four crucial foci for branding that are intrinsically associated with a brand’s identity: transparency, responsibility, connectivity, and creativity.