Kellogg on Branding in a Hyper-Connected World

CHAPTER 22Managing Brand Communications in a Digital World

Cindy Halvorsen

Today, consumers often check their mobile phones before they roll out of bed—and then check them an average of 150 more times throughout the day. At work, many consumers spend the majority of their days staring at a computer screen. When they’re not at work, many view entertainment on demand across multiple screens ranging from a mobile device to a TV.

Long gone are the days when the family gathered around the TV, captivated by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in I Love Lucy, which garnered a 71.7 rating at its peak in 1953.¹ In 2018, the top scripted show, This Is Us, only achieved a 9.3 rating during its most-watched episode.² Back in the 1950s, there were few options for both consumers and advertisers, so fewer ads would provide mass reach with high consumer attention. Even as recently as the late 1990s, TV shows such as Seinfeld and Friends drew large audiences. But TV no longer dominates consumer attention. Viewers are in control of when, where, and how they consume content, and are no longer reliant on TV schedules set by networks or on sharing a single TV with everyone in the home.

In today’s world, marketers must not only define how digital has changed consumer behavior and what it means for their branding efforts, but also choose digital partners to support consumer communications. Digital technology has spawned myriad companies whose mission is to help marketers build brands and navigate this new ...