Abstract:

This paper demonstrates that harmonisation is no longer valid given the fragmentation and subsequent reconstruction of conventional media around a new media hub, the Internet. It argues that harmonisation is a modernist concept fumbling around in a postmodernist world. It describes how conventional media are collapsing into this single digital media hub attached to which are an infinite number of nodes. This paper also puts forward the notion that these nodes are in fact media pathways travelled by members of an indefinite number of “brand tribes”. Each of these is guided by the values that their brands symbolise. A brand can be any respected or valued item such as membership of a great city as well as a group with a common occupation. The writer proposes that these brand tribes assume a major role in redefining who we are as individuals. If this is so, then it follows that relevant media will soon be defined by the brand rather than a brand being defined by particular media.