Abstract
M.A.
The shift from the Old to the New Economy has developed due to four key trends, namely
globalisation, consumerism, environmentalism and corporate governance. Globalisation
and the Internet has resulted in consumers being able to track the behaviour of
corporations (Vise, 2006:119) and consequently, a New Consumer has emerged, where
emphasis on corporate transparency and the environment has become a key concern for
these New Consumers. New Consumers are characterised by Lewis and Bridger (2000:21)
as independent, sophisticated, involved and well informed about the production of goods
and services, where these New Consumers are feeling the pressure to confront and act
upon the fact that unbridled production and consumption, which was proliferate in the Old
Economy, comes with escalating pollution at a significant human/animal/earth cost
(Trendwatching, 2007). Moreover, in the world of globalisation and information overload,
Salzer-Mörling and Strannegård (2004:224) argue that the proliferation of brands as well as
a cluttered marketplace has meant that corporations now need to not only be differentiated
in the marketplace, but also be distinct and one of the ways which corporations in the New
Economy are achieving this is by focusing on the corporate brand as the point of
differentiation.