First there were newspapers. Then came radio, which reigned for many years before television appeared on the scene. In the streets, posters and billboards touted products and services. During these times, the power of advertising fundamentally moved in only one direction and was based on quantity.

But then, things became more complicated. The Internet was born. In the beginning, it was a pipeline like the other forms of communication, moving in only one direction, from the emitter to the receiver. Yet, with the birth of the famous Web 2.0 and the creation of social networks, information began to move in both directions. The hitherto passive receivers thus became active emitters. The “prescribers” migrated a little bit everywhere; their authority became fragmented; and just about everyone and anyone was now able to disseminate his or her more-or-less expert opinion to the world.

Bloggers soon entered the fray. Chat rooms and forums sprang up spontaneously and gave participants the opportunity to exchange opinions and recommendations. Viral criticism was also proffered, often to the point of sarcasm or disparagement. The dreaded buzz lurked everywhere. The web is a strange creature that draws nourishment from disparate bits of information, which appear haphazardly but which, like snowballs, can grow as they roll down the slope to become an avalanche, carrying away everything in its path. Today, there are no more boundaries, no more private domains surrounded by high fences. No one can hide. A rumour started in Singapore can immediately spread to Rio de Janeiro before gaining even more ground in Moscow.

Information is all around us and, except perhaps for the rare hermit, is impossible to escape. It is on paper; it is displayed instantaneously on every computer monitor; it bounces from one telephone to the next. Mobile and elusive, information travels at the speed of light through the world’s fibre optic lines and, like a blotter soaking up a liquid, it will soon impregnate our entire environment.

In this advancing jungle, analytical studies—to be effective—need ever more powerful tools to sift through the huge quantity we find all around us. Today, it is quality that we must be able to determine. And to succeed, the sensitivity of our analytical instruments is crucially important.

The young team at IC-Agency, which has created the remarkable surveillance tool called the WorldWatchReport, has a bright future. Why? Because the watchmakers—for whom the IC-Agency analyzes their communication in real time—are particularly reactive to this new and constantly changing media environment. After having invested in the Internet en masse, they are present at the heart of the social networks. They are on Facebook and YouTube; they are creating more and more applications for the iPhone and soon the iPad. At the same time, the blogs and chat rooms dedicated to these watch brands are proliferating. Hardly has a new model been introduced than it is quickly dissected on the web. And this web is expanding geographically before our very eyes with the BRIC nations now leading the charge.

The WorldWatchReport represents an advanced seismograph, which can identify the many fractures in our watch world—a world that is in a permanent state of agitation.