CIC's IWOM Watch is our bi-weekly net culture and "marketing 2.0" trend watch which provides a qualitative overview of the latest trends from the web that would be of interest to marketers. Every half year, we offer a free review report which outlines the highlights from the previous 12 bi-weekly reports.

I am proud to present some key highlights from our IWOM watch reports from the first half of 2008. We organized the highlights according to several themes that emerged.

First we see “The Power of Connection.” The first several months, especially with issues around the Olympic torch and the Sichuan earthquake, demonstrated the impact of an increasingly networked society.

Next, in “Icons of Net Culture,” we see that in addition to a unique language, netizens have their own symbols and artifacts such as 囧 (Jiong) that can impact fashion and art.

Finally, net culture and platforms continue to provide creative venues and outlets for brands to connect with consumers, including offline meetups.

The full report is available for download on our website here or on slideshare below.

You can get a sense of the development of IWOM over time by downloading previous IWOM watch 6 month review reports here.