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VOL. XLIX NO. 1 JANUARY 7, 2008 www.adweek.com

Posted with permission from Adweek. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved.#1-23077902 Managed by The YGS Group, 717.399.1900. For more information visit www.theYGSgroup.com/reprints.

The next time you’re at thebeach take a look at howthe flocks of gulls move

as one. The birds don’t have aleader. No other bird is tellingthem what to do. Ins tead,they are paying close atten-tion to the birds next to them inorder to fly in one precise, coor-dinated movement.

This action is referred to asswarm theory. Hundreds, eventhousands of birds, moving inde-pendently as one.

But what does this have to do with marketing and advertising? Theanswer begins with the birds and the bees.Specifically, birds, fish, bees and other swarm-ing species capable of forming a collectivebrain that enables them to think and move asone organism.

Watching a school of fish or a flock ofbirds, it is impossible not to be impressed bythe harmony of their actions. All are coor-dinated to such a degree that they turn with-out any visible leadership within the group.But this behavior is not unique to animals.

The Internet and the growth of digitalcommunities like Facebook, I believe, havegiven rise to human swarms.

Whether through social networking com-munities or a simple e-mail address book,the power of one can overnight become thepower of 20, 200, 2,000, 2 million or dis-perse. The power of these human swarms isremarkable. They wield tremendous influ-ence for or against causes, ideas, beliefs andeven brands. When it comes to working fora cause, Wired magazine calls these humanswarms “crowdsourcing,” like the thousandsof volunteers who joined the high-techsearch for missing adventurer Jim Gray,revealing a powerful, “pulsing, breathingworld” out there.

That power has made all ofus the new, new media. One ofthe more obvious and commer-cial examples of this is Face-book’s latest spin on word-of-mouth marketing. Called Bea-con, the program enables thesale of ads carrying members’profile photos adjacent tobrand messages. This is then cir-culated far and wide to Face-book friends. At least that waswhat was supposed to happen,but Facebook never clearedBeacon with users.

All for not having asked permission, Face-book has had to backtrack twice, risking thetrust and community it has built with userswhile setting in motion the instinctual urgeto flock or flee and rendering the percep-tion of Facebook as a predator instead ofprotector.

In fact, many of Facebook’s more than 50million users were already relaying productor brand picks to friends. Beacon was plan-ning to commercially capitalize on that, andthe fact that due to the power of digital tech-nology we are more in touch and in tune withour peers than ever before.

Along with our family it is our peers whoare our most trusted sources of information,not the media, not religion and not the gov-ernment. In a recent study by Roper, trustin family and friends topped the list aroundthe world when it came to exchanging infor-mation. And just this month DDB sister com-pany Ketchum and the University of South-ern California found that advice from fam-ily and friends is the No. 1 source consumersturn to when making a variety of decisions,ranging from buying consumer electronicsto planning a vacation. Next highest wasexpert advice on anything from medicaldecisions to a product’s carbon footprint.

Yet, surprise, the survey also found that only24 percent of communicators have a word-of-mouth program in place.

Make no mistake, this gathering swarmcombined with trust in friends and family isa commanding force. Inevitably this swarmwill change the nature of what we as mar-keters do to build our brand and sell prod-uct because digital human swarms, our mod-ern day communities, will not be told whatto do. Our human swarms do not want to betargeted with campaigns. They want long-term conversations within engaged relation-ships. A good example of this is the Nike+Web site where runners make friends withfellow runners from all over the globe whiletrading information and inspiration.

What does Nike gain from the site?Increased influence brought about throughits peer-to-peer relationship with those on thesite. Influence is one of the most valuableassets a brand can have today among humanswarms. Influence is a brand metric and assuch should be measured right alongsideshare of voice and share of market.

Why? Because the power of influence canbe game changing for brands. Influenceempowers small brands to take on largebrands, the strong to grow stronger andeven gives brands the permission to fail, asApple demonstrated during the launch ofits controversially priced iPhone.

Influence, fueled by swarm communica-tions, is yet more empowering. For us in mar-keting, the challenge will be to transformfrom outsider to insider within these com-munities. How we do that will be consistentwith how we build great brands, specificallyby developing trust and authenticity.

At DDB, we are looking at the develop-ment and recruitment of chief communityofficers for all of our regional offices and,eventually, for each of our offices and clients,all of whom will be charged with identifying,embracing and moving with consumerswarms. These groups are akin to what trend-watching.com calls twinsumers, “fellow con-sumers who think, react, enjoy and consumethe way they do.” Be ready because this feelsan awful lot like the new customer relation-ship management.

CHUCK BRYMERis president and CEO of DDBWorldwide. He can be reachedat chuck.brymer@ddb.com.

The Birds and the BeesWhy brands need to harness the power of human swarms