Marketers and account planners out there, have a look at the Leo Burnett predictions in marketing for 2009. A few things might not sound new, and on a few things you might disagree. But it's a good set of inspirations for the new year.

I especially appreciated the idea of New Realism when they say "we will be forced to become much more realistic over the coming years" but I also think it's important that agencies will align with brands on this subject. For this reason I also recommend (both agencies and clients) to read also the latest Future Lab report called "Bridging the Brand-Agency Divide" that offers a few tips to understand and reconnect the client-agency relationship in an era of economic (but not creative) recession.

Who are they kidding. Leo Burnett doesn't know anything about where things are going because they are run by number crunchers trying to figure out how to suck all of the money out of their clients wallets.

Posted by: Dave at February 2, 2009 03:05 PM

My patience ended at 1:47 - I could no longer withstand the assault of flying words.

Here's a prediction for 2009: Patience is waning and meaningless clutter is no longer cool.

Posted by: Tom Kasperski at February 2, 2009 03:17 PM

Amazing how a company suposedly skilled in delivering messages can create graphics that distract from the voiceover.

Posted by: Nathan at February 2, 2009 05:21 PM

Was the badly done kinetic text necessary?

Posted by: Headache at February 2, 2009 06:38 PM

I liked the flying words.....

Posted by: John Charles Palazzo at February 2, 2009 08:36 PM

Thought your readers might be interested in these 2009 marketing predictions from another marketing firm:

http://www.thunderfactory.com/news_notes/press-release-49.html

Posted by: Trish Colby at February 2, 2009 09:47 PM

Ya, i was tapped out at 0:47. They didn't need to highlight every word, they could have done the major ones. Or even better, used these crazy thing called graphics to communicate a point.

Posted by: Keane at February 3, 2009 12:14 PM

I rather like their use of Wordle.
http://www.wordle.net/

Posted by: f at February 3, 2009 06:59 PM

Wordle! Yea!!

Posted by: Glenn Friesen at February 4, 2009 12:02 AM

The biggest marketing trend you can count on for 2009 and beyond is accountability. No one has money to burn or media dollars to waste. CMOs are going to be chanting "what's the ROI?" as frequently as CFOs. Pay-for-performance advertising models will abound across channels. It's not just about the creative -- It's about what can the creative make people DO? The folks at the Hydra Network www.hydranetwork.com have ROI pumping through their veins. Come see what the leaders in this space are up to.

Posted by: Sue Burton at February 4, 2009 04:24 AM

"As our culture becomes more tangible and honest."
Does any of this actually mean anything?

Posted by: Chris at February 5, 2009 07:25 PM

Tough critics of Leo Burnett...do I sense a twinge of jealousy? I found it compelling and reaffirms much of what we should expect for '09.

Posted by: carmen krushas at February 15, 2009 09:26 PM