The coming year looks to be challenging for the marketing and advertising industry. At Monday's UBS Annual Global Media and Communications Conference, leading media researchers and market analysts predicted that ad spending will continue to dip in 2009. Online spending is still projected to grow -- by 5% by one leading estimate -- but the rate of growth is slowing. CMOs and agencies will face increasing pressure to show return on investment in this more-constricted spending environment.

On the government front, the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama is bringing a media and marketing agenda to Washington that may include eliminating the deductability of marketing expenses for businesses, as well as restrictions on direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising and food and beverage advertising that runs on TV programming and Web content for children.

What's the good news? Even in a diminished economic climate, people will continue to buy consumer packaged goods, fuel for their cars, clothes and other necessities of life. And where consumers are spending, there will be advertising and marketing to try to influence their choices. AAF SmartBrief will be covering news and trends from the advertising and marketing industries throughout the year.