Geoff Ramsey, CEO and Co-Founder of eMarketer, offers seven predictions for 2009. It’s an interesting article but hardly visionary when measured against the context of economic recession. Companies cutting back on advertising budgets, traditional media outlets taking the biggest hits, online advertising hanging in there . . . these predictions aren’t exactly going out on a limb.

Most interesting was this quote from Gary Lilien, Penn State research professor of management science:

“Those that have “the skill, the will and the till” will be able to market their way through these tough times and end up on the other side with a stronger market share and a more powerful brand position . . .‘The skill’ means they have the marketing expertise. ‘The will’ means they have a culture to go against what seems to be a tough trend. And ‘the till’ means that they have some resources to be able to invest.”

I like that Skill, Will, Till refrain, not just for its sweet singsong quality. A less elegant way to put Lilien’s words is what I tell all my clients: you will succeed in 2009 if you stay committed to marketing because you already know and have evidence that marketing works. Which leads me to one other 2009 prediction: marketers will be more accountable than ever, so you’d better be able to measure the impact of your marketing investments.