The dawn of a new year is an opportunity to look ahead and guess what will happen next. Some of these predictions just might catch you by surprise. Others might seem obvious, and some reflect my own perspective or pet peeves. 

These 16 predictions are offered with wishes for happiness and health in 2010. (Thanks to Sherie Anderson who helped with research and front line analysis.)

The recession won't go away
2010 will be as financially challenging as 2009. Credit and employment will be tight. Every expense will be scrutinized and delayed if possible. Temps will trump full-time players, and everyone in every sector will be looking for a deal. Downward price pressure, enforced by bean counters eager to save their own jobs, will rule the marketing sector and probably the entire economy. Emphasis on new customer acquisition will change slightly to retention because it's cheaper and has a much greater ROI impact, though since so few marketers are good at retention, expect more propaganda than productivity.

Traditional big ad spenders -- banks, automotive, retail, airlines, and CPG -- will spend cautiously, flap their lips about CRM, experiment with social media, and find a hundred new ways to package and promote discounts and deals. B2B marketers will hunker down and stick to stuff that works with an occasional foray into social or mobile media to establish bragging rights behind a steady beat of plain vanilla efforts on the CRM front.