The last days of 2009 will bring a flood of provocative predictions about how radically the world of advertising and marketing will change in 2010. Statements like these–

Push marketing will no longer work

The era of conspicuous consumption is over

Interruption marketing is a thing of the past

–and endless variations of them will be in abundant supply as self-styled pundits, prophets and provocateurs try to grab their fifteen minutes (or 140 characters) of fame. To them I say one thing: dial it back a little.

New technology is enabling unique, intriguing, and thought-provoking avenues by which relationships can be enhanced (or harmed), and it’s doing so at a rapid pace. But branding never has been about one-way communication. It has always been a game of engagement. The tools may change, but the rules never will. And turning a page on the calendar has nothing to do with it.

Will the state of the art in branding be different in 2010 than it was in 2009? Yes, just as ’09 was different from ’08, ’08 was different from ’07, and so on, all the way back to the 19th century (and arguably beyond). The art of marketing continually evolves.

Beware the breathless predictions. People who overstate the change have something in common with old fashioned snake oil salesmen. In that respect, some things never change.