Dublin based advertising agency Rothco ran a seminar in early December sharing their thoughts on trends we shall see develop during 2010.

First up is the concept of real time information growth as mobile Internet access becomes available to greater numbers of people. Rothco sum this up as a move from a sense of "I was there" to "I am here" as social networking applications like Twitter, Four Square, Layar and Qik facilitate instant communication and instant access to the information we need to run our lives.

2010 will be the year of the mobile as more capable, easy to use and cheap handsets deliver benefits that up to now have only been available on expensive high end devices. From our point of view in the market research business, mobile will become more important as a means of delivering surveys that consumers can complete at their leisure while commuting, waiting for a friend or just relaxing at home.

The second trend relates to the concept of community. The forerunners in this have been companies developing online communities of customers  who are encouraged to provide positive and negative feedback about product and service experiences. The trust lost between companies and customers in the financial services area can be restored by honest communication and real company consumer dialogue rather than sanitised one way communications.

Whilst engaging with customers on this level can be intimidating for traditional companies, those who have embraced the concept have benefited in moving from a transactional to a relationship based culture.

If the boom time saw people seek status in having and owning, 2010 will see a move to the third trend of sharing and participating. Brands that want to be part of this might usefully follow the example of Nelsons Beer which is constantly changed based on suggestions from customers or Waterford Glass with its clink clink iPhone application.

Under the mantra "ask not what you say to them but what you can enable them to do", marketers are encouraged to develop ways to allow customers to interact with brands on an ongoing basis. Recent British Airways advertising has focused on the experience a customer gets from realising their dream of going somewhere they want to go rather than on selling an airline ticket.

The fourth trend is a move to building not just cyber communities but a new desire to be part of real communities that offer substance and belonging rather than the egotistical focus of  the recent past. Companies like Knorr and Denny are emphasising bringing the family together as demand for allotments, vegetable growing and suburban chicken coops increases.

In a move back to nature, the Australian town of Bundanoon has declared itself a bottled water free zone. Businesses will sell reusable drink bottles and chilled filtered tap water, whilst free filtered water stations or 'bubblers' will also be provided for the public and primary schoolchildren.

The final trend is a move towards positivity. If 2009 was the year of shock anger and resignation, Rothco expect 2010 to represent a new sense of determination and positive thinking. Brands that communicate and demonstrate these 2010 values will thrive in the new dispensation. One of the first to embrace the concept is BMW whose theme based on Joy  marks a move away from a technical focus to one that communicates a connection with positive human emotions.