‘Tis still the season of predictions of what will happen in the year 2009 in business and marketing. Some say it will be the year of everything from modest to mobile to mob rule. But I’m glad at least one major organization agrees that 2009 will be the year of Marketing with Meaning.

In a recent blog post, Malia Supe and Garrick Schmidtt from interactive ad agency Razorfish (full disclosure: a competitor of ours) write that marketers “need to find meaningful ways for their brands to participate, as well-but not in the traditional manner of pushing tired old messages at consumers. No, today, brands need to build strength through action.”

Naturally, I’m thrilled that Supe and Schmidtt align on the use of the word “meaningful” to describe the concept that we are dedicated to promoting. We sometimes find that the word only conjures elements of cause marketing-which, while important, is only one of many ways that brands can deliver value to people’s lives. It is a word that has much more soul than rival expressions such as ”branded utility.” And I believe “meaning” is superior to “marketing as service” because it suggests that there is a progression-i.e., brands can do more by reaching people in an increasingly meaningful way.

I also like that the gang at Razorfish is promoting the idea that meaningful marketing is “active.” In their words, brands must “do” something. Instead of talking at their audience with interruptive advertising-say, telling people that they are a great brand-today’s consumer demands that brands actually prove it. This speaks to our idea that while great products and services are the baseline for success, the marketing itself must add value to people’s lives. Razorfish’s President, Clark Kokich, made a similar comment when I spoke with him at an industry event a few months ago.

Like we at Bridge Worldwide, the employees at Razorfish appear to agree that “our goal then, as a digital agency, is to help create real, tangible expressions of our clients’ brands and make them meaningful to consumers.”  Like us, they realize that digital marketing is the first medium that really depends entirely on meaningful marketing to succeed. We can’t force people to visit our websites, download our widgets, or subscribe to our emails. Digital agencies like ours have always had to earn consumers’ attention by creating value. No wonder that digital agencies such as Bridge Worldwide, The Barbarian Group, Razorfish, and Renegade are leading the way in this revolution.

I am excited that 2009 is the year we will be in market with our book around Marketing with Meaning. I hope it generates more mass discussion of this important topic, and encourages others to rally around a committment to this new way of thinking-and acting.