1. Consumers Go On Social Media “Diets”
“[In 2008] we impulsively adopted everything from hastily assembled Facebook friends and Twitter followers to groups, apps and widgets, yet rarely revisited them.  In 2009, less may well become the new more,” Blackshaw notes.

2. Marketers Return To Media Basics
“TV will remain a focus because viewership in aggregate is actually going up, so continuing to understand how social media extends and enhances that experience (and sources content in reverse) will be mission critical,” Blackshaw writes.

3. Consumer Intimacy Returns
“2009 will also be the year we rediscover the appeal of living, breathing connections. Our industry research will find that real conversations with consumers, empathetically executed, can yield returns that trump the most sophisticated precision targeting,” Blackshaw notes.

4. Diversity Goes Mainstream
“Diversity will make a notable shift in marketing circles from a peripheral ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ — and there will be a deeper recognition that getting this right is inseparable from competitive advantage.  Expect to see Hispanic marketing notch up to new levels and more nuanced discussion of other minority segments,” Blackshaw writes.

5. Conferences Get Downsized
“In 2009, it will be harder to justify attending industry conferences.  Budget pressure will depress participation and marketers will increasingly get comparable returns from online-enabled events, webinars, on-demand podcasting and iPhone downloads,” Blackshaw notes.

Read the rest of Pete Blackshaw’s 2009 media and marketing predictions in the December installment of his regular Ad Age column.

For one thing, cinema audiences are literally “captive” — changing the channel isn’t an option, and there are few distractions.

Moviegoers also tend to have more disposable income than average Americans.  They purchase consumer electronics — XBoxes, DVD players, and Blu-Ray players — at far higher rates than the rest of the population, and many are voracious consumers of other entertainment across a variety of media platforms.

Children, teens, young parents, and Hispanics — all coveted segments for marketers — also tend to be avid moviegoers.

In-cinema advertising is not without challenges.  Currently, pre-movie advertising is distinctly less popular than movie trailers with many viewers.  The effectiveness of on-screen advertising also varies quite a bit by market.

The takeaway for marketers? 

Think broadly and holistically — tie your in-cinema ad campaign into a broader, multi-medium campaign. 

Effective in-cinema advertising requires a different approach than TV ads: aim for a longer, more dramatic, “movie-like” creative. 

Finally, don’t restrict pre-movie advertising to the big screen — make sure your campaign touches multiple formats of any film, including DVD and licensed video games.

View Nielsen PreView’s report.