The Year Ahead For ... The City.(advertising industry overview)(Industry overview)

Marcus Anselm says that although economic recovery is likely to be modest during 2010, the digital sector can again buck the trend.

Chief executives of marketing services businesses tend to be concise when expressing their views on the future. 'Full of hope and full of micro-payments for content online' was just one of the responses we heard when speaking to industry leaders about their sentiments regarding 2010.

Succinct as it is, this double statement touches on two themes that will continue to shape the fortunes of the media and advertising industries this year. Given that only a few months ago financial publications were debating the very future of capitalism, following the near-collapse of the global financial system, it is unsurprising that cyclical concerns are front of mind for most.

What is perhaps more surprising is that with the UK still mired in the longest and deepest recession since World War II, the sentiment of 'hope', or at least a defiant version of it, for 2010 is not uncommon among the industry people we work with. While there are some good reasons for that, we should …