As marketers, it’s our job to keep up with the latest trends. What’s hot, what’s not. What’s up-and-coming, what’s on it’s way out. And the sooner we identify a trend, the better. (As a rule of thumb, by the time USA Today identifies it, the trend is long past the infancy stage and probably approaching the “that’s soooo six months ago” stage.) That said, I’m betting that two major trends — neither of which have been reported on by the good folks at America’s daily (that I know of) — will dramatically collide and impact the marcom industry in the near future:

1) The ascendancy of the iPhone as a viable media channel, and
2) Augmented reality.

As for the iPhone, the “three screens” model for video messaging has become a fairly well-accepted industry truism. That, coupled with Apple’s cachet and proven history of driving wide-spread product adoption from the techno-cool elite to the Walmart-shopping throngs in an augenblick, make the iPhone’s next few generations (and subsequent price drops) a fairly sure heir to the third-screen throne.

But the second trend feels even more ripe for explosion. Augmented reality’s been in the works for a good long while now, but two recent citings make it appear to be more ready for primetime, mass consumption than ever. The first is the scheduled 2009 release of Sony’s EyePet, a sort of Webkin slash Curious George avatar that attempts to blur the line between virtual worlds and that bowl of very real fruit on your kitchen counter. The second is the recent augmented reality ad for Mini released in a German automotive magazine which drops a mini Mini right there on your lap.

Entertainment has always been a prime driver of technology adoption, and in a year unlikely to shake the recession any time soon, what could make us forget our financial foes faster than the escapism of battling dark elves in the arena of our cubicle, transforming the neighborhood suburbs into the new Halo warground, or dogging multiplayer spies by GPS.

Put the two trends together and what do you get? Well, if this holiday greeting is any example, you get a virtual bottle of the Real Thing and a couple of tap dancing M&M guys that can truly come to life right outta the bag.