Marketing Trend in 2009

I recently read that the "trend for marketing in 2009 is to simply care about your customers, listen to them, communicate and be upfront with them."

That's really good advice. My question is, why is this a trend now? Why isn't this just the norm?

If you want to succeed at business, you should always care about your customers, get their feedback, implement appropriate suggestions, and always, always, be honest with them.