Demand Generation the next big thing for B2B?

I read the latest edition of B2B Marketing magazine cover to cover one evening this week (a great read) but was left feeling a little uneasy. The cover story is positioning demand generation as the next big thing. But what is it? I had heard of it but have always thought it was just about taking a structured approach to how you capture prospects and nurture them before (and after) they are passed to sales. So why give it a title?

To make sure I wasn't missing something I did some research in the blogs. I didn't find much of an answer and indeed I was left feeling that (as with crm all those years ago) it was a label given to something familiar in order for some software and service vendors to make it easier to sell their product.

However I did find something useful. A blog entry on the Marketo Modern B2B Marketing Blog by Sean Monahue at last years Demand Generation Seminar in Boston outlining what he believes are the Top 5 challenges for B2B Demand Generation Marketers (i.e. all B2B Marketers). Worth a look and mostly about search.