It's hard to know sometimes if B2B marketers are following consumer marketers or vice versa.  Right now it seems B2C is running a little bit ahead in embracing Web 2.0 principles like social networking and user-generated content.  The Wall Street Journal's year-end advertising roundup, "Best (and Worst) Ads of '06" is a good example.

"The low-key approach is a major reversal for an industry long keen on marketing messages delivered with a sledge hammer. It comes as new technologies -- such as digital video recorders -- give consumers more control over what ads they see. As a result, marketers' top priority is no longer selling but simply getting the public to watch an ad.

'There is a blurring of the line between advertising and entertainment,' says Greg Stern, chief executive officer of Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. 'You have to bring consumers in first just to be able to talk to them.'"

B2B marketers would be wise to take a page from their consumer cousins -- with a few important twists.  First, while consumers are gaining control, executives are losing control.  They have less time than ever.  The pace of change and the complexity of their jobs continues to increase exponentially.  Second, the blurring of the line is not between advertising and entertainment, as it is for consumers, but between advertising and educating.  Executives want to learn something they can apply to their own jobs -- to make them more effective, more productive, more insightful.   B2B marketers should think about what information they can provide that first helps their customers do their jobs better beyond the simple answer of buying the providers product or service.  Educate first, sell second.