In previous posts, I’ve talked a lot about the way B2B buyers have become increasingly skeptical of corporate marketing and communications messages – and the move B2B vendors need to make away from ‘propaganda’ toward ‘dialog’. And I’ve used words like ‘honesty’, ‘openness’ and ‘sharing’ to describe the atmosphere that needs to underpin this dialog.  I have also discussed the fact that there are many conversations going on about your industry and your own products, services and corporation to which you are not even invited. Which means, like being at a cocktail reception, you need to have something valuable to say every time or people will drift off to find another conversation partner.

All this has significant implications for the style in which B2B marketers and communicators approach their audiences. And frankly, not many of the corporations I advise are ready for words like ‘honesty’, ‘openness’ and ‘sharing’! The company propaganda machine is still busily churning out carefully crafted statements and slogans designed to impress and dazzle B2B buyers into making a purchase. Allowing prospects and customers to engage in a more open and frank manner with the company, admitting mistakes or just saying ‘thanks’ for an idea created in a public forum lies far from the typical corporate mindset.

The first to change corporate culture to match rapidly evolving markets were, of course, B2C or B2B+B2C companies. That’s not to say that there are many of them that have gone the whole way to becoming Honest Jim, your regular next-door neighbor in their style. But there is a noticeably greater degree of openness and straight talking in Steve Jobs’ product introductions or the philanthropic participation of Google employees in the good of the communities in which they live.

Many of my (adopted) home country of Denmark’s finest medium-to-large sized companies were born with an engineering background. And while engineers in the R&D department can be so relaxed and open that it has some of my marketing director clients tearing their hair out, once they make it to top management, something seems to change. They get awfully protective of their knowledge and their ‘serious’ corporate image.

The new breed of B2B buyers do care about the cultural attitude displayed by their vendors. And believe me, they will increasingly support companies that show they are able to participate in industry conversations without hiding behind a stiff and lifeless corporate mask.

What does your own company’s culture say to today’s B2B buyers?

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