← DictionaryDemand Generation
also called demand gen
Creating awareness and interest so people want the category and the offer.
Making people want it before you ask for the sale.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Demand Generation lives under Marketing — Demand. In practice it means this: creating awareness and interest so people want the category and the offer.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
You will usually meet Demand Generation in campaign planning, channel choices and the reporting that follows them. It is usually discussed together with Lead Generation, Top of Funnel and Content Marketing. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Demand Generation is cheap to get right early and awkward to fix late. When it is unclear, spend keeps moving but nobody can say what it bought. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a way of thinking, not a thing you can hold. Making people want it before you ask for the sale.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Demand Generation as shorthand and expect no explanation — creating awareness and interest so people want the category and the offer.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: making people want it before you ask for the sale.
The Bottom Line
Keep Demand Generation plain: making people want it before you ask for the sale. That is the version that holds up in a real project.