Simon Mainwaring

We First provides consulting and training to help companies tell the story of their good work in ways that build their business

Advertising

by

As the business marketplace continues to integrate social technology, it’s tempting to say that the arrival of social media is as revolutionary as the digital revolution was ten years ago. It’s also tempting to think that social media agencies will rob traditional media companies, whether they are advertising agencies or PR firms, of a large […]

As the business marketplace continues to integrate social technology, it’s tempting to say that the arrival of social media is as revolutionary as the digital revolution was ten years ago. It’s also tempting to think that social media agencies will rob traditional media companies, whether they are advertising agencies or PR firms, of a large …

Read More

by

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7I6Q3IbHac Last week at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas,  I had the pleasure of meeting Blair Cobb, the Director of AOL Cause Marketing. Their new AOL365 program is exactly the type of for-profit and non-profit partnership that I describe in We First as a critical path to a more sustainable and prosperous future. Blair …

Read More

by

I sat in on the SXSW panel entitled ‘Do ad agencies need to think like software companies?’ This topic could not be more timely as brands and ad agencies find themselves increasingly caught in the squeeze between storytelling and technology demands. On the panel were Allison Mooney (Google), Ben Malbon (Google), Matt Galligan (SimpleGEO), Rick …

Read More

by

Social media is easily mistaken as an end in itself rather than yet another tool in our arsenal to connect emotionally around shared values through powerful storytelling. When it comes to effective storytelling, there is probably no better expert than Peter Guber. Peter has written a book called Tell to Win that lays out the …

Read More

by

Much has been written about Groupon’s PR missteps at the Superbowl over the last two days. Their three ads (representing a $3 million ad buy) poked fun at celebrity-endorsed PSAs for endangered whales, the Brazilian rainforest, and Tibet. The ads were variously described as in bad taste or simply poor communications because they failed to mention that Groupon …

Read More

by

The New York Times featured an article this week on Barnes & Noble’s use of a special iPhone app that allowed Brooklyn Decker, Esquire’s sexiest woman alive, to appear in the store aisles. Ms. Decker wasn’t actually there but by using GPS technology developed by GoldRun customers could see her in various poses in over …

Read More