Simon Mainwaring

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

Posts

 
March 10, 2011

SXSW: Where social conversations drive innovation

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I’ll be at SXSW starting tomorrow and I’m excited for several reasons. Firstly, there are so many great presenters doing interesting presentations plus you get to physically meet a lot of people you only know through Twitter and Facebook. Yet equally important is a collision of thinking and conversations that are essential for new ideas […]

I’ll be at SXSW starting tomorrow and I’m excited for several reasons. Firstly, there are so many great presenters doing interesting presentations plus you get to physically meet a lot of people you only know through Twitter and Facebook. Yet equally important is a collision of thinking and conversations that are essential for new ideas …

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March 9, 2011

Thank You Economy: How brands re-humanize themselves to build communities

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This week I wanted to share Gary Vaynerchuck’s new book, Thank You Economy. In my mind, Gary’s book stands out for one important reason. When most brands consider engaging their customers using social media, they look to case studies and metrics to ensure the return on their investment will be worthwhile. Understandable, of course. Yet the …

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March 6, 2011

A new social contract between brands and consumers

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Many academics, authors and bloggers are taking a hard look at the practice of capitalism with a view to a more sustainable future that ensures prosperity for more people both here in the United States and around the developing world. This necessarily involves an examination of the private sector and the relationship between brands and …

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March 4, 2011

Why brands that do good must also do it well

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More brands are waking up to their social responsibility and doing good work through cause marketing campaigns. Yet too many still go about it the wrong way. I mean ‘wrong’ in two senses.  Firstly, they are marketing ineffectively, and secondly, as a consequence their positive social impact is not maximized. Let me explain. There is …

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March 1, 2011

Tell to Win: Purposeful storytelling for social media success

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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 …

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February 28, 2011

The We First community: Where social technology meets social change

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The We First concept refers to the intimately connected global community that we now live in. But it also refers to a community of  brands, cause-marketers, social entrepreneurs and regular people all around the world who have individually committed to driving social change. Every individual effort deserves to be celebrated because each serves as a permission …

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