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

 
June 9, 2009

Top ten things brands forget in their rush to Social Media.

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1. BE HUMAN No matter what you say, or where you say it, people won’t hear you unless they can see themselves in your brand. So speak from a human truth. It can be funny, thoughtful, serious or stupid. That’s how people really are. If you don’t, you and your potential customer might as well […]

1. BE HUMAN No matter what you say, or where you say it, people won’t hear you unless they can see themselves in your brand. So speak from a human truth. It can be funny, thoughtful, serious or stupid. That’s how people really are. If you don’t, you and your potential customer might as well …

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June 2, 2009

‘Powers of Ten’ for the Twitterverse

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Social media is revolutionizing our lives as individuals and as marketers. In the last year, Facebook exploded globally and Twitter grew by a staggering 1382%. Last week Google launched the ‘Wave’, a new in-browser collaboration tool, ushering in the era of real time, aggregated communication. Leading corporate brands are responding. The list of Fortune 500 …

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May 22, 2009

A Master Class in Brand Building from the Big Kids at Lego

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Lego isn’t just undergoing a revival, it’s a born-again cult in the making. But they haven’t changed, it’s the same old stuff, there’s no whiz-bang technology, right? Lego is doing three things brilliantly. Connecting emotionally with their audience, re-establishing relevance, and selling their fundamental proposition – the power of joyful imagination. Here’s how: 1. They …

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May 16, 2009

The Future of Social Media (a.k.a. “Leave me the heck alone!”)

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‘Social Media’ and ‘The Future’ are two phrases that really shouldn’t go together unless you want to set yourself up for failure. Technological change is simply too fast and organic to be predictable. That said, here’s a stab at tomorrow and, maybe, the day after… Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed (sorry MySpace) are in a dead …

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May 7, 2009

Using social media to shoot an Iraqi

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Wafaa Bilal, NYU professor, Iraqi and performance artist, got famous by locking himself in a small, Chicago gallery with an automated paintball gun pointed right at him. The gun was hooked up to the Internet, and viewers at the gallery and online could shoot him with yellow paint balls from point blank range at any …

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