Simon Mainwaring

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

Brands

by

These are fighting words, especially from an ad guy such as myself, but I see several reasons to argue the case. 1. CONSUMER GENERATED CONTENT HAS EARNED RESPECT: Last week the New York Times contained a provocative piece noting that the most popular Super Bowl ad was created by consumers (Doritos). This is just one, […]

These are fighting words, especially from an ad guy such as myself, but I see several reasons to argue the case. 1. CONSUMER GENERATED CONTENT HAS EARNED RESPECT: Last week the New York Times contained a provocative piece noting that the most popular Super Bowl ad was created by consumers (Doritos). This is just one, …

Read More

by

For a long time advertising has operated on a conceit that brands and consumers were in dialogue when, in truth, brands were dictating consumer behavior, pushing messaging on the public and often exploiting their trust or gullibility. Phrases such as “We’re here to help you”, “We put you first” and notions like customer-centric companies sounded …

Read More

by

Ordinarily I wouldn’t write about this sort of thing as it’s so close to home but it’s such a wonderful example of how a brand can use service to its advantage. At Christmas I went home to Australia to visit my family. At LAX, my daughter was wandering through a store while waiting to board …

Read More

by

Steve Jobs didn’t just launch the latest ‘must have’ consumer accessory last week. He unleashed the latest assault on everything we thought we knew as marketers. Faris Yacob responded the iPad launch with a great post about its impact on languaging. Appropriately entitled ‘The Medium Isn’t the Message’, he questioned – to paraphrase him – …

Read More

by

Social media has done more than connect consumers in ways never imagined before. It has done more than challenge brands that traditionally communicate with consumers by dictating behavior in a “push” rather than “pull” strategy. Social media has also redefined the short and long-term roles of advertising agencies. Here’s why. Traditionally brands have broadcast their …

Read More

by

I really appreciated the fantastic feedback on this week’s post about The Death of Corporate Websites. Lo and behold, last night I spy a quote (thanks, Frank Reed) from Anne Carelli, Digital Marketing Manager for Coke saying: “Several years ago, Coke realized that Coke.com is not their home page – it is Google.com, digg.com and …

Read More