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

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In the not too distant future static corporate websites will be replaced by their social equivalents. This will happen because more and more consumers are engaged in daily conversations, often involving brands, across multiple applications, platforms and networks, wholly independent of these sites. As these conversations become increasingly independent of these sites, falling traffic will […]

In the not too distant future static corporate websites will be replaced by their social equivalents. This will happen because more and more consumers are engaged in daily conversations, often involving brands, across multiple applications, platforms and networks, wholly independent of these sites. As these conversations become increasingly independent of these sites, falling traffic will …

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This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jay Samit, CEO of SocialVibe, a cause-focused advertising platform that connects consumers with brands to drive social contribution. What’s so refreshing is they only ask consumers to direct their attention towards a brand’s advertising and that brand then contributes to a cause of the consumer …

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This has been a transitional year, partly spent recovering from the trauma of the Great Recession and partly spent adjusting to shifts in power in the marketing industry. Everyone from brands and advertising agencies to their employees have been reeling from one change after another. One of the many unsettling aspects was the rise of …

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As traditional and social media duke it out for the leadership role in commanding consumer attention, it’s worthwhile to highlight some of the undeniable benefits of social media. Here are ten that quickly come to mind. 1. Cost: There are almost no barriers to entry in creating or distributing social media content. Or put another …

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In 1964, Marshal McLuhan made the famous statement: “The medium is the message”. More recently, Stowe Boyd stated, “Meaning is the new search.” I would like to add something to this trajectory of thought: Meaning is media. We are all now capable of being content producers. As a result, the traditional distinction between media silos …

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So often we hear that a brand wants to go social – that is, to be organically shareable, a hub for substantive conversations around mutual concerns and values, a place where customers return as a focal point in their lives. Yet in my experience that often isn’t possible because a brand hasn’t done the basics, …

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