Aussie expat creative Simon Mainwaring’s first book ‘We First’ – How brands and consumers use social media to build a better world – a bestseller
Former DDB Sydney creative Simon Mainwaring (pictured), who is now living in Los Angeles, is an award-winning branding consultant, bestselling author, influential blogger and international speaker.
He is the founder of We First, a social branding consultancy committed to helping brands build communities, profit and positive impact.
Mainwaring’s first book, We First: How brands and consumers use social media to build a better world (Palgrave Macmillan), released earlier this year, is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller.
He has been featured in Advertising Age, Adweek, Huffington Post, Inc Magazine, Fast Company, GOOD Magazine, Mashable, Contagious, Public Diplomacy, Corporate Responsibility and CSRwire as well as appearing on the Business News Network, CBS, CBC, BNet and Harpo Radio.
He is a member of the General Mills Digital Advisory Board, the Sustainable Brands Advisory Board, the AdAge Power150, and the Advisory Board of the Center for Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School. He is an Expert Blogger for Fast Company as well as contributing to Forbes, Huffington Post, Mashable, and GOOD Magazine.
He is a sought after international speaker with engagements including the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Royal Society of Arts, SXSW, TEDxSF, the National Speakers Association, and brands such as General Motors, MUJI, Gucci, and Patagonia.
Prior to starting We First, Mainwaring was at Wieden & Kennedy, Portland working on Nike and worldwide creative director for Motorola at Ogilvy as well as consulting on dozens of Fortune 500 brands and for leading advertising, production, digital and social media firms.
He has received over sixty international creative awards at the Cannes Advertising Festival, the One Show (U.S.), the Kelly Awards (U.S) and the British Design & Art Direction Awards, among others.
In WE FIRST Mainwaring explains why we now have more power than ever before to transform our economic system to put market forces to work for a better and more contributory “We First” world.
The rise of social media means consumers now have unprecedented power to steer brands toward serving the world at large instead of only their own profits.
Mainwaring wondered if this shift in power could unlock a solution for social transformation that was never possible before. He asked how could capitalism creatively put market forces to work for a better world? How might corporations re-imagine their role in a way that balanced their necessary self-interest in profit with the need to massively increase the efforts and resources dedicated to global social transformation? And how could such a vision not only undo the damage done in the past, but also remake business into a sustainable engine of progress?
The result is a blueprint for a self-sustaining, more contributory We First economy that we all can play a role in creating whether we’re consumers, business executives, or investors.
Examining both economic failures and solutions, Mainwaring takes us from the unsustainable economies of Easter Island and Haiti to the very latest innovations of smart cash registers, smartphone apps, mobile shopping experiences and online games that contribute millions of dollars to social causes. He also shows how We First principles are being embraced today by small companies like Dancing Deer Baking Company and Guayaki Yerba Mate and Fortune 500 companies like Pepsi, Unilever, Patagonia, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart.
Companies like these are already beginning to transform the typical consumer transaction into “contributory consumption”, in which every purchase generates a contribution to help address global problems. Selling, buying, and contributing become fundamentally intertwined into one process, transforming the fundamental nature of commerce into a motor for global progress. This represents a fundamental shift in capitalism’s purpose and a systemic shift that integrates contribution within consumption. Retail becomes “Wetail”. And profit becomes purpose.
Raves for ‘We First’:
Few understand the power of brands and consumers better than Simon Mainwaring. In We First he presents a truly compelling vision of how to transform that power to the benefit of society and the good of capitalism.
– Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do? & New Media columnist for The Guardian
Simon Mainwaring has a deep and powerful understanding of social media and presents great opportunities to use it for real change. In We First, his approach inspires and empowers both brands and consumers alike with innovative solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing our world.
– Scott Harrison, Founder of charity: water
Mainwaring is an inspiring leader that truly understands the dynamics in play in the new world of business, online consumer behavior, and how they can collaborate to rethink and rework paths to true global renewal.
– Brian Solis, Principal Altimeter Group & award-winning author of Engage
We First is a critical resource for corporate leaders and will inspire consumers, individually and collectively, to recognize their inherent strength. It is an invaluable blueprint for building this new societal structure we so urgently need.
– Philip Seib, Professor & Director, Center on Public Diplomacy, Annenberg School, USC
Simon Mainwaring is the new master of the ‘three wins’ – for your company, for you customers and for the planet. He shows us clearly that companies that mean more actually make more, turning customers into their most important evangelists. Today, values count as much as value, and Simon shows us how to find, foster and share the best of both.
– Steve Hayden, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide
Brand promises must be backed up by credible action or they are rendered meaningless in today’s social-media dialog. Today’s consumer has the power to hold brands accountable. Simon Mainwaring’s We First is the ultimate how-to guide for 21st century brand building.
– Robert Tercek, former President of Digital Media OWN
The author’s enthusiasm and evidence make an excellent (and counterintuitive) case for big business’s ability to make major strides in creating a more equitable world.
– Publisher’s Weekly
More information on We First
12 Comments
Simon is everything that many local gurus think themselves to be.
What. A. Wank. Social media is just this years cool thing, the other year it was apps, before that it was UGC ( user generated content ) … get that paper while you can this fad will just take a place in the list of deliverables like everything else in the brief.
3.15 Where’s your book you twat?
Good on Simon for timing it right.
3.15 I’m afraid you’re absolutely correct about how fast things are moving. Seems to be everyone can see that except the digital specialists (not all of them – just the ones who think technology is the idea).
Goodness, he’s all grown up!
Agree with Anonymous.
His work could have been generated by a buzzword app.
Social media. Crowdsourcing. Brands That Do Good.
It’s impossible to extract meaning from his speeches or writings amongst the deluge of ‘right-now’ cliches.
3.15 your arrogance is astounding. You think advertising is bigger than social media. And that social media revolves around advertising. Bahahaha.
2/3rds of the economy is driven by personal recommendation. Always has been, always will be. Social media has just helped changed the format of that personal recommendation.
Bahahaha. Sorry, I’m still laughing at your comment.
Facebook is one of the largest privately owned companies in the world. Not one ad ran to encourage people to join. 750 million active users and it was all word of mouth mother fucker.
The physical retail space is failing. People know they can get a way better deal online. (I’ll never pay $100+ for a t-shirt ever again.)
The world has changed my friend. Spend your time working out how to harness it buddy. If you do, you’ll be a very rich and powerful man. That’s what Simon is doing.
Good luck Simon.
Simon’s a talented creative and a super-nice bloke. Good to see good people succeed in this nasty business.
Simon, congratulations.
Long may your success continue, it is abundantly deserved.
Hey 3.15! Your writing blog comments, Simon’s writing books.
You’re kinda on the back foot there big guy.
With that level of literacy 4:28, I guess you won’t be writing books any time soon. A good short quip, nevertheless.
Good on you Simon , great to see you doing so well. Berry Street must seem a long, long time ago!