We First. The book.

What is We First?

We First is a new way of looking at the world authored by Simon Mainwaring. It’s a personal and professional response to a sea of fears that surround us everyday. Some of those fears are about the state of the world, including:

• The U.S. economy is in trouble and it’s not getting better.
• The middle class in America is shrinking as people continue to lose their homes, jobs and hopes for the future.
• Millions of people, including children, die needlessly in the Third World every day.
• It doesn’t seem like government and philanthropy alone can fix it.

Other fears are about the changing business world and the impact of technology, including:

• How do we use social media and make money from it?
• Technology is changing so fast. How do we keep up with it?
• How will our businesses survive when technology is changing everything so quickly?
• How do we fix our businesses so it stays relevant and profitable?

These two sets of fears might sound unrelated, but they’re not. Social media connects us in ways that can build businesses and a better world.
It can unite brands and consumers in a partnership that won’t just fix problems from the past but build a brighter future. It can help big companies and consumers ease the suffering of those on the other side of the world simply by buying and selling our normal wants and needs.

Why I wrote We First?

I was inspired to write We First for several reasons. As a father, I had reached an age when I started thinking about the world I would leave behind for my children. As a marketing professional, I was intrigued by how new social media technology would change the industry and our world. As an individual I was struggling to find a purpose to my own life.

It was then I read a transcript of a speech Bill Gates gave to the World Economic Forum in 2008. In this speech he challenged the private sector to think of new ways to help the less fortunate because governments and philanthropies can’t do it alone. I was intrigued by the irony of the world’s richest man now being its greatest philanthropist. I felt a responsibility to work on an answer.

Obviously this was a challenging task. I had to learn all I could about emerging technology. I had to understand not just the social crises we face and their causes, but what efforts were being made and why they were insufficient. I had to think my way through the delicate balance between the necessary self-interest of corporations and competing self-interests of consumers that want a better world. I had to come to a conclusion that was practical, actionable and served the different interests of all.

After two years of research, We First is the result. It presents a new vision for the practice of capitalism in which brands and consumers partner using social media to create a sustainable pillar of social change. It very consciously lays out why business leaders and consumers must reframe the way they think about their lives in order to avoid the destructive effects of Me First behavior that led to the global economic meltdown in 2008 and the humanitarian crises around the world.

Questions We First Answers

As I wrote We First I realized that social media technology is a great cause for optimism, especially as social networks continue to grow and the web itself becomes increasingly social.
So with the goal of a sustainable practice of capitalism in mind, We First lays out a very practical, step-by-step plan for brands and consumers that explains the following:

1. How do we shift our thinking and behavior to better serve the interests of others and ourselves?
2. Why should brands and consumers work together and how do they do it?
3. How can companies make money from social media by building communities that increase profits?
4. How can consumers think and act in ways that is good for them and the planet?
5. How do we buy and sell to build a better world for our kids?
6. How do we build a system that creates sustainable change?

The answers to these questions are both an exciting opportunity and important responsibility. We can make things better and it can start right now. Pre-order your copy of We First to find out the role you can play and the benefits all of us enjoy.

Table of Contents

Prologue
Chapter 1: Transforming the Engine of Capitalism
Chapter 2: Redefining Self-Interest from Me First to We First
Chapter 3: The Future of Profit is Purpose
Chapter 4: Creating Sustainable Capitalism in Five Ways
Chapter 5: Instilling We First Values into Capitalism
Chapter 6: Why the World Needs a Responsible Private Sector
Chapter 7: How Brands Build Their Business and a Better World
Chapter 8: How Consumers Build Responsible Brands and a Better World
Chapter 9: How Contributory Consumption Creates Sustainable Social Change
Chapter 10: The Global Brand Initiative: The Future of the Private Sector
Epilogue