Reviews.

Can big business be socially responsible? Brand consulting expert Mainwaring certainly thinks so. He believes new technologies aren’t merely making life easier, they’re making us better. In allowing us to connect with each other across geographic, cultural, and language barriers, the Internet and social media might very well be increasing our capacity for empathy. His “We First” ethos proposes cooperation between governments, philanthropies, and capitalist corporations to achieve meaningful social transformation. Social media—viral, boarderless—is the perfect vehicle to promote “contributory consumerism,” and Mainwaring has fascinating suggestions for technological innovation and systemic change. He proposes a “Global Brand Initiative”: an association of corporate brands and their advertising partners and competitors that willingly work together (Coke with Pepsi, Greenpeace with WWF, the U.S. with China) to advance corporate social responsibility and charitable donations. Tall orders, all—but the author’s enthusiasm and evidence make an excellent (and counter-intuitive) case for big business’s ability to make major strides in creating a more equitable world.
Publisher’s Weekly

A prolific blogger and social media consultant uses his online expertise to provide a framework for how businesses, consumers and social media can combine to make a better world. Mainwaring is adamant that business as usual cannot be sustained in this era of corporate greed and a warming planet. The author’s vision for a “We First” society, named after the social media consultancy company he founded, would have businesses take greater steps toward sustainability and social responsibility. In an age of growing interconnectivity, consumers, he writes, are vocal about wanting their purchases to promote social good. Corporations, whether altruistically or otherwise, have caught on and geared their brands to promote these values in order to maintain their consumer base. As a result, the private sector has begun to shift away from self-focused policies to those that include volunteerism, donations and sustainable manufacturing, building community and profits. But when contrasting the $20 billion in corporate donations to the trillions made in profits, plainly a great deal more can and needs to be done. The author offers clearly written and well-informed solutions, and end-of-chapter synopses and an appended reference guide flesh out his vision. A must-read for those who want to understand and engage the power and potential of social media to promote a healthier, more equitable world.
Kirkus Book Reviews

While economists try to patchwork a theory of how capitalism should work, Simon Mainwaring, a brand expert, has looked at our systemic problems squarely and created a remarkable vision for fully functioning capitalism. Harmful externalities are costs that are borne by society at large although created to produce profits for a corporation, such as pollution, health costs, etc. Mainwaring’s thesis is that greater profits for the corporation can be produced by transparency about actual societal costs of their operation and mitigating or incorporating such costs into their financial structure. He gives great examples of consumers voluntarily paying more for such products. He feels that the time is well over for a “me first” approach to profiteering and that a We First approach is good for the economy, the consumer and the overall health of the planet. He also cites examples of corporations who have taken the high road in such matters as CEO compensation, stockholder dividends and external costs and have benefited their profits and the greater society. With the widespread use of social media, the author feels that consumers can now interface with brands to spread the word about corporate responsibility or negligence and so hold corporations accountable for their actions by marketplace activism. This book is very highly recommended reading.
San Francisco Book Review

We First is a terrific read for anyone who follows economics, politics and business.  I promise you that no matter where you stand philosophically, you will find confirmations and challenges to your point of view.  It’s a fantastic book for business book clubs and business students as well.
Small Business Trends

Capitalism as it exists, is not sustainable nor is it engendering the support and action needed for widespread global renewal. As new media transforms the business landscape and redistributes influence within markets, consumers are now in a position to dictate the actions of businesses based not only on buying power, but also what they say and don’t say in online social communities – individually and collectively. Simon Mainwaring’s We First empowers socially conscious consumers to channel their online activity sparking massive social change while also awakening business leaders to earn critical relevance through positive, meaningful transformation. Mainwaring is an inspiring leader in his field 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, Author of Engage

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, “What Would Google Do?

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

Many will buy We First as a business book for a radical new perspective on marketing in the digital age.  But many will find in it even in more important as a social philosophy for a crowded world spinning ever faster, where traditional push marketing is simply not sustainable.  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, Founder, General Creativity and former President of Digital Media OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)

Nearly a century ago, Henry Ford said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” And now Simon Mainwaring explores that idea in depth, asserting that not only should capitalism and social change coexist, but giving examples of how they can.
Scott Monty, Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager, Ford Motor Company

We First explains how capitalism must transform from being an engine just for profit into one that’s driven by purpose. A veteran brand marketer, Simon Mainwaring shows how to use social technologies to create and deepen business relationships, which in turn drive profits. Put meaning back into your business by buying this book. Actually, buy two and give one away to someone who is also yearning to take their business to the next level.
Charlene Li, Author of “Open Leadership” and Founder of Altimeter Group

With his mastery of the branding process and his commitment to corporate responsibility, Simon Mainwaring is the perfect author to chart the path for capitalism’s enlightened self-preservation.

Capitalism and ethical behavior are compatible, but the relationship must become more symbiotic if capitalism is to survive in a world in which consumers are increasingly assertive about their own rights and the greater good. Social networking makes possible an unprecedented level of dialogue between producers and consumers, and producers ignore this conversation at their peril. For their part, consumers will use their buying power as enhanced by these networks to advance personal and societal agendas.

Mainwaring’s book explains the practical aspects of how all this works. As such, We First is a critical resource for corporate leaders and will inspire consumers, individually and collectively, to recognize their inherent strength. A renewed capitalism will be able to not only survive in the 21st century, but also become a stronger, more responsible force for social change. Led by consumers empowered by new media, as envisioned by Mainwaring, corporate responsibility will become far more pervasive. We First is an invaluable blueprint for building this new societal structure we so urgently need.
Philip Seib
Professor of Journalism and Public Diplomacy
Professor of International Relations
Director, Center on Public Diplomacy, Annenberg School
University of Southern California

When customers and companies truly understand the vision in We First, when they realize we have the power to make capitalism work in our favor, when they embrace just how powerful the social media tools are that we already have in our hands, they’ll unleash an almost unlimited capacity to massively change our world. We First is more than a must read – it’s a must do. Buy it, act it, and most importantly – LIVE IT!
Gary Vaynerchuk, Author, ‘Crush It!’

In the most important business book since Freakonomics, Simon Mainwaring’s transformational opus illustrates that doing good and doing well go hand-in-hand for 21st century corporations. A groundbreaking approach to marketing, We First teaches brands how to tap into a world of 600 million friends and billions of daily personal news feeds by making an impact one person at a time.
Jay Samit, CEO SocialVibe & former EVP Sony Corporation of America

To avoid collapse of the natural resources that support the business activities that human beings are so feverishly pursuing, we must move from the Industrial Age to the Sustainability Age. But how will that happen? We First explains how it is already happening in the new alignment between brands and customers that promises a roadmap to living within the natural means of our Planet Earth.
Rick Ridgeway, VP Environmental Initiatives, Patagonia, Inc.

We First lays out a movement that looks to transform corporate America, providing plenty of food for thought for the business leaders of today and tomorrow.
Tony Hsieh, New York Times bestselling author of “Delivering Happiness” and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.

Today like never before the future of companies and brands are in the throes of change. This change is driven by a combination of human experience and learning combined with new technologies and capabilities that are changing the very mindsets of people and deeply impacting their expectations.

In the work that I do for some of the largest firms around the world the key questions that CEO’s, marketers, government authorities and communities ask are the following?

• What is the purpose of a brand and a firm?
• Who is behind this firm, brand and effort?
• Are companies responsive to people and are they transparent?
• Which companies and brands can I trust?
• What do other people, employees, customers and community say about the brands and companies I am dealing with or would like to deal with?
• Is there meaning for a brand and company besides profit maximization?

Marketers, companies and people are realizing that increasingly how one acts is very important. Is one being authentic? Is there a respect and awareness of a greater community? Can we trust you?

Today because of Social Media everyone quickly gets to see the people, the values and the drivers behind a company. Marketers and managers and all folks in leadership positions now need to change and adapt to a new world.

Simon Mainwaring has been at the forefront of these changes both as a practitioner, thinker, early adopter and innovator of how markets and marketing can combine both art and science, profit and greater good as well as commerce and community.

For many of us we look to Simon Mainwaring as he works in this blurring world to guide us.

I am very excited about the prospect of a book that will not only allow us to tap the nearly two decades of wisdom and experience that Simon brings to these topics of the future of commerce and brands and community but also practical tips on making things actually happen.

There are a lot of wise folks and lots of wet under the ears early adopters. Then there is Simon who straddles these worlds and finds ways to connect them. We First is as prescient as it is visionary – a must read for marketers and consumers intent on creating a prosperous future for all.
Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer for VivaKi

Simon Mainwaring’s insights and recommendations about the power of brands and consumers demonstrate how businesses can enhance the triple bottom line – doing good while making a profit and saving our world.
Beth Kanter, Co-founder Zoetica and author of The Networked Non-Profit

We First is more than a call to action, it’s a new imperative. Simon Mainwaring makes a very compelling case for how the combined power of consumers and brands will influence business and bring about a new era of social transformation. We First will show you a path to creating a better world. Buy it today.
Valeria Maltoni, author of Conversation Agent

We First elegantly demonstrates the power of turning me into we by aligning brands and consumers as social collaborators
Peter Guber, Chairman & CEO Mandalay Entertainment

By demonstrating how brands benefit from cause integration, We First lays
out a vital and actionable blueprint for how we can scale social change to
meet global challenges. By tapping into these powerful private sector forces, Mainwaring shows us how we transform capitalism to create a world we all want to live in.
Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast

The evolution of capitalism is putting We First. Mainwaring not only gets this, but helps us understand how to make it happen.
Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-founder B Corporations

This is exactly the book that the world needs right now.  It’s our GPS for reaching the destination we must achieve: an intersection of business and consumerism that drives not just big profits but also greater good.
Katya Andresen, COO Network for Good and author, Robin Hood Marketing

Mainwaring offers an inspiring new vision for today’s broken capitalist model, one that embraces human capital as much as economic. We First does away with the typical fluff-slinging of manifestos and instead offers a practical guide to how brands can do well by doing good, a guide as rooted in socio-cultural insight as it is in a keen understanding of emerging media and technologies – from social networking platforms to location-based mobile applications. Mainwaring shows, with the rigor of an innovation researcher and the passion of a postmodern philanthropist, that capitalism needs not a revolution but an evolution.
Maria Popova, Editor of Brain Pickings

We First shines an impactful spotlight on the vital importance of weaving socially mindful practices into the DNA of the “for profit “ sector. In today’s interconnected world, the time is now for marketers and consumers to assess their role in creating the greater good.
Blair Cobb, Director, AOL Cause Marketing

It is no secret that our society is being transformed – rapidly, and constantly. Still, most people don’t fully understand exactly what is changing or what specific steps must be taken to survive, let alone thrive, in this new age. Simon Mainwaring understands. He knows that every organization needs to dramatically shift how it operates and communicates.  He knows that individuals want to have a meaningful, measurable impact on the world.  He recognizes that the platforms and channels that have developed over the past few years provide a powerful foundation from which a complete re-imagination of business and philanthropy. Simon Mainwaring has counseled clients throughout his distinguished career on how brands and consumers can work together, fueled by social media, to build a better world. Now, in his extraordinary new book, he offers his insights and guidance to everyone else.  Ignore this book at your own peril.
Brian Reich, SVP and Global Editor, Edelman Digital

Simon Mainwaring puts forth inspiring and provocative ideas on how to transform capitalism into an engine of prosperity. He shows how global brands can become a critical catalyst for creating sustainable capitalism and positive social change.
Dave Hudson, CEO NM Incite, Nielsen & McKinsey

“We First is a remarkable guide for competitors, innovators, and do-gooders in the marketplace and the world.  The future is shaped with the help of ideas in this book.  Check it out.”
Michael P. Davidson, CEO, Gen Next

Mainwaring has written a comprehensive and engaging account of how we can use social media as a jumping off point to effect positive change not only in the world of business but in our communities and globally as well. We First is a must-read for anyone interested in the field of online marketing, consumerism or the simple desire of making the world a better place.
Liz Heller, CEO Buzztone

Simon Mainwaring’s We First redefines how consumer choice is shifting to more complex dimensions…the calculus of how a brand fits the consumer’s rational, emotional, and even spiritual/ethical needs. Simon insightfully posits how these concerns go beyond individual well being, and take on socio-political dimensions. We First recalibrates that equation by asking what is the holistic role a brand plays in one’s life? How do the spending choices a consumer makes enhance their world and, the planet in general. We First shines a light on how greater numbers of consumers are willing to associate or to disassociate with products and services based on a broader set of understandings – namely, the ethical dimensions of a brand and their implications for our collective future.
Tim Sexton, CEO of Sexton Co.