Book: We First: How Brands & Consumers Use Social Media To Build A Better World

Simon Mainwaring’s new book,  We First, launches this week.    It is a book about how connectedness through social networks can help satisfy the needs of business bottom line and a healthy, sustainable planet.     The book offers a new marketplace model that is not drive by “me first” corporate greed, but how corporations can leverage social media to build a better world and earn consumer goodwill and loyalty.
Simon isn’t the first to suggest that capitalism has lost its way and needs a serious makeover.    His goal is inspire discussion and ultimately change.    The book has many case studies that illustrate how corporations are integrating social media for social good.  These include:  Proctor & Gamble, Walmart, Starbucks, Toyota, Nike, and more. The book offers lots of food for thought and discussion.
It’s already in the top 100 books over at Amazon.
I liked the chapter about instilling “We First” values into capitalism.  It resonated.  Here’s the list:
Sustainability: This is about reducing degradation of the planet’s condition and to seek renewable sources of energy that do not contribute to greenhouse gases, and to seek out methods that reduce waste and reuse resources.    He also applies the concept of sustainability to protect human capital.
Fairness of Reward: This value encompasses the wide range of incentives companies give to their suppliers, employees, and investors.     This value encompasses the spirit of fair trade and transparency.
Fiscal Responsibility: In the book, this term is not used an accounting term.  It refers to a corporation’s responsibility to shoulder the impact they have on the economy.      He describes the use of a “flash mob” going to a shareholder’s meeting and demanding a claw-back for ill-gotten bonuses.
Accountability: This is about trust and the importance it has assumed as the new social currency for businesses.    It also includes transparency – that corporations must operate with honesty, credibility, and congruency between their words and deeds.
Purposefulness: This is a demand that businesses do more than build wealth – that the bottom line adds purpose and meaning to life.   Mainwaring suggests a “purposefulness” index.
Engagement: This is about having brands be in dialogue with consumers.
Global Citizenry: As technology is increasingly connecting us, it makes everyone aware of our interconnectedness.    We can no longer ignore what is happening in our world – and that we must act as global citizens.
This section ends with an inspiring quote from Winston Churchill:
“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”