Strands of Genius: Droga on Advertising, The Frequency of Memory, Nate Bargatze is Great
Plus: forgetting curves
WRITING FROM | Nashville
WORKING ON | recovering from our COVID shots - wowza it’s rough!
LOOKING AHEAD
Nov 4-Nov 12 | Nashville, TN
Nov 12-23 | Chattanooga, TN
Nov 24-Dec 5 | Isla Mujeres, MX
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
We have bounced back into Nashville for a brief stint and have the usual six months worth of life admin to sort out, alongside some other family business. As always landing back on this side of the world from a long time on the road is both shocking and familiar. It’s wonderful to see family and friends. Treasure your loved ones, don’t eat too much news, and make sure you drink some water.
In case you missed the news, Rosie will be joining our friend Mark Pollard for The Sweathead Do-Together 2023, tomorrow! The theme is ‘Irreplaceable’ and you can find out more/purchase tickets here.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Alicia, a life that ended entirely too soon, Big Moms, Scooter&T, Judy, Lillian, Jason, Simon, Porter, Vera, Mandy & Steven, Susie, Susan, Dan&Asad, Jared&Ben, Colin&Morgan, Ali&Chris,Morgan&Colin, Hank, Archer, Rachel&Mike, & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
DROGA ON ADVERTISING
Legendary (and world’s most awarded) creative, creative director and now CEO of “the world’s largest creative technology company” gives a no hold’s barred interview to Australia’s Financial Review. He is rather scathing about his former (?) industry. “The world sees marketing as just the attention side of things, shouting and disruption. And what doesn’t help is the majority of marketing is shit. I mean, it really is, let’s be honest. The death of our industry was the lazy and formulaic nature of what we did.” Fun stuff but let’s not forget that #EverythingisPR, especially this, targeting business decisions makers via the financial press as opposed to adfolk in the trades and disparaging his competitors. (Australian Financial Review)
THE FREQUENCY OF MEMORY
New column from Faris looks at what we can learn about memory formations from the best trivia contestant in the world. Memory decays in a predictable way according to canonical research and spaced repetition works to build them. “Building memories requires repetition, whereas refreshing them is easier, which is why advertising is always more effective for brands people already know, argues Faris Yakob, in an exploration of the research around memory structures and why ads should typically run for much longer than they do.” (WARC)
WASHINGTON’S WEIGHTS AND MEASURE
Guest hosting SNL has brought the wonderful Tennessean stand up comedian Nate Bargatze to a wider audience and that is good for everyone. This bit on Washington’s Dream is typically deadpan hilarious. Check out his specials there are a bunch of them on Netlflix and one on Amazon Prime.
“What followed was an extended riff on the U.S.’s choice to abandon the metric system—and, by extension, a parody of the American vision of liberty. “I dream that one day our proud nation will measure weights in pounds, and that 2,000 pounds shall be called a ‘ton,’” Washington said. When a soldier played by Bowen Yang asked, “And what will 1,000 pounds be called, sir?” Bargatze deadpanned, “Nothing.” (The Atlantic)
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:: FORGETTING CURVES ::
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)