Strands of Genius: Spot the Winners, Being Tested, Religion & Mental Health
Plus: a whole cannes of puns
Strands of Genius is a newsletter from the co-founders of Genius Steals, Faris & Rosie Yakob. They are award-winning strategists, facilitators, creative directors, writers and public speakers who get excited about working with smart people on interesting challenges. You should probably go ahead and hit reply so we can collaborate on something together :)
:: THE UPDATE ::
We made it back to England to see family and friends and rehearse and prepare for the Cannesstravaganza (let’s see how many puns we cannes squeeze into this. Groan all you want but cannes you stop us….no cannes do).
We had a proper gathering at Faris’ dad’s on Saturday, with a BBQ feast Rosie spent the day prepping (Cannes you say “hostess with the mostest”?). Highlights included a spicy bean dip with just the right kick, marmite cheddar sausage rolls from both Rosie and Matt, plus krauts and slaws that slayed. Everyone brought a Cannes-do attitude — especially the kids, who truly stole the show.
In all honesty, we’re equal parts thrilled and mildly terrified for Cannes. Not about our talks (those we’ve got covered), but about having the stamina for six full days of back-to-back networking. Our calendar already looks like it needs a nap. But we’re game to find out whether Cannes delivers — is the juice worth the squeeze? Is it the Croisette or the cross to bear? Guess we’ll find out soon.
:: JOIN US AT CANNES ::
We’re taking over the LWS Apartment to provide folks at Cannes with a creative reset and strategic provocation. Just a 5-minute wander from La Croisette, you can step off the main drag and into something a little more… unexpected.
Drawing Conclusions is a drop-in experience designed to shake up how you think — and how you see. No panels. No slides. No pressure to perform. Just a series of curious prompts, paper, pencils, and playful perspective shifts.
It’s about:
Getting out of your head
Breaking from the polished and performative
Reconnecting with your instinct and imagination
There will be light provocations. Creative constraints. Maybe a little surprise. Definitely wine. Come for five minutes or stay for fifty. Leave with a sketch, a spark, and a story worth stealing.
Note: We can only accommodate a smaller group, so please don’t register your interest unless you are excited about being there and have availability in your schedule :)
:: THE LINKS ::
HOW TO SPOT THE BIG WINNERS
The award shows are a system of rules with big stakes and vested interests but even beyond that there are ways you can succesfully guess what will clean up this year and in general…one method is to use a crowd sourced creativity ladder from your distributed and plugged in agency staff - “Every year since 1988, the 85 global offices of Leo Burnett collectively predict the winners of the Cannes Lions Awards” … the other? “Leo usually announces their predictions a couple of weeks before the awards but I am about to equip you with the insight needed to get a similar predictive performance.” [Warc]
CANNES YOU TEST ADVERTISING?
Forgive us the linguistic and link-istic indulgence but there is an ongoing debate about how we can do copy research - now erroneously called ‘testing ads’, via panel, group, AI and so on. The answer is both yes and mostly no, but the thinking behind how and why advertising works must keep evolving, even if we seem to forget the lessons from before. “Hedges’ point was that claiming to ‘test’ advertising without actually running it was misleading because the world is complex and inherently unpredictable. He considers the only acceptable use of research during the creative development process to be ‘illumination’ about consumers through qualitative feedback for creatives to consider and despairs of the use of “numbers-based testing services”. [Warc]
IS RELIGION GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?
New research challenges a long-held assumption: that regular religious attendance improves mental well-being. A sweeping 18-year UK study found little evidence to support the idea—suggesting that community and routine alone aren’t magic bullets for mental health. For marketers and brand builders, it’s a reminder that identity, meaning, and belonging are complex—and not all rituals deliver the emotional ROI we expect. Whether you’re designing for consumers or communities, surface-level symbols aren’t enough; it’s the quality of connection (and alignment between brands and consumers) that matters most.
:: STEAL THIS REPORT ::
Since we are playing with AI - and audiences - while trying to avoid kicking the cannes down the road - perhaps this cannes ‘start some conversations’
Brought to you by the Dacre agency:
“Creativity and AI. These are the two most disputed words of modern marketing. The man vs the machine. The real and the artificial. The artist and the technician -
Good luck everyone!
This week, we’re writing to you from Worcester Park, UK. We’re especially thankful for:
Daddio&Janka, Kamal, everyone that made the trek down here [so much], the ever-better English weather [ahem, cough], Elderflower & Rosie cordial, leftover meals, health club, kindness, all the cannesvitations, puns, and YOU!
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know. You can hit reply to this email if you’ve got anything to say, and we’ll endeavor to get back to you promptly!
rockON,
faris & rosie | your friends over at geniussteals.co
(still want more? @farisyakob.com is on Bluesky sometimes while @rosieyakob prefers instagram stories)
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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. We have a distributed team ourselves, an 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 :)