Faris Yakob, Author at MediaCat

Faris Yakob

Author and Co-Founder, Genius Steals

Faris Yakob is the co-founder (with his wife Rosie) of the nomadic creative consultancy Genius Steals and the online learning community The School of Stolen Genius. They have been working with brands, agencies of all disciplines and sizes, media companies and conferences around the world for the last decade, delivering keynotes, workshops, training and brand and business consulting.Their newsletter, Strands of [Stolen] Genius, was named one of the ‘7 Essential Reads for the Curious Creative’ by Hubspot and one of the top community resources for strategists in the world by the Planning Survey.Previously, he was Chief Innovation Officer of MDC Partners, Chief Digital Officer of McCann Erickson (NYC) and spent many years at pioneering communication strategy agency Naked, in London, Sydney and NYC. While in agencies, he won (as both a strategist and a creative director) and judged numerous awards, including the Effies, One Show, ADC, Clios and LIAs.Faris Yakob is the author Paid Attention: Innovative Advertising for a Digital World which was published in an updated second edition by Kogan Page in 2021 and is a contributing author to Creative Superpowers: Equip Yourself For The Age of Creativity, & Eat Your Greens: Fact Based Thinking to Improve Your Brand’s Health.

ALL ARTICLES

A funny thing happened on the way to a Netflix show

'Satire has been in a tough spot conceptually since about 2016'... 06.03.2024

The balance of brands

Musings on strategy, balance, and the equilibria of 'correct' decisions... 13.09.2023

Survival of the ‘Fit for Purpose’

An economy built around efficiency is, by definition, not resilient... 09.08.2023

Legacy is a penis word

Part of the stain of patriarchy is the elision of women’s contribution to advertising... 12.05.2023

Optimism is a necessary delusion

'A brighter future can’t be built entirely in the fantasies of the past', writes Faris... 13.02.2023

How to develop risk competence

From Berlin playgrounds to edgy fashion brands, this month Faris Yakob writes about managing risk... 12.12.2022

The detour becomes the path

'There's a great sense of freedom to indulging in a side quest, flipping the bird to the culture of ... 22.11.2022

The age of wisdom

By way of Aristotle, Socrates and others, author Faris Yakob muses on the concepts of age and wisdom... 17.10.2022

Path of the rogue

Scoundrels use their power opportunistically, whereas rogues challenge the status quo, writes Faris ... 04.10.2022

Tribal gatherings

As internet culture becomes dominant and technology atomises us, where do we find our tribes?... 13.09.2022

Blurred lives

We might be different around different people but for brands, identity must be consistent, says Fari... 01.09.2022

Paul Feldwick and Faris Yakob on the nature of fame and attention

We ask authors Paul and Faris how important fame is today and then watch their brains work... 16.06.2022

Face the strange

Genius Steals' Faris Yakob says it's hard to face the strange... clients say 'give me something that... 12.05.2022

Protopian Advertising

Genius Steals' Faris Yakob says it's neither utopia nor dystopia we're moving towards, but a protopi... 13.04.2022

Changing, fast and slow

In an industry that operates on one of the fastest moving cultural planes, proper structural change ... 22.03.2022

Why traditional media is still so important in a digital world

Time to call ‘do not resuscitate’ on your website? Try composable

Why cinema continues to be a smash hit with brands

Demystifying dynamic creative optimisation in prDOOH

UK’s ad market reached £36.6bn in 2023, with spending increasing 6.1%

Google postpones third-party cookie phase out to 2025

Science In Sport launch ‘You can’t beat science’ with M&C Saatchi

Meta’s AI-focused Marketing Summit to take place on 24 April

Comedy, tragedy and the science of humour, with Paddy Gilmore

Claire Atkin on the disinformation economy

I’m a copywriter… get me out of here! With Glenn Fisher

Rani Patel on truth and lies, Gen Z, trust and transparency

Why traditional media is still so important in a digital world

A love letter to OOH and the people behind the posters

What brands can learn from cosy games

Media planning: the art of not annoying your audience

Faris Yakob

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