LBB’s April Summers sits down with founder and creative director, Macaela VanderMost, to hear how the team of makers and doers are walking the walk when it comes to all-inclusive creativity

In 2009, Macaela VanderMost came to the realisation that certain things in the industry needed to be done differently. The most successful businesses are those that offer simple solutions to common problems – and Macaela had the Newfangled solution.

The Boston-based creative production agency was founded on Macaela’s belief that there was a “smarter, scrappier, newfangled way to do things.” Over the best part of a decade, she had witnessed numerous over-complicated procedures employed by ad agencies, and was confident that a new and improved, inhouse approach was the refresh the industry needed.

In addition to streamlining the way advertising and marketing content was created, Newfangled set out to raise the bar for inclusive, social-first content. Fiercely advocating for equal opportunities throughout her career, Macaela had always been a proponent of stirring, heartfelt storytelling, and founding her own company presented a chance to push boundaries and evoke real change. The team of creative and strategic specialists possess the expertise and experience required to craft socially relevant narratives in both culturally sensitive and engaging ways, proving it’s not just what you say, but how, where, when and why you say it.

Following The Newfangled North Star

Specialising in digital-native video campaigns, Newfangled offers the in-house capabilities and craft of a production company - filmmakers, designers, editors - along with the vital strategic chops and experience of an ad agency. The multidisciplinary output of the creative production agency sees teams tactically harnessing the power of video to fix clients’ business problems and marketing challenges. The result is high impact content that upholds a refreshing newfound level of authenticity, respect, and inclusivity.

These principles are embedded within Newfangled’s integral belief system. The company branding encompasses a North Star which represents the key values guiding creative pursuits. “We measure everything we do against these four points,” Macaela explains, “The top and the bottom points are the push and pull of business results and creativity. At the top of the North Star is Creativity and Innovation: we are artists, we are craftspeople, and we want to make the coolest stuff possible. But there’s always going to be a push-pull between that and business results for our clients – you can’t just make wild art all the time. The left and the right are what grounds us in our values. Those are the non-negotiables. Respect and inclusion anchor is on the left, and on the right, forward and progress.”

Newfangled’s North Star illustrates their commitment to leveraging the power of modern advertising to combat stereotypes and push society forward. “Respect and inclusion are about how we treat each other internally, but also as it pertains to who we put on the screen, and how we expect our clients to treat us. Inclusion goes beyond just who we cast, but how we tell stories, so as to never perpetuate a harmful stereotype. Progress is about each of us in our careers and wanting to feel like we're moving forward as individuals and artists, as well as a business. Big picture wise: progress is about society and our clients’ contribution to it. How can we push them forward?”

As leader of Newfangled, Macaela resigns all ego - instead placing the emphasis on the collective force of the company as a whole. “I have a deeply held personal belief that it’s important to combat stereotypes with our power as gatekeepers,” she says, “As advertisers, creatives, and marketers, we are the gatekeepers of what people get to see. We have the power to put people on the screen and highlight certain communities. Do we want to drive client outcomes and hit KPIs? Yes, and we’re very good at it. But ultimately, the bigger picture for us is to let that little trans boy or girl see themselves on TV because if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.”

Having grown in tandem with the diverse demands of a metamorphosing industry, the company is dedicated to developing their understanding of the nuances of each and every digital platform, knowing that this dexterity is what helps them deliver the best results. “During the pandemic, social time exceeded streaming time,” says Macaela. “Despite this, a lot of the traditional agencies are stuck in the past, thinking about broadcasting first and then considering the social extensions. "We have flipped the script on that because social media use is hot on the tails of streaming services, and will soon be the king of content."

Macaela and her team know that keeping a close eye on social media platforms - understanding who's using it, how they're interacting with it and why - grants Newfangled a bird’s eye view of the industry and the advertising and marketing opportunities that present themselves within this ever changing landscape. “We are always looking at how ads appear when they show up, so that we can create content that doesn't feel like a giant interruption but, instead, works organically with the user experience. Understanding that it's not about making that 30 second spot vertical and pinging all over social, but about understanding the constantly evolving nuances of every ad unit and every platform.”

The Proof is in the Pudding

The Newfangled approach has been a big hit with clients, as they continue to prove it is not only a smarter and sharper way of engaging audiences, but also presents more authentic storytelling opportunities. Crafting branded content for a smorgasbord of Google products including the Google app, Chrome, Pixel, and YouTube; to creating a ‘brand anthem’ for the latter; to maintaining a longstanding brand partnership with Bank of America and Staples, the agency is doing everything they can to change the face of all-inclusive content on behalf of global brands.

Macaela is proud of the team’s most recent work for Google, noting how the project cultivated their social expertise, propelling their reputation as social strategy experts. “As part of the project we released social playbooks for Google's marketing, working directly with Meta, Snapchat and Tik Tok to create these playbooks to teach Google marketers how to use these platforms," she explains. “Being Google's right hand man as it pertains to paid social and understanding those platforms has been our ticket to success because, now, every client who works with us gets the benefit of that knowledge.”

Another recent project for Newfangled was their work on the Brand Anthem the team created as part of YouTube’s manifesto for the 2022 Cannes International Festival of Creativity. “This work embodies everything that we're about and I’m very proud of it,” Macaela beams as she shares the video link, “The casting is very unexpected and nuanced – it's all real people playing themselves. It’s about how everybody's YouTube is different and how the channel is used to watch what you love. And so we visualised this world of love: if YouTube was a physical place, what would it look like?” The resulting film is a feel good, minute-long spot that manages to encapsulate both the intimate and personal relationship between YouTube and its users, while also encompassing the momentous magic contained in the site’s vast catalogue of content.

Bank of America, one of Newfangled’s longest standing, requires a slightly different approach than fast-moving tech brands like Google and YouTube. Over the years, the creative production agency has partnered with the banking giant to shine a light on important topics ranging from the Special Olympics to teaching Gen Z about investing. “Bank of America has this amazing programme called Support Services where they employ hundreds and hundreds of people with intellectual and physical disabilities. So when they do want to raise awareness of these programmes, we’re brought in to help them do it in a way that doesn’t appear tokenistic,” explains Macaela. “If they want to do something on social media for disabilities, we can also say yes, knowing they are the largest employer of the disabled community in the United States. We make sure that there is substance behind the messaging, and knowing our clients as well as we do, we know what that substance is and help highlight these important causes.”

The progressive nature ingrained within Newfangled’s North Star is evident across their body of work, proving it is an intrinsic aspect of the company, as opposed to virtue signalling. Paired with their advanced understanding of campaign requirements, social media platforms and advertising expenditure, this team approaches every project armed with a fresh perspective and plenty of ideas. “Advertisers' budgets are flipping. They are looking to create high content campaigns where you might need 100 or 200 assets to be able to launch your campaign for a client like Google or Twitter. Newfangled is able to because we're nimble and we do everything in house,” Macaela states proudly. “Our clients are finding very great measurable success with digital and social campaigns that they're doing with us which is proof of our immense capabilities.”

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This article was originally published on Little Black Book and can be seen here.