This article was originally posted on Little Black Book here.

New year, same Newfangled Studios North Star. Famous for maintaining a fixed point in our sky, the idea of the North Star is what served as the inspiration for the creative production agency’s mission-driven approach, which was crystallised one year ago with the launch of its very own North Star.

[Above: Newfangled Studios North Star Film that launched in 2023]

The Newfangled Studios North Star Explained

[Above: VanderMost speaking at DashBash ‘23 about the four points of her company’s North Star]

“Throughout our 15 years as a creative agency, we’ve always valued the ideas that now anchor the four points of our North Star - Creativity & Innovation, Business Results, Respect & Inclusion, and Forward Progress, but something really powerful happens when you take the time to truly define a mission and vision for your organisation,” said Macaela VanderMost, founder and executive creative director at Newfangled Studios. “Now one year later, we’re using our North Star to influence business decisions on a daily basis which has helped us be more intentional about the creative projects we take on as a company and how we go about executing them for our client partners.”

Putting It Into Practice

2023 was a successful year for Newfangled Studios as the agency strengthened relationships with its anchor clients, while also developing new partners that aligned with its North Star.

When asked to pick one project from the past year that reflected all four points of the North Star, VanderMost identified the paid social content her team produced for the Google Pixel 8 product launch in H2 of last year.

“The Pixel 8 work had a little bit of everything that we look for when identifying a creative project that aligns with our North Star,” said VanderMost. “We were working with great clients who respect and value what we bring to the table as a creative production agency, and the work we produced - including a custom AR filter, a fun Hashfetti ad unit for X, and the opportunity to tap into cultural moments with some incredible creators - allowed our team to feel truly inspired by all the creativity and innovation infused in the project.”

And then of course you have the final piece to the puzzle, Business Results. VanderMost was excited to share that the Pixel 8 campaign certainly had that with more than half a billion views on TikTok, making it one of the brands most successful paid social campaigns in years.

[Above: Pixel 8 case study video]

Ready to Define Your Own North Star?

“Defining a North Star for your own company is all about reflecting on what is important to you and understanding what fuels and defines you,” said VanderMost.

To get started, try answering these questions that VanderMost said were pivotal to helping her company define its North Star:

• What is your push-pull? Define two things that are extremely important to you but sometimes one takes from the other.
• What are your anchors? Define your non-negotiables that no matter what you will not stray from as an organization.