Mid-Level Agency Celebrates 14th Strategic Reset Since Christmas
Independent creative shop Lantern & Vale has announced what it is calling a "gentle but necessary strategic recalibration" following the discovery that nobody can clearly explain what the agency actually does. The reset, the fourteenth since Christmas, will see the Auckland-based firm move from being a "culture-led brand partner" to a "growth-shaped ideas studio with commerce curiosity". Staff were informed via a 62-slide deck featuring three different mission statements and a pie chart titled Energy.
Managing Partner Scottie Dallow said the change was prompted by a recent credentials pitch in which the client asked, "So are you media, creative, or strategy?" and received a seven-minute answer involving the word ecosystem. "We realised we had drifted," Dallow said. "Not creatively. Spiritually." The new positioning will focus on what Lantern & Vale calls Applied Boldness, which insiders confirm is the same as their previous offering but with a darker shade of blue on the website.
As part of the transformation, all staff job titles have been updated. Account Managers are now Narrative Custodians. Designers are Visual Economists. The receptionist is Director of First Impressions and Light Catering. Email signatures have been expanded to include personal purpose statements, which must be reviewed quarterly. One junior strategist, who asked to remain anonymous because he is technically now a Thought Cartographer, admitted he has updated his LinkedIn headline six times this week and is considering a seventh "just to stay aligned".
The agency has also unveiled a new internal values framework built around the acronym F.A.S.T.E.R, which stands for Fearless, Agile, Sincere, Tenacious, Energetic, and Relentlessly Reflective. When asked what Relentlessly Reflective means, Dallow paused before explaining it involves "a lot of Post-its and sometimes crying in a productive way". Lantern & Vale confirmed the next strategic reset is scheduled for late March, or sooner if another client asks a clarifying question.
Managing Partner Scottie Dallow said the change was prompted by a recent credentials pitch in which the client asked, "So are you media, creative, or strategy?" and received a seven-minute answer involving the word ecosystem. "We realised we had drifted," Dallow said. "Not creatively. Spiritually." The new positioning will focus on what Lantern & Vale calls Applied Boldness, which insiders confirm is the same as their previous offering but with a darker shade of blue on the website.
As part of the transformation, all staff job titles have been updated. Account Managers are now Narrative Custodians. Designers are Visual Economists. The receptionist is Director of First Impressions and Light Catering. Email signatures have been expanded to include personal purpose statements, which must be reviewed quarterly. One junior strategist, who asked to remain anonymous because he is technically now a Thought Cartographer, admitted he has updated his LinkedIn headline six times this week and is considering a seventh "just to stay aligned".
The agency has also unveiled a new internal values framework built around the acronym F.A.S.T.E.R, which stands for Fearless, Agile, Sincere, Tenacious, Energetic, and Relentlessly Reflective. When asked what Relentlessly Reflective means, Dallow paused before explaining it involves "a lot of Post-its and sometimes crying in a productive way". Lantern & Vale confirmed the next strategic reset is scheduled for late March, or sooner if another client asks a clarifying question.