This week we announced that I’m joining Kelly O’Keefe, Dennis Duffy, and Rian Chandler-Dovis as a managing partner in Brand Federation. It couldn’t come at a better time.
After 30 years in advertising, the last 5 as CEO of a holding company-owned creative shop, I’ve had a front-row seat to the disruption of the industry. A couple of weeks ago, Adweek’s #1 trending article was, “The Ad Industry Has Reached A Breaking Point. Can It Pull Itself Back From The Brink?” If you haven’t read it, pour yourself a stiff drink and invest a few minutes.
For my money, the answer to Adweek’s question is a resounding yes. As long as there are consumers there will be marketers. And as long as there are marketers, they’ll need brilliant, insightful strategies and amazing creative ideas.
But, can the industry pull itself back from the brink without fundamentally changing its business model? No way.
The marketing world has become irretrievably complex. It requires strategic expertise in disciplines like digital experience planning, brand strategy, consumer research, programmatic, data strategy and analytics, UX/UI, SEO/SEM—the list goes on. And as marketers and agencies alike are asked to do more work with less money, neither can afford a standing army of full-time specialists.
So marketing is in a pinch. How do we satisfy our need for more specialized experts while wrestling with tighter margins and shrinking budgets?
Let’s start by finally blowing up the old fixed-cost staffing model.
The good news? In the gig economy, “I’m a freelancer.” is no longer code for, “I’m between jobs.” Today it means, “I’m good enough to work on my own terms.” There’s a growing pool of freelance strategists in every specialty, with experience in every category. And they’re really, really talented.
Enter Brand Federation: an approach to staffing as dynamic as today’s marketing environment. Our nationwide pool of freelance strategists gives marketers and agencies access to world-class talent in a variety of specialities, whenever they need it, for as long as they need it. No long-term overhead, no drawn-out hiring process, no worries about how to utilize an employee after a project ends.
And we offer the world’s best strategists a new way to do the work they love: Independence. Brand Federation matches strategists with clients so our members get an additional source of work. They get full back-room support with billing, tracking invoices and accounts payable, so they can focus on the strategic work they love. We even take on the financial risk, so our members receive regular monthly payments for the duration of any engagement, whether the client has paid or not. We’ll soon offer access access to syndicated research that’s tough to afford as a one-person operation. We provide professional development opportunities and a nationwide community of fellow strategists, open for collaboration and partnership. And we don’t require an exclusive relationship—our members join Brand Federation and keep their independence.
Let’s stop complaining about the disruption in the marketing business and do something about it. If we do it right, marketers, agencies and independent strategists can all win. But the industry has to make the changes we’ve been talking about for years. We can help.
It’s the perfect time for Brand Federation. Marketers, agencies, and independent strategists, let’s do this together.
