Contractors & Freelancers: Pros & Cons

   By Gonzalo López Martí  – Creative director, etc. / LMMiami.com

Welcome to the third installment of a trilogy -or maybe a tetralogy- that will attempt a detailed SWOT analysis of the various paths a marketer can choose when hiring talent to roll out its communication campaigns. The first installment two weeks ago addressed the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats of using in-house agencies* for such purposes. Last week the topic was conventional agencies** (conventional as in Madison Avenue-style shops).

• Today: independent contractors & freelancers.
• A little recap: in-house agencies can be notoriously toothless but they also are, at least in appearance, thrifty, focused and efficient.
• In comparison, retaining an external autonomous shop can be plenty onerous.
• Particularly if we’re talking about one of the majors: Omnicom, WPP, Publicis and their assorted underlings.
• 7 figures for a ten slide-long PowerPoint deck?!?!
• Yup.
• You are paying a premium though because retaining an agency with a marquee brand name also comes with an unwritten insurance policy: it gives you the peace of mind to protect your rear end if your campaigns do not deliver.
• “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m only the CMO here! I hired the legendary Bentom Bontom & Bintom. It ain’t my fault if nobody’s buying our new & improved glow-in-the-dark toothpaste…”
• The other good thing about a conventional agency is, possibly, candor.
• You are not their only client, their livelihood is not solely dependent on you, they should be more willing to tell you the truth, sans sugarcoating, warts and all.
• In this context, a freelancer can be a happy medium.
• At least in theory.
• If you hire a freelance slash contractor who has worked for large agencies in the past you’ll get Madison Avenue work at Jersey City prices.
• Needless to say, a freelancer/contractor doesn’t carry the weight of a large global network but he/she has a certain level of freedom and autonomy that awards them a modicum of independence to “speak truth to power”.
• Other advantages:
• You’ll compensate them on a project basis.
• Usually by the hour.
• No long-term retainer fee schemes.
• No belaboring over painstakingly lawyerly SOW contracts.
• You get what you pay for at face value.
• No paid maternity leave o vacations.
• No benefits.
• No strings attached.
• Once the project is finished the contractor goes his/her merry way.
• They call it “the gig economy” for a reason.
• These days, there are various Ubers of freelancers out there.
• Yandiki.com, for instance, defines itself as “creative talent in the cloud. Your global talent pool. Without Risk. Without Walls. Without Limits.”
• Fiverr.com is also pretty popular (and hated too).
• TheIdealists.com: “the IdeaLists gives you access to a curated group of creative marketing professionals, ready to tackle any project.”
• Jovoto.com
• DesignCrowd.com
• Freelancer.com
• oDesk.com
• elance.com
• The list grows by the day.

* In-House Agencies: Pros & Cons
https://hispanicad.com/agency/business/house-agencies-pros-cons

** Conventional Agencies: Pros & Cons
https://hispanicad.comagency/business/conventional-agencies-pros-cons