Finding the RIGHT Solution

January is a month of renewed optimism, almost every company is looking at what they will do to make 2018 better than 2019. Budgets that were tentative in December are now inked. The first few weeks of January that tamped down the roadmaps and pathways for success are being forged. 

The pursuit to find, hire and deploy the RIGHT people is on the top of the “honey-do” list for 2019.

Nothing is more evident – nearly every company has a human resource department working diligently sourcing and recruiting for better teams to drive sales and productivity. Top priority is to sell services and products better, faster and more effectively; and to that pursuit follows the insatiable need to have marketing, advertising and digital processes and tools to get the job done.

A need in corporate America for internal marketing & creative potency is nothing new. It is clearly noticeable by the increase of Chief Marketing Officers & Chief Creative Officers seated upon the C-row of corporate organizational charts. The hire of CMOs has grown double in the last 5 years within the United States. And these CMOs are all about building dynamic and robust marketing & creative departments. According to a report from Forrester Research the average corporation allocates 30% of their budget for marketing; this number is expected to increase to 35% by 2019. Search Engine Marketing will absorb the bulk of the spend, closely followed by online display (banner ads, online video, etc…).  Social Media investments will increase representing 15% of the online spend and mobile marketing is a mainstay, and roll-out spends are no longer tracked but are now supported as a necessary function.

These online pursuits come with big-ticket prices. Talent to produce the output are valuable. The predicament of acquiring top creative talent for corporate is often thwarted by this little thing called the “gig economy”. Creatives want to manage their time and efforts, as well as be able to dictate their income on their own terms – which is a conundrum for corporate America that wants what they want – devoted and loyal employees under their command.

The option for corporate is to pay elevated and seductive salaries with luxurious creature comforts and perks to lure these nomadic creatives into putting down roots in their organizations. This is a tough sell to the creative class and not always adopted by the best of the best creatives. The other option is for companies to build a network of “go-to” individuals that will make them top priority. There are many online sources for virtual employees and some companies have found them to be useful avenues for the mundane and repetitive creative work. However, these tools have fallen short for developing comprehensive teams of experts to develop hearty campaigns and lead major initiatives. Advertising & Marketing firms are still the ultimate partner for larger initiatives and strategic brand development; but creative network management organizations are the nimble option, offering hand selected and invited experts to be part of their network. A network of creatives that can be appointed and assembled into intimate master-subject-matter powerhouse teams to guide and drive major initiatives to finish line.

The development and establishment of an expert team to generate provocative and engaging creative is undisputed as an effective tool to growing any business. Price points are manageable and able to be established upfront with hourly rates and SOW. This newest trend in developing the best possible creative output is a blending and offering with the best of both worlds; allowing the gig economy and corporate world to compliment one another’s needs. The growth in this area is bound to expanded at a rapid level early on in the first quarter of 2019.