Channel fragmentation is making it harder for marketers to reach a mass audience as people’s attention is split between different media offerings. When it comes to influencing customers, brands can no longer rely on a 30-second television advert or billboard in an urban centre. Today’s consumers are as likely to interact with marketing content on TikTok as they are in-store, making access to specialised marketing experience crucial for any CMO.
Movie studios have faced a similar challenge as the proliferation of streaming platforms has lead to a fragmentation of the entertainment ecosystem, drawing audiences away from the cinema. So, what can marketers learn from Hollywood’s executive elite?
What marketing organisations can learn from Hollywood
From the 1950s to the early 2000s, Hollywood largely mimicked business in the way it organised its talent. It set up big, monolithic studios with a secure bench of actors, producers and directors who could produce a steady and manageable stream of movies – around four or five a year.
But, as more competitors emerged, the incumbent’s stranglehold on entertainment and audience attention was suddenly under threat. This proliferation of content and the fragmentation of entertainment is perhaps best epitomised by the rise in scripted television. In 2022, we hit peak TV. There were 633 original scripted TV shows commissioned, up from 288 just ten years earlier.
To keep up, Hollywood had to produce a greater variety of films at a faster rate than before. This was impossible with their monolithic studio model as it would be impossible to hold all the necessary skills under one roof. The people who made Barbie might not be suitable for making Oppenheimer, just as the people who made Stranger Things for Netflix wouldn’t be suited to produce Love is Blind.
The solution was to uncouple talent from studios and curate a new team for each project. These were assembled from a pool of people, each with their own specific skills or niches.
To bring it back to marketing, the number of briefs within a CMO’s remit has increased and so has the variety. At a time where more needs to be done with less, you need creative shortcuts. One such shortcut is to match the talent to the brief. This cuts time and cost without sacrificing quality. The beauty of working like this is that you can unsubscribe from the so-called war for talent. Instead of competing to hire the top 1% of highly skilled workers full-time, you focus on finding the right person for that specific brief on a part-time basis.
For instance, a relatively junior Latin creative who’s self-taught in artworking and designs her own DJ posters is a terrible fit for a B2B campaign targeting software buyers in Germany. However, she’s the perfect fit for an apparel company attempting to reach generation-Z music fans in Mexico City. And yes, that’s a real-life example from a brief I’ve worked on this year. By emulating Hollywood, you can outsmart rather than outspend market-leading competitors.
The rise of independent talent
If this is so obvious, why isn’t every CMO reorganising their team around curated talent?
Firstly, a frothy market and consistent, if modest, ROI on marketing have meant there’s been little imperative to innovate. This is particularly true of big tech where R&D investment has long since surpassed marketing spend. But with efficiencies being made across the board, that may be about to change.
Secondly, the Hollywood model requires access to a capable pool of flexible talent with enough diversity to meet the needs of your briefs. While this has always existed in television and movies, the advent of independence for marketing professionals is still in its infancy.
But a look at freelancing numbers over the past decade suggests the only way is up. There are 64 million freelancers in the US, representing 38% of the workforce, according to a 2023 study by freelancer platform Upwork. This is up from 34% in 2014. If we take even a moderate growth rate, that number could rise to 80 million by 2030, which represents around 50% of the current US workforce.
This percentage is far smaller in the UK. Around a tenth (13%) of the UK’s working population is freelance, according to the Office for National Statistics. Nevertheless, this number has grown steadily since the year 2000, driven by changes to working norms and the adoption of remote working technologies. These days fractional work in professional services is commonplace. This, coupled with the rise of the creator economy means that great, part-time talent has never been easier to find.
How to leverage independent talent
So, you’re sold on the need for a network of flexible talent for a world of increasingly ambitious and unique briefs. How do you go about building it? Here are three things to consider.
Hiring a chief fractional officer
If you want to make the most of the freelance brilliance out there, you might need someone in your talent team who’s dedicated to scouting and curating your flexible talent pool. It requires very different skills from that of a regular recruiter.
Consider offering fractional benefits
Different talent requires different benefits. Pension schemes and Friday beers are out, and flexible, global collaboration spaces and performance-based remuneration are in.
Implementing output-based outcomes
Start thinking about cost for deliverables rather than cost for time. This helps with regulations like IR35 but is also something that talent prefers. Remember, this model works best in a largely project-based world.
