MAL 25/18 MAL25/18 | Page 8

COMPLACENT MARKETING
COMPLACENT MARKETING

The Gig Economy Is The Future Of Work

By Diana Obath

It ’ s an interesting time to be alive ! With a smartphone , you are typically employed . That reduces time for job hunting and cuts down on the tedious process of sending applications . There is an app that has an answer to that question you just asked yourself – With my skills , how can I get a job or a side hustle via my smartphone ? Look up websites like kuhustle and download the app to connect with professionals looking for freelance professional marketing services .

Perhaps you are employed and have no time to hustle or you would prefer something that does not require you to assert yourself after 5pm . Something a little less tedious like having your car registered on a taxi service like Uber or Taxify between 8am and 5pm would suite you well . If you are not business minded , and prefer to be a participant , I can bet you have used an Uber , stayed in an Airbnb , used Sendy or any other professional service you can get via your smartphone , so you understand what I am talking about .
The point is , the professional gig economy is here , and marketers can also join in the game . The traditional view of the gig economy is what is changing with large companies opening themselves up to embrace it . Most people who have white collar jobs also have blue collar jobs to supplement their income or employ one to ten other people to manage their supplementary businesses .
There is also a bursting wave of highly trained individuals and university graduates who are seizing this opportunity to take control of their careers and so far many companies have benefitted .
If you have taken an Uber , you will notice the age of the drivers would probably be young professionals who seldom would be the owners of the cars or would be

Organizations would rather outsource professional services by engaging skilled specialists as and when needed . Herein lies the opportunity for marketing professionals to attach themselves to already existing agencies and offer their services as consultants or post their profiles online on the freelance job sites to get matched with organizations looking for one-time marketing services , and not necessarily from an agency . employed to drive the cars on behalf of other people . Only lately , have the more older drivers joined the taxi app services , probably driven by decreasing demand for their estate and city taxi services .

However , the idea of ‘ guns for hire ’ by companies , for example getting a PR firm to carry out a cleanup exercise when faced with a crisis as opposed to having them on a retainer is not a new concept , at least in agency business .
Freelancing today can be looked at from the agency approach . Both marketing and communications agencies have long used this model to stabilize fluctuations in their budgets and retainers by offering ad hoc services at relatively higher costs for one-time clients . What is new is the number of companies embracing this as a cost-cutting business model and reducing full-time headcount .
Organizations would rather outsource professional services by engaging skilled specialists as and when needed . Herein lies the opportunity for marketing professionals to attach themselves to already existing agencies and offer their services as consultants or post their profiles online on the freelance job sites to get matched with organizations looking for one-time marketing services , and not necessarily from an agency .
It is a fact that many companies in Kenya are facing challenges and prefer to use human resource companies to fill up the positions of drivers , office assistants , sales
06 MAL25 / 18 ISSUE