Upwork's Freelancer-Focused 'Hey World' Campaign Targets Time-Strapped Employers

In its new “Hey World” campaign, Upwork playfully raises its hand to offer freelance help to time-strapped or resource-strapped pop culture figures, business icons, institutions and political leaders - among them President Trump, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, Equifax and NASA.

The campaign taps pop culture and current events to bring to life how companies can leverage the creativity and expertise of freelancers to ‘get stuff done.’

The campaign is the first work for the brand by Upwork’s new creative agency Duncan Channon, a 2016 and 2017 Ad Age Small Agency of the Year, West. 

The multi-million dollar integrated campaign launches today Jan 16 and includes OOH and animated digital videos produced with Gentleman Scholar, as well as radio and station takeovers at the all-digital Fulton Center in Lower Manhattan and San Francisco’s Montgomery Street station.

The campaign launches at a time when freelance workforce growth is outpacing overall U.S. workforce growth by 3x since 2014 and companies of all sizes are rethinking the way they source talent. Nearly half (48%) of U.S. companies today are using flexible teams, with over 20% of the Fortune 500 now using Upwork to find and hire freelance talent.

 Rich Pearson, SVP of marketing, Upwork stated:

“Digital technology is revolutionising the way work gets done. Many of the most talented members of the workforce prefer not to be tied to one company,” said Rich Pearson, SVP of Marketing at Upwork. “Forward-thinking companies are turning to freelancers to access the diverse skills needed to innovate and grow. We’re excited to work with Duncan Channon to launch this new campaign to help bring to the light the expertise and scale freelancers deliver to businesses today.”

Michael Lemme, chief creative officer, Duncan Channon said:

“Upwork is a vibrant, expressive brand that’s contagiously optimistic about the potential of freelancers to solve big problems and drive the evolution of business,” said Michael Lemme, chief creative officer, Duncan Channon. “The ‘Hey World’ campaign has some fun, but is serious about the idea that talented freelancers can get stuff done for people who need stuff done, including some brands, artists, institutions and pop culture figures you know.”