Freelancers to the Rescue in Upwork’s ‘Hey World’ Campaign

I am a freelancer. Most in my profession are freelancers, meaning we do work on a temporary or project-by-project basis. It’s a tough living and the hardest part is getting your name out there. It can take years (it has for me) and sometimes not happen at all. However, in this age of social media it is becoming (slightly) easier—especially when you have resources like Upwork, which recently launched the new “Hey World!” ad campaign.

Upwork is a worldwide freelancing platform that allows businesses and self-supporting professionals to connect and work together remotely on projects. It allows clients to interview, hire, and work with freelancers and agencies. It’s a relatively young company that is trying to raise interest in its platform, and its solution was—with its ad agency Duncan Channon—to create the “Hey World!” campaign.

This advertising campaign tapped into pop culture and current events via 15-second spots that ask direct questions such as “Hey Mr. President, need a social media strategist?” or “Hey George R.R. Martin, need a ghost writer?” If so, “Hire a freelancer!” As a freelancer, I dug it.

Some Good

The high points of this campaign’s resume…

1. Being Relatable! – These ads are relatable on several levels, but for me, the concern of freelancers was chief among them. It is extremely difficult to get your name out there and it can be frustrating when you know you can do as good or better a job than the one you are witnessing. How many times have I said to myself “I could do that”? Even if you’re not a freelancer, there were quips in these spots to get you hooked like, “Hey, Mr. Martin, finished those books yet? Need a ghost writer?”

2. Relevancy – These ads were relevant, tapping into the now, which is huge when it comes to being a successful ad campaign. Look at the questions they were asking or topics they were commenting on: President Trump and his head-scratching use of social media; George R.R. Martin and his inability to finish his Song of Ice and Fire books; NASA and its slow (though probably necessarily slow—don’t want to rush and make a mistake) approach to landing a human on Mars; or The Rock’s maybe or maybe not 2020 presidential campaign. Regardless if it was for fun or not, or if they are to be taken seriously, the comments were made, we were aware of what the ads were talking about, and thus they grabbed our attention.

3. Animation – I loved the animation. It was simple, colorful, eye grabbing and cool. I especially liked the George R.R. Martin ad and the dragons spinning into the book. It was effective and fluid animation that worked perfectly in the 15-second time frame.

Some Bad

Reasons this campaign wouldn’t get the job…

1. Nothing!

The Takeaway

“Our challenge was to find people, companies and stories that were of-the-moment, but also durable enough to still have relevance, …” said Michael Lemme, chief creative officer of Duncan Channon, when describing the intent of Upwork’s “Hey World!” campaign. By tapping into pop culture and current events, and using cool, yet simple-looking animation, Upwork and Duncan Channon delivered.

Now, all I have to do is get on Upwork and find a way to contact George R.R. Martin. I have such a killer plot twist for the final book!