A Large Shift in How Enterprises Staff Up

The data comes from workforce platform Assemble (formerly Publicist), a network of more than 50,000 senior marketing freelancers that works directly with Fortune 500 CMOs and agencies. The company’s 2025 revenue grew 400% year-over-year, which says a lot about how quickly demand is accelerating. As Assemble founder Lara Vandenberg put it: 

“Marketing is in a productivity cycle, not a hiring cycle. CMOs are responsible for output, speed, and efficiency simultaneously, and the traditional agency and permanent headcount model cannot consistently deliver all three.”

What’s driving this isn’t just budget pressure, but recognition that the old model is too rigid for today’s pace.​

Real Companies, Real Moves

This isn’t a niche experiment. Major brands including Delta, MassMutual, ServiceNow, and Colgate are actively shifting away from hiring single contractors and instead building modular teams of freelance specialists who work across multiple quarters on ongoing campaigns and projects. This “assemble-as-you-go” approach lets CMOs bring in exactly the expertise they need without carrying the overhead of full-time headcount.

These companies aren’t abandoning in-house teams. Instead, they’re building a hybrid model: lean internal teams focused on brand strategy and governance, with a fluid external layer that scales based on project demand.​

The Bigger Picture: Gig Economy Goes Corporate

This enterprise shift mirrors a massive transformation happening across the entire U.S. labor market. The American freelance workforce has nearly doubled in just six years. From 38 million in 2020 to 76.4 million today, now representing roughly 40% of the total workforce according to Upwork data. Professional services, specifically marketing, creative, and communications, are the fastest-growing segment of independent work according to MBO Partners’ 2024 State of Independence report.

Looking ahead, 61% of marketing leaders plan to increase their use of contract or freelance talent in 2026, particularly to address skill gaps in AI-enabled workflows and marketing automation, according to Robert Half’s 2026 outlook.​

What It Means for Marketers

This shift reshapes opportunities at every level of the industry:

• In-house teams will increasingly focus on brand guardianship, strategic direction, and managing a distributed network of external specialists rather than doing all execution themselves​
• Freelancers are no longer the backup plan — they’re embedded, long-term contributors at the highest corporate levels, and developing niche skills in areas like AI workflows and creative technology is more valuable than ever​
• Agencies face growing pressure as companies recognize they can work directly with senior freelance specialists for faster turnaround and lower overhead​
• Post-production roles are declining as AI automates more of that work, while demand rises for process optimization and creative technology talent

Whether you need digital marketing support, creative content creation, or advertising strategy, the model is clear: flexibility and specialized expertise win. Companies like Marketeller help brands tap into that exact combination of strategic thinking and executional power without the overhead of building it all in-house.

The post Fortune 500 CMOs Embrace the Freelance Talent Shift appeared first on Marketeller.

Who Is Sean McGinty?

McGinty isn’t new to high-growth retail. He joined Jollyes in October 2025 after three years as Marketing Director at furniture chain Dunelm, and before that spent four years as Marketing Director of Aldi UK, a brand famously built on challenger positioning and value leadership. He has also held previous roles at Debenhams and Asda, giving him a deep well of experience across both value and mid-market retail.​

In his new role at Jollyes, McGinty takes direct ownership of customer strategy, marketing, digital platforms, and the brand’s loyalty proposition. His mandate is clear: make marketing the engine that drives Jollyes from a well-kept secret into a household name for UK pet owners.​​

The ‘Unapologetic’ Challenger Strategy

Jollyes has been on a quiet but relentless growth trajectory, almost doubling its number of UK stores over the past three years and surpassing 100 locations nationwide. New openings in Hartlepool, Ponders End, and Whitehaven in February 2026 continued that momentum, following eight store launches in the preceding three months alone.

Despite that physical footprint, brand awareness sits at around just 15%, a number McGinty openly acknowledges but sees as a massive opportunity rather than a problem.

“There’s a huge opportunity for marketing to come and make a difference,” McGinty has said, describing marketing as “an absolute growth engine for the business.”

Part of the fix is surprisingly simple: Jollyes is rebranding its storefronts from “Jollyes, the pet people” to “Jollyes Pets,” a direct and clear name that tells shoppers exactly what they’ll find when they walk through the door. It’s a small change with a big strategic intention, because clarity builds awareness, and awareness builds market share.

Building the Marketing Growth Engine

McGinty’s approach to growth is built on a few interconnected pillars, and it reflects exactly what modern retail marketing needs to achieve in order to cut through in a competitive landscape:

• Going all-in on social: Jollyes already maintains a social presence, but McGinty wants the brand “all over social,” with serious attention paid to platforms like TikTok Shop, where he sees customers having “one-to-one conversations with brands.”​
• Physical stores as the heartbeat: Despite the digital push, McGinty is clear that shops are “the heart of the brand” and that digital should “amplify the strength of the stores” rather than replace them. The goal is a seamless experience as customers move between online browsing and in-store buying.​
• Local footfall, frictionless digital: Marketing is focused on “driving footfall locally, while using digital to remove the friction and add value,” McGinty explains. These aren’t competing strategies — they’re the same strategy working in parallel.​
• Data-driven effectiveness: McGinty is working closely with Jollyes’ internal data science team to measure every pound spent, noting the business is “more set up from a marketing effectiveness point of view than many businesses” due to its tight focus on EBITDA-level growth.

The ‘Value Specialist’ Positioning And Why It Matters Now

The linchpin of Jollyes’ brand strategy is its commitment to being the UK’s only specialist pet discounter. In January 2025, the retailer lowered more than 3,000 prices, previously available only to loyalty cardholders, to all shoppers, covering over two-thirds of its 4,500 core product lines.

Then in February 2026, Jollyes went further by launching Simply Jollyes, billed as the lowest-priced own-label pet range in the UK, covering essential food and accessories designed to help households care for their pets without financial strain. CEO Adam Dury put it plainly: 

“Shopping at a specialist pet retailer doesn’t have to come with a premium — customers can care for their pets on the tightest of budgets.”

This matters because the UK pet care market is under real pressure from cost-of-living challenges. Jollyes is betting that being both a specialist and a discounter, offering quality and affordability under one roof, fills a gap that neither budget supermarkets nor premium pet chains can credibly occupy. For businesses looking to carve out their own defensible niche, it’s a textbook example of strategic positioning done right. Marketeller helps brands develop exactly this kind of differentiated identity through targeted creative marketing and brand strategy.

What Challenger Brands Can Learn from Jollyes

Jollyes’ playbook is relevant well beyond pet retail. Any challenger brand operating in a crowded market can take notes:

• Low awareness isn’t a failure, it’s an opportunity: Jollyes built a strong physical presence before investing heavily in brand awareness. McGinty is now unlocking that latent equity with sharp, focused marketing.​
• Value positioning is a genuine competitive moat: Offering quality at accessible prices, backed by specialist knowledge, builds trust across multiple customer segments and not just budget shoppers.​
• Digital amplifies physical, not the other way around: In an era of online-first thinking, Jollyes is a reminder that stores still drive brand love, and that digital works best when it supports the in-store experience.​
• Hire marketing leaders who’ve done it before: McGinty’s pedigree at Aldi, a brand that turned value into a cult identity, is not accidental. Leadership with proven challenger experience accelerates growth.

The Road Ahead for Jollyes

Backed by TDR Capital, also the private equity backer of Asda, Jollyes is well-funded for its next chapter. With over 100 stores, more than 1,200 employees, and a freshly sharpened brand identity, the pieces are firmly in place. The question now is execution, and with McGinty at the marketing helm, armed with data, digital ambition, and an unapologetic challenger spirit, the brand looks ready to grow its 15% awareness into something the competition genuinely has to reckon with.

Businesses watching from the sidelines should take note: strategic marketing leadership, a clear value proposition, and a seamless omnichannel presence aren’t just advantages in pet retail; they’re the new table stakes for growth in any competitive market. If your brand is ready to build that kind of momentum, Marketeller’s marketing services are built to help you get there.

The post Jollyes Pets: Unleashing an ‘Unapologetic’ Marketing Mission to Conquer the Pet Retail Market appeared first on Marketeller.

Imagine the platforms you rely on for daily social media marketing profiting massively from deceptive content. A recent report by Juniper Research (commissioned by Revolut) reveals social media platforms generate approximately £3.8 billion annually from scam ads targeting European users. It’s a huge financial engine for the platforms, and causes a huge issue for legitimate businesses struggling grow sales online.

What this means for marketers

This highlights a critical challenge in online advertising: while platofrms benefit from every impression, legitimate businesses face a double hit. Their ads compete directly with fraudulent ones, and consumers become more wary of all advertising, not just the bad actors. This erosion of trust can significantly impact marketing ROI and brand reputation, forcing marketers to work harder and spend more to achieve the same results.

• The scale of deception: In 2025, European users saw nearly one trillion social media ad impressions, with about 10% linked to scams. On average, each user encountered around 160–190 scam ads last year, a number expected to rise if platforms do not strengthen their scam vetting process.
• Financial impact on users: Beyond platform revenue, consumers suffer real losses; in Ireland, the average loss per scam ad incident was just over €1,500, with platforms earning an estimated €32 million from scam ads targeting Irish consumers alone.
• Platform response: Many platforms still rely on reactive verification models, where ads are paid for and deployed before meaningful checks take place, allowing scams to proliferate. Juniper Research recommends greater transparency, more investment in manual checks, and more agile tactics to keep pace with rapidly evolving scams.

The broader implications for CMOs and marketing strategy

This rise in scam ads isn’t just a policing problem for social platforms; it is a fundamental challenge to modern CMO strategy. Chief Marketing Officers must now factor in the broader perception of digital advertising when planning campaigns, not just channel performance metrics. If consumers are constantly exposed to fraudulent content, their skepticism toward all ads (legitimate or not) will naturally increase, making authentic and transparent brand communication more crucial than ever.

Marketers need to:

• Prioritize trust: Focus on building genuine connections and transparent messaging through direct engagement, user‑generated content, and clear proof of legitimacy, such as verified profiles and real customer stories.
• Diversify ad spend: While social media remains powerful, consider diversifying your ad platforms and tactics into search, email, premium programmatic, and even offline channels to reduce exposure to scam‑heavy environments.
• Advocate for change: As an industry, marketers should push social platforms for more proactive and robust fraud‑prevention measures to protect consumers and create a healthier ecosystem for everyone.

If your internal team is stretched thin, partnering with a specialist agency like Marketeller can help you design digital marketing strategies, advertising creative, and performance campaigns that put trust and brand safety at the center without sacrificing growth.​

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Building a Better Business: The Build-A-Bear Turnaround Story

Remember Build-A-Bear Workshop? For a while, it seemed like the popular stuffed animal creator might be a thing of the past. But under the savvy leadership of President and CEO Sharon Price John, the company has engineered one of retail’s most impressive comebacks.

This isn’t just a story about a cute brand. Although some stories out there shows how a business hits one viral trend to revive its business, this story is more of a masterclass in business reinvention and clever marketing strategy. It shows how focusing on the fundamentals, adapting to new trends, and truly understanding your audience can lead to incredible success.

The Challenge: More Than Just a Brand Fix

When Sharon Price John stepped in as CEO in 2013, Build-A-Bear faced significant challenges. The company needed more than just a marketing facelift; it needed a complete business overhaul. The core problem wasn’t that people didn’t like building bears anymore, but that the business model itself needed to evolve with the changing retail landscape. This meant looking at everything from store leases to product offerings and how they connected with customers.

The Experiential Advantage and Omnichannel Evolution

Build-A-Bear’s initial success was built on experiential marketing, the joy of creating a personalized stuffed animal in a fun, interactive store setting. John understood this core strength but also recognized the need to expand beyond it. Her strategy involved several key pillars:

• Rethinking the In-Store Experience: While the core experience remained, Build-A-Bear refined its in-store offerings, ensuring they stayed fresh and engaging for a new generation of kids and even nostalgic adults.
• Embracing Omnichannel Strategy: This was crucial. Build-A-Bear expanded its reach by integrating online sales, licensing deals, and even new product lines that appeal to older demographics, like collectors and teens. This multi-channel approach allows customers to interact with the brand wherever they are.
• Nostalgia and Multi-Generational Appeal: The company cleverly tapped into the nostalgia of adults who grew up with Build-A-Bear, while simultaneously attracting new, younger customers. This dual approach broadened their market significantly, with online sales now targeting 40% teens and adults with gifting and collectibles.
• Operational Excellence: Beyond the customer-facing aspects, John focused on internal efficiencies, like renegotiating leases and optimizing margins. These behind-the-scenes moves were vital to making the business financially sound.

The Results: A Roaring Success Story

The transformation has been remarkable. Build-A-Bear, once considered a “retail relic,” is now thriving. The company’s stock has seen an incredible surge, with reports indicating a 2,000% increase, solidifying its status as a true “market darling.” This turnaround wasn’t by accident; it was the result of a deliberate, well-executed marketing and business strategy that understood the company’s past, present, and future potential.

Sharon Price John’s leadership at Build-A-Bear Workshop provides a powerful case study for any business looking to navigate disruption and achieve sustainable growth. It’s a testament to the idea that even beloved brands need to continuously evolve to stay relevant in today’s fast-changing market.

The post From Retail Relic to Roaring Success: How Build-A-Bear Became a Marketing Darling appeared first on Marketeller.

Oikos Goes Streaming-Only for Super Bowl LX With Derrick Henry and Kathryn Hahn

The Super Bowl isn’t just football, it’s the biggest pressure-test in advertising, where brands fight to earn attention in a single moment. For Super Bowl LX on February 8, 2026, Oikos is taking a sharp digital-first turn with a streaming-only Big Game ad, proving that “premium placements” now extend well beyond traditional broadcast TV.

Why Derrick Henry + Kathryn Hahn Works

Oikos titled its 2026 creative “The Big Hill,” pairing Derrick Henry’s larger-than-life power with Kathryn Hahn’s comedic range to make the story instantly watchable, even if you’re not there for football. Set around San Francisco’s famously steep hills, the commercial leans on escalating uphill challenges—played for laughs—while tying “strength” to Oikos’ high-protein positioning.

The big strategic shift: streaming-only on Peacock

Oikos’ key headline is distribution: the ad is slated to air exclusively on Peacock during Super Bowl LX rather than during the NBC broadcast. That choice reflects a broader shift in how marketers chase younger viewing behavior, with Oikos leadership explicitly pointing to streaming’s ability to reach Gen Z and millennials who prefer flexible, mobile viewing.

What marketers should learn from this move

A streaming-only Super Bowl buy creates a different kind of advantage: it’s not just about reach, it’s about context (viewers already in a digital environment where follow-up actions are frictionless). Oikos is also framing the spot as part of a broader campaign ecosystem using social distribution and other activations to extend the moment.

If you’re a business trying to translate “event-level attention” into always-on growth, this is the playbook to study: start with a strong story, then design a distribution plan where audiences can actually click, share, and convert. For teams that want help building campaigns like this, from creative strategy to digital execution, check out our marketing services (creative, digital, and print) for a solid next step to explore at Marketeller.

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The big shift: from posts to places

Style Crew includes over 600 creators, and Macy’s has been actively expanding how those creators show up across the customer journey, not just on Instagram or TikTok.​

For the 2025 holiday season, Macy’s tested direct mailers featuring Style Crew picks and a QR code that recipients could scan to view more creator content, showing there’s appetite for creator curation in offline formats too.​

What “offline creators” looks like

Macy’s also tested bringing Style Crew “storefronts” into physical stores via pop-ups in three cities (Dallas, Miami, New York), each tied to a creator and a distinct focus (family picks, holiday style, beauty).​

The brand framed these IRL tests as a way to reach both existing fans and regular shoppers who happen to be in-store, while also resonating with the 30–45 segment they’re prioritizing with in-store experiences.​

Why this is an omnichannel win

This approach blends affiliate marketing’s measurable outcomes with influencer marketing’s trust and storytelling, which Macy’s notes are increasingly overlapping in practice.​

It also turns “creator content” into owned-channel assets (mail, stores, QR-driven experiences), helping Macy’s show consistent curation across multiple touchpoints instead of relying on fleeting scroll-by impressions.​

What businesses can copy (without Macy’s budget)

• Build creator campaigns that travel: one styling concept can become short-form video, an email module, a printed mail piece, and an in-store event presence.​
• Make offline shoppable: use QR codes to connect print or events to creator storefronts/content so attribution doesn’t disappear in the physical world.​
• Treat creators like partners: Macy’s emphasizes community engagement and not only sales, which helps affiliate programs stay authentic and sustainable.​

Creator-led styling events, QR-enabled postcards, and creator-driven product “edits” can work well for retail, salons, fitness studios, restaurants, and service brands when the creative and tracking are planned together; Marketeller can help package that into an integrated campaign that includes content creation, design/print, and digital marketing execution.

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