Publicist, the online marketplace for the world’s top communications and marketing talent, has launched in Australia.
After experiencing significant traction in North America, Publicist has expanded its marketplace to Australia. Lara Vandenberg, the Australian-born founder and CEO of Publicist, is ecstatic to announce the expansion of her platform into her home country. After establishing an extensive traction between the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, the Forbes 30 Under 30 powerhouse is ready to change the marketing world across the globe.
The launch into Australia arrives as the marketing and communications industry experiences extreme and rapid change due to COVID-19. The current broader work environment has seen forecasted trends accelerate, including more talent moving towards freelance-based work. The reality of work is truly shifting towards the future of freelance. More companies are better served by the flexible support from freelance work than retainer-based models, and more brands are continuing to rethink and down-size their internal teams.
“For large enterprises and innovative startups alike, fast access to premium talent has historically been hard," Vandenberg said. "Typically, recruiters or agencies outsource projects to talent and often upcharge on the project. For talent, it’s also difficult to focus on current work, in addition to pitching for new business, while managing administration like invoicing. With Publicist, all of this can happen on our secure and flexible platform.”
According to The Future of Work in Australia report, "11.6% of the Australian workforce are independent contractors, equivalent to around 1,270,000 workers." This number is steadily increasing as a result of COVID-19's implications on the changing job market, only accelerating Australia's freelance trend.
“There’s so much opportunity at this time; we’ll see digital publications come out of this, and we might even see a resurgence after we’ve seen these closures," Vandenberg said. "In the US at least, we’ve seen a lot of people take to freelancing really, really quickly. We can see the marketplace demand in Australia, and we have a lot of Australian talent and brands signing up for the platform. That’s very exciting to see.”
Vandenberg's quick trip home to Australia turned into a four month stay due to COVID-19, allowing her to expand Publicist internationally and now launch in the Australian market. “The response has been overwhelming. It’s something the industry has needed, and it is needed even more so now," Vandenberg reflected.
Following the launch of Publicist in Australia, Vandenberg plans to expand the platform to the U.K. market this coming fall.