Carolyn Mason, Managing Director of experiencestaff, shares how brands should communicate more with their staffing agencies to ensure effective brand activation.

With the boom in experiential marketing – promotional staffing is a growing employment industry. Facebook job groups have opened up a previously relatively small pool of working actors, models and dancers to a huge database of students and casual workers. Working in promotional events is a fantastic and attractive start for creatives and casting performers. It’s a flexible, fun, ever changing and sociable industry which has so much to give.

The growth of the staffing industry has had its benefits for brands –agencies have access to have a diverse and talented workforce. However as supply has outweighed demand – staff welfare and employment law needs to be considered. It would be a real shame for the industry to miss out on the talent of creatives, actors and models who would be great at representing their brands.

Starting a promotional staffing agency in the UK is also un-regulated. The only real hold back is if the agency follows the HMRC guidance and legislation for paying promotion staff as PAYE employees which was introduced on the 7 March 2016. The legislation aimed to move the industry from freelancers, removing false self-employment and offered agency workers / casual worker employment protection. However without a trade union and very little awareness about the lack of regulation of promotional staffing – there are agencies who are active in the industry who are not working at best practice.

Brands need to be communicating with their staffing agencies not only to be checking that they are staffing legally but to consider allocating budget to pay promotional staff a competitive wage. To attract talent we need to consider add-ons like travel and lunch allowance and consider staff welfare. Staffing is undeniably one of the key components to a promotional activity, brand ambassadors are the face of the brand. Promotional staff are amazing and love this industry, and work hard to make activations happen – we just need to be looking after and protecting them.

If you would like to find out more about experiencestaff, get in touch with Carolyn Mason at hello@experiencestaff.com

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