It’s no secret that businesses can be a bit shady when it comes to pay. Stories of overworked, underpaid employees and contractors struggling to get what they’re owed are common. But while industries like tech, construction, or even healthcare often get called out, there’s one sector that’s often overlooked: marketing and branding agencies.
These agencies are often just as guilty of questionable practices when it comes to compensation. Behind the glossy campaigns and creative buzzwords, there’s a troubling reality: Subcontractors who actually do the work are often kept in the dark about how much money is changing hands.
After decades of experience at agencies big and small, we’ve taken another path and found that embracing transparency isn’t just ethical—it can help retain clients and talent. Here’s why it’s time to stop the nonsense and get real about pay.
The Subcontracting Gambit
First, a little background: Subcontractors are a dirty little secret of many creative campaigns.
To be clear, there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with using subcontractors. Small and growing agencies on a feast-and-famine cycle need contractors to do the work that would otherwise be done by full-time employees. Even large agencies sometimes have a valid need for one-off expertise that they don’t have in-house. But it’s often just about squeezing profits.
The problem occurs when contractors are deceptively marketed as employees, falsely indicating a fully staffed agency. The reality is they’re simply on a “roster,” to be called upon, should their particular skills ever be required for a project, even if that’s very infrequent.
Sometimes, one agency might bring a different agency on board and have them “white label” their services. There are even times when the subcontracted agency interacts with the client as though they were an internal part of the team. I once had to hand out fake business cards, with my name but the other agency’s details, so the client thought I was one of “them.”