Johan Ohlson: Free-lance, a warrior which wasn’t sworn to any one lord

Finding out that Johan Ohlson decided to go freelance and quit his position as Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Romania, we from AdHugger asked him to give us his opinion on freelancers and what they can and do. Here’s what Johan told us:

Much has changed since Sir Walter Scott first used the term in his historical novel Ivanhoe where the term free-lance was used to describe a warrior which wasn’t sworn to any one lord.

Freelancing today is a much more nuanced affair where the freelancer can have as many “lords” as he wants, as long as he or she can deliver the goods.

With a world economy that’s still feeling the blows of its collapse and with investor fear still very much a factor on the market, steady employment has diminished considerably. Organisations are now finding themselves forced to focus on a more flexible structure where people come in and out depending on the workload on hand.

The benefits of a modular structure go beyond flexibility or a pay as you go model.  It means having new talent come in on a regular basis, it means always having the right man for the job instead of the same man for all the jobs, and it means you can still be self-sufficient when the workload is light or non-existant.

But in order for all this to become a lasting reality both agencies and possible freelancers need acknowledge the model as a viable way forward and embrace it wholeheartedly. Once you have opened your agency to freelancing you’ll be surprised how many people will offer their services.

Johan H. Ohlson

Former Executive CD for Saatchi & Saatchi Romania

Current Freelancer who is definitely open to new “Lords” under johan (dot) ohlson (at) gmail (dot) com