2024 Year in Review
February 1st marks two years since we officially launched PLAYE. Over the break, I’ve been reflecting on how far we’ve come. 2024 was another huge year, and alongside my co-founders Jonas Espvall and Rob Older, we’ve continued to shake up the creative landscape, helping brands adapt to a fast-changing world.
Gratitude and Acknowledgements
First up, a massive thank you to the PLAYE team, our 1,500+ incredible creatives around the globe, our clients, and our investors. You’re the reason we keep showing up, pushing boundaries, and delivering the goods.
Key Trends That Shaped 2024
This year, we saw some major shifts that are changing how brands and creatives work - and how PLAYE fits in:
- In-Housing Growing but Challenged: In-house agencies are booming, but struggle with the peaks and troughs of creative work with fixed head counts. Scaling up and finding flexible, dynamic talent is still a massive challenge.
- Layoffs and Budget Cuts: Brands are tightening belts, restructuring, and looking for smarter, more cost-effective ways to get work done. That’s where PLAYE shines.
- Compliance Crackdown: Worker classification rules are getting stricter, and compliance is now a non-negotiable for big brands.
- AI as a Creative Power Tool: The incentive for freelancers to adopt AI is huge and they're way ahead of the curve here - using AI to work faster, smarter means they can work less and earn more.
- Less Ads, More Content: Millennials and Gen Z using platforms like TikTok and Instagram, as well as podcasts and YouTube are steering brands away from glossy ads and further toward raw, functional, and engaging content that actually connects. Brands are moving from renting an audience (ads) to owning one (content).
- Changing of the Guard: More of a gut feel than hard data, but it seems like a new generation of marketing leaders are stepping up (Millennials). Conversations around innovation and change are way easier, legacy agency relationships are fading, and let’s be honest - TVCs just aren’t the flex they once were. Gen Z are the big ticket audience.
Our Key Wins
2024 was a year of wins, big and small:
- Record Growth: We over doubled revenues in 2024 - proof that our model is hitting the mark.
- Creative Network Expansion: Our global network grew to over 1,500 of the best creatives out there, delivering killer work for brands.
- Software - Now Serving: Our platform now allows full self-service, allowing brands and agencies to engage, manage and pay their preferred PLAYEbook of freelancers.
- Compliance Simplified: Our Agent-of-Record (AOR) service lets brands stay compliant while giving freelancers the insurance and support they need, all through a simple subscription.
- Early Pay for Creatives: We solved the “long payment terms” problem by letting creatives cash out in 1 business day for a small fee - over 30% of our projects used early pay in 2024.
Overcoming Challenges
Scaling a global business is no walk in the park. With founders on opposite sides of the planet, staying aligned has been a constant balancing act. On top of that, austerity measures from brands have been a double-edged sword. While our cost-effective model has made PLAYE more appealing than ever, the overall drop in market activity has meant focusing hard on creating value where it matters most.
Looking Ahead to 2025
So, what’s next for PLAYE?
- US Expansion: We’re taking PLAYE stateside to help even more brands unlock flex and scale in their creative ops.
- Content Supply Chain: Adobe coined the term, but PLAYE is the missing piece. This year, we’re doubling down on building the infrastructure that delivers the creative teams, needed to make scalable content production work.
- AI-Powered Compliance: Compliance is a pain point we’re doubling down on, with AI tools in the works to make it seamless for brands everywhere.
2024 was wild, but it’s been a year of growth, learning, and leveling up. Thanks for being part of the journey - here’s to making 2025 even bigger and better.
Cheers,
Mitch
