The future of work is here. From technology’s impact (notably generative AI) to experimentation with new, flexible work models and the increasingly strategic role of an on-demand workforce, teams face dizzying changes.

In this interview with Ashley Schnider, director of Georgia Pacific’s in-house agency Campfire Creative, the team at Wripple explores critical factors for building a modern marketing workforce that keeps their clients at Georgia-Pacific ahead of the curve.

Wripple: What new approaches to work have been most important to your team’s success and what have you learned along the way? 

Schnider: Blended teams. We have full-time, contract and on-demand freelancers. This allows us to augment our capabilities and easily scale while maintaining core knowledge and talent with our full-time employees. We assess where it’s valuable to add headcount versus contract/freelance support.

Workplace flexibility. We have a hybrid leadership team and fully remote creatives, except for key meetings which are held in person. Workspace flexibility is paramount. My perspective is that there are benefits to both remote and face-to-face; the key is finding what works best for your people and business.

AI Strategy. We are exploring AI tools, focusing on team efficiency and creative effectiveness. My advice is to begin with information-gathering and beware of AI-washing. Look at their models and how their AI learns, and leverage trial offers and network recommendations before implementing. Also, be sensitive to your team’s concerns about AI.

Wripple: Operationally, what are your organization's top priorities to enable a modern marketing workforce moving forward? 

Schnider: Our top priority has always been finding people who have the right virtues and talents. Working with remote talent has allowed us to broaden our search. When we do find talent, particularly remote talent, culture-focused onboarding is a priority.

Georgia-Pacific offers robust eLearning support that explains our guiding principles, vision and culture. On a team level, we have onboarding documents, assign a peer buddy to the new employee, and provide office tours and new-hire swag. For remote or contract/freelance employees, we take a similar approach to onboarding but keep it simple to maintain efficiency and confidentiality.

Lastly, we leverage technology that enables a culture of collaboration. This allows us to facilitate design sprints and lead video shoots remotely.

Wripple: How have the demands of a modern marketing workforce impacted your team’s approach to planning?

Schnider: Our team manages planning primarily by looking at our available billable hours to determine resource options for a project. We used to see that number as finite. If we were maxed out and a client had a new request, we’d ask if their deadline or scope was flexible. If the answer was no, this could result in turning work down or suggesting an external partner. Working with Wripple has enabled us to bring in talent on-demand and quickly increase our bandwidth. This means we can keep more work in house and say yes more often.

Wripple: When you think about the work your team creates for Georgia Pacific, what excites you most about the changes associated with the future of work? 

Schnider: I’m most excited about advancing our agility. We continue to identify partners and tools across production, staffing, AI, and more to be more productive and effective. This is our competitive edge as an in-house agency—understanding business needs and being equipped to respond faster, smarter and more effectively than external agencies.

Wripple is an on-demand marketing talent platform that matches organizations with fully vetted, top-tier freelancers in real time. If your team needs access to a virtual bench, learn more at www.wripple.com.