Boulder advertising firm rebrands to focus on offering freelance network

BOULDER — Atomic20, an advertising firm that focused on using freelancers, is rebranding as it doubles-down on the contractor and gigging economy.

Chief executive Trish Thomas has renamed the company Teem, and she said the firm will continue to offer advertising, marketing and creative services for clients using Teem’s network of 300 contract workers. That segment of work will be called Teem Creative, and is a continuation of what Atomic20 was doing.

But Thomas said that as her company grew its model of using independent workers, she realized that the gig economy wasn’t going anywhere, and that there were many benefits of using freelancers. Teem Collective is a combination of co-working space, the independent workers who are using it and the expertise Teem has in knowing how to implement those contractors for projects.

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“We’ve been approached by a number of companies in completely different industries,” Thomas said. “There’s a gap in hiring these complex, high-performing teams. People understand how to hire one contract, or work with an agency, but hiring a whole team of independents to get something done is a little new. We want to make it easier and less intimidating.”

Offering up its experience in using independent workers is all the more relevant as the gigging economy grows.

“The freelance economy is not going away,” Thomas said. “We wanted to be out in front. There are a lot of unique benefits and challenges to working with an all-contract workforce like we do, and we’ve been in the trenches for seven years now. We’ve honed our craft and built an effective community with opt-in people.”

She added that Atomic20 was a great brand, but was very much an advertising agency. As Teem, the firm will have a broader focus, with plans to launch digital tools, consultancy and assessment tools to help elevate clients.

In addition to rebranding, Teem expanded and remodeled its space in Boulder. As a business model, Thomas said contractors pay to use the space and work with Teem and, in turn, are paid for the work they do.

“They are clients and vendors,” she said. “We have a deep partnership as they are invested in our business and we invest in their business.”

The flexibility that comes with contract workers is part of the freelance economy — and Teem’s — appeal.

“There are some factors that come up over and over again,” she said. “There’s a need for specialized skills you can’t afford to have on staff. Sometimes you just need someone to come in as a mercenary for a specific tax or role. There’s also the speed of it, you can stack a lot of people on a task and accomplish things more rapidly than simply leveraging a static staff.”

Other factors, like benefits, can be a major cost. While a freelancer pay be paid a higher hourly rate, that can be offset by only paying them for when they work and not having the burden of administrative costs.

Looking ahead, Thomas said she looks forward to Teem showing what it and its contract network can do.

“This new talent model can be mobilized for a lot of companies in a lot of different ways,” she said. “It’s an incredibly effective way to get things done. Contracting can make more sense for a lot of people, and we want to be at the forefront of that movement.”