When a major brand need arises — a Chief Brand Officer (CBO) to set a new 5-year strategy, or a Brand Identity Director to lead a significant design phase — the default reaction for many companies is to open a requisition for a full-time hire. This reflexive move is often driven by a fundamental pain point: a miscalculation of the true cost and long-term financial risk of a full-time employee (FTE) versus the actual strategic needs of the business.
The commitment of a permanent hire is often far greater than the value derived for strategic brand work
The Pain Point: Unjustified Commitment and Overhead
Hiring a senior-level brand leader full-time involves a staggering financial commitment and an array of risks that a contract model completely bypasses:
The pain point manifests in several ways:
- The Hidden Cost Multiplier: A $150,000 salary for a Senior Brand Strategist is not the full cost. When you factor in benefits (health, retirement), payroll taxes, PTO, recruitment fees (which can be 20-30% of salary), equipment, and office space, the true annual cost can easily balloon to $225,000 or more. This is a fixed expense, whether the brand project is active or not.
- Over-Hiring for Part-Time Needs: Often, a company only needs a CBO-level strategic vision 10-15 hours a week, with occasional spikes for major projects. Hiring that person full-time means paying a premium salary for work that simply isn’t needed 40 hours a week, leading to wasted budget and a frustrated employee.
- The Risk of the Bad Fit: The average cost of a bad senior-level hire is estimated to be 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary. If an FTE doesn’t work out, the termination and re-hiring costs are astronomical, resulting in massive brand disruption and financial loss.
Real-World Example: A mid-sized logistics company that came to us realized their brand positioning was outdated and holding them back from securing enterprise clients. They needed an on-demand senior, C-suite brand leader to define the new strategy, especially since the “ongoing brand work” only requires a fractional resource for maintenance and implementation oversight. If they hired a full-time CBO, they would’ve risked paying a $200k+ salary to someone whose core strategic mission is completed in 9 months, leaving them over-staffed and over-budget for the following two years. So they came to us. Yay!
The Fractional Solution: High Value, Low Risk, Zero Overhead
The fractional model is designed to convert that high, fixed FTE expense and risk into a lean, variable, and managed service.
Pro Marketing Services allows you to access senior-level brand leadership at a fraction of the full-time cost
- Zero Overhead: You pay a negotiated rate for the delivery of the brand strategy or identity project. We handle our own taxes, benefits, insurance, and equipment. The cost multiplier disappears.
- Seniority on Demand: You can access a 20-year veteran Chief Brand Officer to set the strategic direction — the highest caliber of talent — but only pay for the specific time and effort needed to complete that mission. The budget is aligned precisely with the strategic value delivered.
- Risk Mitigation: The contractual model is low-risk. If the initial engagement proves to be a poor fit, the company can conclude the contract without the costly legal and financial entanglement of a full-time employee separation. You get to “test drive” world-class talent before making any permanent decisions.
For critical brand work, don’t tie up capital in long-term commitments you don’t fully need. Leverage the financial intelligence of the fractional model, where you purchase output and expertise, not payroll and risk.
