They say that “Change is inevitable, but growth is optional.”
In the business world, many companies struggle with this, often seeing change as a challenge rather than an opportunity.
Yet, the key to success is adaptability.
By adapting to industry trends and demands, you can spot opportunities to innovate, drive business growth, and gain a competitive advantage.
Fiverr stands out as a great example of a company that successfully embraced adaptability by expanding its services to meet new market demand and tweaking its branding to align with its identity as it scales.
In this interview, Fiverr’s Creative Director, Ami Alush, discusses:
- The company’s transformation from a freelance platform into a global marketplace
- Branding’s role in its transformation
- How it maintains its appeal to small businesses and freelancers while also attracting big clients
Who Is Ami Alush?
With nearly two decades of experience under his belt, Ami started his career in advertising at McCann as a digital copywriter, and later became an Executive Creative Director, working with clients such as Volvo, Nestle, Dominos, and Burger King. He also served as the Chief Creative Officer at Leo Burnett Israel, and his work has been honored at the Cannes Lions Festival, D&AD, One Show, Clio Awards, and Webby Awards.
The name "Fiverr" comes from its original concept of offering services at only $5.
While it began as a platform for freelancers and small businesses, it has evolved through the years to meet the changing demands of today’s businesses, catering to larger corporations with diverse, high-quality services at various price points.
“Fiverr started in 2010 with a simple but powerful idea: to make digital services accessible to everyone. By introducing a unique ‘Service as a Product’ (SaaP) model, Fiverr turned buying services into a seamless experience, just like shopping for products on Amazon,” Ami explains.
Since then, the platform has grown and evolved, expanding its services and tackling more complex projects.
“Today, Fiverr is a global marketplace offering over 700 categories of services, from digital marketing and graphic design to programming, video production, and so much more,” he adds.
How Fiverr Transformed Its Brand Identity to Go Bigger
I asked Ami how the perception of Fiverr has changed among freelancers and businesses since its inception, and what role has branding played in this transformation.
“At its inception, Fiverr was a go-to for small business owners and individual entrepreneurs seeking affordable solutions. But in recent years, we’ve seen a significant rise in medium to large businesses turning to Fiverr for longer-term, more complex projects.
We’re proud to share that more than 50% of the Fortune 100 now use our platform. This growth, or evolution, is a testament to changed perception and trust around our brand,” he explains.
He says that this has been facilitated by more upscale partnerships and campaigns, including with leading business experts and personalities like Martha Stewart, Bobby Berk, and Steven Bartlett.
“We’re also choosing to align many of our brand campaigns around areas of the platform where we are seeing growth on Fiverr.
Our out-of-home (OOH) campaign, ‘AI Took my Job…to the next level’ aligned with the rapid growth we saw in AI and machine learning services. This segment is booming as more businesses look to integrate these cutting-edge technologies into their work,” he adds.
Fiverr launched a cheeky OOH campaign to capitalize on the buzz around the Summer Olympics in Paris and shift the focus from the global event to towns and cities in the U.S. named Paris.
Ami shares the creative process behind this campaign and how they ensured it aligned with Fiverr’s brand identity:
“Our teams at Fiverr are always brainstorming and staying conscious of societal and cultural trends.
For the Paris OOH campaign, it was a great opportunity to elevate cities across the country that aren’t traditionally featured anywhere. This also showcases how Fiverr works to be inclusive of all individuals and businesses no matter how big or small or where they may be based.”
Ami hopes that the brand’s visibility will remind local businesses across these towns and cities that there are freelancers on Fiverr who can support their businesses and help them grow from anywhere.
How Fiverr Competes with Traditional Hiring by Showcasing Professional Talent
Shifting the brand perception from being known for affordable services to a platform for high-quality professional services certainly comes with its own set of challenges.
“While we’ve made great strides in showcasing the caliber of talent and complex projects that can be found on Fiverr, we face significant competition from offline hiring, which still dominates a large portion of the market,” Ami says.
He highlights that the real challenge is not only in changing perceptions but also in convincing businesses that Fiverr offers the same benefits as offline hiring, if not more, along with the added convenience of a global marketplace.
“Our marketing efforts are focused on bridging this gap and building trust. And we have come a long way, even in the last few years. It doesn’t mean our job is done yet, there is always more to do,” he points out.
In a previous podcast, we spoke to Bukki Adedapo, Fiverr's UK Country Manager who shares how the platform powers freelancers.
Watch the video to learn more:
In a recent press release, the company shared its latest product updates, including:
- New programs for hourly hiring for Fiverr Pro freelancers
- AI matching to better connect businesses to the right experts
- Satisfaction Guarantee
“We want all of these new features to build trust, confidence, and loyalty,” Ami concludes.
But how does Fiverr maintain its appeal to small businesses and freelancers while also attracting larger corporate clients?
According to Ami, Fiverr accomplishes this by staying true to its roots and providing affordable, accessible digital services that help entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed.
“Fiverr’s Marketplace has become incredibly diverse, with freelancers and clients from over 160 countries across a wide range of industries.
This diversity allows us to meet the unique needs of all types of businesses, large or small — whether that means finding a freelancer who speaks their preferred language, works within their time zone, or has the specific expertise they need,” he explains.
He also highlights that to meet the demand of the substantial increase in medium to large enterprises they have created an additional, premium marketplace designed for those bigger businesses: Fiverr Pro.
“Balancing these two sides of our platform is key to our continued success,” he concludes.
How Fiverr Adapts While Staying True to Its Branding
Given Fiverr’s transformation, I was curious to hear from Ami if the company is planning a rebrand.
His answer: negative.
He shares that In September 2020, they worked with design firm KOTO to refresh and upgrade Fiverr’s branding.
The rebranding focused on creating a cohesive brand identity with the key elements being:
- A new, bespoke wordmark with a "fi" ligature for digital use.
- An evolved color palette moving beyond the original green.
- A refreshed tone of voice combining warmth and professionalism, supported by new typography.
- Photography featuring real Fiverr users, celebrating their contributions to the platform.
“This ‘rebrand’ evolved the freelance platform’s visual and verbal identity, so that it reflects the spirit of its worldwide community and commitment to revolutionizing the world of work,” he adds.
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Fiverr also leverages photography in its branding by constantly showcasing freelancers and clients.
“We always look to champion our freelancers and feature them whenever possible. In our connections ads in 2019, we featured freelancers and customers on Fiverr, and when we don’t feature them, we use them to help make the ads, as we did with the Super Bowl ad in 2021,” Ami says.
He highlights that the OOH ads in the recent "AI took my job... to the next level" campaign also featured images of real freelancers offering AI services, taken by local freelance photographers.
No matter how big or small the campaign is, Fiverr makes it a point to highlight its freelancers as the heart of the platform, reinforcing its roots while demonstrating growth.
Fiverr’s ability to make itself at home in the global marketplace can be traced back to its effort to adapt to market demands without forfeiting its distinct brand identity.
Change is an integral part of every business, but adaptability is what creates long-term success.
