Editor's letter

This month marks Legal Marketing magazine’s first year of publication – and what a year it’s been.

Since the first issue launched back in April last year, the publication has gone from strength to strength and it has been a pleasure to cover the huge range of issues and developments in what is possibly the most exciting area within the legal landscape at the moment. And that looks set to continue.

Furthermore, the positive response to Legal Marketing has been overwhelming, and it’s been great to meet some of you face-to-face at our conferences and other events.

From a personal point of view, as a relative newcomer to the world of law-firm marketing, it has been intriguing to follow the journey of legal marketers from a back-office function, concerned primarily with brochures and ‘fluffy’ marketing tasks, to a strategic hub of vital importance to the law firms of tomorrow.

It is interesting to look back at the issues covered within these pages: the evolving role of the marketer, increasing awareness of brand, the growing importance of corporate social responsibility, and much more, and the Legal Marketing team is ready to sink its teeth into some new challenges during our second year.

At this point, therefore, it gives me great pleasure to announce two new additions to our valued editorial board: Andrew Dunn, director of business development at UK firm Halliwells LLP, and international firm Clifford Chance’s global head of business development, Charles Doyle. So far, the editorial board has been hugely supportive, both in the research stages of the magazine and in providing advice for forward features schedules and article ideas. Both Andrew and Charles are profiled in this issue and I’m sure their input will be equally invaluable.

In my first editor’s letter, I highlighted our goal of providing you with the most relevant and up-to-date information possible, which you could use as part of your everyday toolkit. The articles that you, the subscribers (as well as others working in the industry) have contributed have been of an extremely high standard and I hope that we have achieved this promise over the past twelve months.

I would like to thank you for your support in the past year and hope that you continue to enjoy the magazine. As always, if you have any feedback or article suggestions, I can be contacted at kclifton@ark-group.com.

Kate Clifton
Editor

Features

Masterclass: Rebrand strategy Free
The appetite for rebranding in the legal sector has never been greater than over the past few years. For some firms the driver for this has been fundamentally strategic, addressing a need to present a more professional, inspiring, globally consistent face to the world. For others it has been more tactical, perhaps seeing a change in corporate status – such as conversion to LLP, or when an acquisition has been made – as a pertinent time for change.

Masterclass: Brand differentiation This article is for subscribers only
Since I joined the world of lawyers two years ago, I have been struck by their steadfast desire to avoid differentiation from other law firms. Having come from a background of brutal competition with a deep desire to find distinctive points of difference, I have found that, in the main, lawyers prefer to be at least ‘as good as’ rather than ‘different from’ or ‘better than’ other lawyers. Law firms have generally sought ‘better sameness’ rather than meaningful difference. Consequently, they have far to go in order to achieve a completely differentiated brand.

Case study: Eversheds LLP This article is for subscribers only
Our rebrand began several years ago when we embarked on a massive exercise to understand what our clients really wanted from their legal advisers. Having become one integrated law firm in 2000 and expanding more overseas, service excellence was increasingly important within the firm. As we were growing, so were our clients, who had changing needs which we had to meet. What we wanted to do was to start selling Eversheds as a whole and demonstrate how we offered more than your average law firm. A need arose to create a brand which reflected what we stood for and what we could deliver.

Case study: Maclay Murray & Spens LLP This article is for subscribers only
People come to legal marketing from many different backgrounds. My own is in sales. For three years before I joined my first legal firm 14 years ago, I worked at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the medical/pharmaceutical company, as a Scottish territory manager. It was my first sales job and I remember, when I started, my boss asking me to pick the colour of my new car. “What are my options?” I naively asked. “White,” he replied.

Cover feature: Brand power This article is for subscribers only
Suppose there was a business process that could ensure that the price your practice’s lawyers could charge for their hours would always be thirty per cent higher than any other in town and, better still, the clients were happy to pay those higher prices. Or what if there was a way to ensure that, when the owners of the practice were ready to sell, they would get a queue of interested buyers offering high multiples of earnings. And imagine, in these days of ‘the war for talent’, if droves of ‘generation Y’ youngsters were keen to join the practice.

Q&A: A global strategy for corporate social responsibility Free
International firm Clifford Chance's corporate responsibility brochure is displayed prominently at the reception of its London office. This sends visitors a clear message about the importance the firm attaches to its global corporate social responsibilty programme, which focuses on pro bono, community and environmental work. Pro bono partner Michael Smyth talks to Joanna Goodman about the firm's approach to CSR.

Regulars

The last word Free
Brand differentiation is becoming increasingly important in achieving and maintaining a competitive edge in today’s legal marketplace. As services inevitably move towards homogenisation and commoditisation, the brand adage, ‘It’s not what you do but how you do it,’ is emerging as a powerful truism.

Thought leader Free
Branding remains one of the most misunderstood concepts within the professional services arena. Take a straw poll of partners from most leading law firms and they will almost inextricably link branding to the colour and font of their logo, as well as general corporate-identity themes. While corporate identity plays an important role in the brand, it is just one part of the mix.