Things that go bump in the workplace

A classic point of differentiation for specialist firms is sharp, memorable advertising. US firm Fisher & Phillips LLP has deployed its now well-known ‘ghost lady’ since 2006, with significant success.

By Kevin Sullivan, Fisher & Phillips LLP

The national labour and employment law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP in the US has a ghost. She’s been spotted in New Jersey, Chicago, Charlotte, Atlanta, Houston, Portland, Irvine and several other locations. We’re not afraid of her, because she’s helping us to build our brand and our business.

The ‘ghost lady’, as we call her internally, is featured in an advert published in more than 20 publications across the US. The image of a young female ghost walking through an office is accompanied by the headline, ‘You fired her a year ago. Now she’s come back to haunt you’. The advert copy points out that even well-documented terminations can result in lawsuits, but that our experienced labour and employment lawyers can help make such problems ‘disappear’.

This advert has generated quite a buzz. The Legal Marketing Association awarded it first place for a single advertisement in the 2007 ‘Your Honor Awards’ programme. A legal marketing blog posted the advert along with a brief story about its creation and several people have told us its one of the best legal adverts they’ve ever seen. Many times I have heard comments such as this: “That sure doesn’t look like the kind of ad you usually see from law firms,” which is exactly why we did it.

Our marketing partner, James McDonald describes the scenario the advert seeks to represent and how it can engage its target audience: “The ad creates a snapshot of an issue and provides a solution,” he says. “Anyone who manages people and has had to face the difficult task of terminating an employee immediately recognises the scenario. The graphical image draws the reader into the ad. It sends a powerful message and is right on target with the problems clients face and the solutions we provide.”

From concept to campaign
As any advertiser does, we wanted to stand out from the competition. In this case, we achieved that goal by using an attention-grabbing graphic accompanied by direct, plain and brief copy. We wanted to emphasise our understanding of business. We did not want to appear stuffy, and we believe the graphic and copy project a slightly edgy tone – not what is typically expected from a law firm. The advert tells a story at a glance. The graphic and copy quickly capture a ‘haunting’ experience that many employers have faced. Our agency picked up on that theme and created our ghost lady after meetings with partners and management. Those meetings and conversations were with our chairman, marketing partner, more than 20 other partners, our chief operating officer, and myself. This all helped our agency’s creative staff understand our firm’s culture and how we conduct our business.

Credit must be given to our agency, Irvine-based RiechesBaird. It developed several concepts, but the ghost lady elicited the most positive response when we unveiled the designs to our lawyers during a retreat in May 2006. When our marketing partner projected the concept onto a screen there was an audible reaction. Several lawyers laughed (in a good way), others immediately commented aloud: “I like it.” Some said, “That’s exactly what my clients deal with.” The approval of the ghost lady was almost unanimous.

She made her first appearance in a handful of publications in the fourth quarter of 2006. The advert was ultimately rolled out to more than 20 publications.

Monitoring success
To help track the campaign’s effectiveness, each advert has a unique URL tied to the publication in which it appears. All of the URLs go to our website homepage, but when the reader types in the special extension (such as www.laborlawyers.com/chicago for the Chicago advert) we are able to see that. To date, we have tracked 20,000 webpage visits that originated from the various unique URLs. We also ask callers how they found out about the firm and if they mention an advert, we record that information.

We have also converted the advert into a handout that our lawyers are using at seminars, conferences and trade shows. The ghost is just as eye-catching in marketing collateral as she is in a magazine.

Spooking the Bar
Anyone who places advertising for law firms in the US knows that the Bars in Texas and Florida require that adverts be submitted in advance for approval. The Texas Bar approved the campaign, but our ghost spooked the Florida Bar. It requested a slight change to the copy, which we agreed to make. But the workplace apparition was also deemed to violate a rule that “prohibits visual or verbal descriptions, depictions, or portrayals, in any advertisement which creates suspense, or contains exaggerations, or appeals to the emotions…” .

There was no way around this issue. Changing the graphic would have made the advert meaningless. However, I spoke with an ethics counsel at the Bar who told me despite the ruling, the staff thought it was a very good advert. As a result of the ruling, we now use another, ghost-free version in all Florida-based publications.

More than advertising
Advertising has not been the main thrust of marketing at the firm. Fisher & Phillips has a solid track record in utilising public relations (PR). We also use many of the other more traditional legal-marketing tactics, such as seminars and speaking engagements. We simply decided the time was right to reinforce all of those messaging efforts with our first nationwide advertising campaign.

The firm’s goal, through PR and advertising, is to brand Fisher & Phillips as a labour and employment law firm of national scope, with lawyers who understand a client’s business and are capable of providing practical, businesslike solutions to legal problems. Our advert was designed to convey that we understand workplace issues and how to deal with them effectively. Our lawyers do not address the issues with legalese and an ‘on the one hand, on the other hand’ method of counselling. This makes the firm an appropriate choice for companies that simply need labour and employment counsel – there’s no need to sugarcoat an issue our clients clearly understand already. And that is why the ghost was born.

Kevin Sullivan is chief marketing officer at US firm Fisher & Phillips LLP. He can be contacted at ksullivan@laborlawyers.com