Thought leader

By Andrew Dunn, director of business development, Halliwells LLP

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.

Firms who disregard branding as something ‘the marketing department deals with,’ will get left behind in the post-Clementi world. This is because the expected influx of capital into the legal sector will result in professional investors taking a real view of a practice’s brand equity. Most of these investors and private-equity houses regard brand value as a real balance sheet asset – and the boards of many firms have failed to recognise this.

Getting the brand right is vital for any firm. The old adage ‘No-one got sacked for buying IBM,’ demonstrates how effective a strong brand can be in terms of client retention and new client acquisition.

Brands are particularly important for professional services as the most progressive firms have realised that purely relying on the reputation of key individuals is not enough to ensure long-term success. This is because key individuals – no matter how great they are – can leave, die, get embroiled in scandals and do a multitude of other things that will ultimately reduce their worth to a practice. No practice should be built around one individual.

Brands are much more robust, and will ultimately serve the business better in the long term than a key individual.

A well-planned brand strategy enables law firms to differentiate themselves in what is an overcrowded marketplace, full of practices marketing a similar offering. Get your brand right and clients will be more tolerable to your fees.

However, a word of caution. Brands formulated in the isolation of the boardroom, without taking account of the external perception, are bound to be unsuccessful. Most clients will see right through a firm posing as something other than what it actually is. Remember, most people will become familiar with your brand through personal experience – such as visiting the office, dealing with your partners, and even the architecture of your offices – not through how clever your advertising is. Firms lose credibility when the advertising does not match the reality.

Other sectors have realised the power of the brand. The VW/Audi Group markets each of its brands differently – to its defined target markets. Compare the way Skoda, Seat, VW, Bentley and Lamborghini are marketed – all different, yet all part of the same group.