denotes premium content | Nov 21 2008 Legal Marketing archive
Volume 1 Issue 2
Editor's letter
Mention branding to any law-firm marketing director and you’re guaranteed to get a passionate response. Whether they are enthusiastically leading an image revamp or struggling to communicate the brand message around the firm, one thing is certain. For the majority of firms, brand is a vital contributor to successful market positioning and business development at every level.
Perhaps most surprising for those that have seen the legal marketing industry mature, is that branding has its origins outside of the legal profession. Corporate organisations have been doing it for years. Many of today’s most successful companies have instantly recognisable logos and taglines and pour huge resources into marketing the brand at every available opportunity.
While law firms remain more conservative in their approach to marketing, however, there has been significant movement away from the traditional attitude that marketing practised outside of the professions has no place at law firms. The law is seemingly more open to external influence.
And marketing professionals are taking advantage of the free rein that they now have, in comparison to the earliest days of law-firm marketing. Firms are advertising more openly in the media – in particular radio and television. TV commercials for personal-injury specialists, for example, are increasingly frequent in the
The shift is also apparent in the changing role of marketers, as they become more sales focused – and client facing. Spurred by an influx of skilled individuals from other industries within the professions, and those with experience of completely different markets, new ideas and influences in legal marketing are currently thriving. This has marketers and consultants alike, very excited.
But this change has been a long time coming and there are still many obstacles for marketers to overcome. The most important thing is that they are continuing to come up with better ways of engaging people in what they do and proving that marketing is a true investment, not merely a cost.
As always, if you have any issues that you are keen to address in an article, or that you would like Legal Marketing to explore, you can contact me at kclifton@ark-group.com. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this issue of the magazine.
Kate Clifton
Editor
Features
Case study: Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP
Of the disciplines that successful lawyers possess, two are paramount: skillful questioning and active listening. Although foundational, these attributes enable lawyers to better understand facts, issues and relevant legal principles to ensure thoughtful and effective representation of clients.
Feature: The missing link
The professional-services sector has invested huge amounts of money in software programs to help identify and manage its client contacts. When first introduced, client-relationship management (CRM) products were the holy grail of the law-firm marketing department, as vendors promised an end to data redundancy and obsolete records, combined with built-in intelligence that identified all client-contact points to leverage a firm-wide relationship.
Case study: Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
A recruitment campaign based around the use of bold colours and graphics and fuelled by feedback from law students, at international firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP.
Masterclass: Developing marketing plans
The Lewis & Carroll law firm has excellent lawyers and does great work. Like many other law firms, it has long operated on the principle that this is enough. If you have quality people and if you do good work, the firm believes, those in need of your services will beat a path to your door.
Lately, however, this approach hasn’t been working too well. The firm’s growth has been flat, while its competitors have grown and captured a larger share of the most interesting and profitable legal work.
Cover story: Knocking at the right doors
Marketers and lawyers have always had very different backgrounds and character traits, which have tended to clash somewhat over the years. This has often slowed the onslaught of sophisticated, strategic marketing programmes at many a law firm.
Case study: Cooley Godward LLP
Like many other firms, Cooley Godward LLP installed a software package (InterAction) to manage its primary contact-management system several years ago.
Unfortunately, the firm found that its lawyers and staff did not embrace the system and were often reluctant to use it. One particular shortcoming was that the existing version of the technology did not allow secretaries access to contacts on lawyers’ behalf.
Profile: Cherie Olland
As global director of business development and communications at international firm Jones Day, Cherie Olland is all too familiar with the challenges of successfully taking a growing firm to market.
Masterclass: People management and teamworking
Law firm partners do not have a great reputation for managing their non-chargeable activities. Even David Maister, who has advised a great many law firms in his time, has recently attacked law firm management capabilities.
Case study: Cripps Harries Hall LLP
Internal communications is something of a Cinderella subject. At its worst, it suggests indoctrinating sceptical employees with ‘the firm ethos’. At best, it conjures images of a thousand newsletters heading for a thousand waste-paper baskets. Surely it is external communications that matter: the skillful public-relations campaign and the methodical client-relationship management (CRM) programme.
Regulars
Marketing tips: Rainmaking for lawyers
Non-marketing staff can play a key role in securing business-development opportunities outside of targeted marketing campaigns. Stacy West Clark details some popular – and effective – approaches to rainmaking for lawyers.
A brief chat with...
Betsy Huntley, director of marketing at US firm Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, discusses recruitment.
Thought leader
Do you want to know what my pet hate is, what really makes me squirm inside? It’s simple: trying to explain to the uninitiated, what I do for a living.
Of course, I can give them my job title, but that’s often met with a bemused look. ‘I didn’t realise law firms did marketing,’ is often the first response.
