Brand is a board level issue

Brand experience is becoming a defining element for clients when selecting their law firms and the role of management in suppoerting and communicating the brand is imperative to success, says Dawn Hollingworth.

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.

As consumers, we have an intuitive understanding of what ‘brand experience’ means and the internalised ‘gut feeling’ of attraction or rejection it creates for a product, service or organisation. However, in business, we often neglect to consider all the different, synergistic elements, both large and small, that cohere to form a brand perception in the mind of a client or key stakeholder in our business.

This is an easy mistake to make, but a costly one: brand perception and brand experience are the two most dynamic and influential factors in attracting, retaining and developing clients. They have a powerful impact on the bottom line.

There are so many critical elements involved in shaping brand experience that it has to be a ‘top-down, inside-out’ process – starting with vision and business strategy, cascaded down through tiers of management and internal processes, then reinforced through communication and training and expressed externally by professionals and staff who have internalised the brand and know how to behave in order to create the desired brand experience.

In the professional arena, where there are no tangible products or services, people literally embody the firm’s brand – they directly influence client acquisition, retention and, critically, satisfaction. If you fail to invest in embedding your brand values in your people, you have less control over the profitability of your firm.

When you recognise this ‘truth’, it’s easy to see why brand is a board level issue: it is inseparable from business strategy and it needs clarity, commitment and drive at board level in order for the firm’s brand promise to be delivered into the marketplace, so that the firm can realise its own commercial objectives.

I believe that the managing partner is the firm’s number-one brand ambassador. Conversely, if a managing partner is unclear, unsupportive, vague or in conflict with the firm’s brand strategy or promise, this will undermine the firm’s ability to unite in the delivery of a compelling brand experience and achieve a competitive edge. The same is true of other management committee or board members.

‘Internalising’ a brand – getting people to understand, empathise with and align their actions and behaviours with the firm’s values and goals requires a cohesive and coordinated effort between the marketing, HR, and IT functions. These teams need to join forces to ensure that the processes of internal communication, training, personal development, performance reviews, and rewards and remuneration structures are aligned to the brand strategy in order to deliver the desired business benefits.

Where conflict exists – for example, between management’s desire for more people to engage in business development activities versus a culture of maximum billable hours – individuals will more than likely stay within their ‘comfort’ zone of billable time, which is recognised as the priority.

‘Externalising’ a brand through marketing communications is another critical factor in influencing brand perception. It’s the marketer’s job to ensure that the firm’s positioning, promise and personality are accurately expressed to the marketplace. When a firm’s internal functions and processes are aligned behind its brand, it’s easier to ensure that there is no credibility gap between what the firm’s marketing communications says and the reality that the client or prospect experiences.

But firms, like all businesses, are dynamic, organic organisations – constantly evolving against a changing marketplace that is throwing up new challenges. Doesn’t this make the process of addressing brand a bit like trying to change the saddle on a moving horse? Well, yes, it does a bit. Which is why the process of brand, and business development needs to be viewed as a long-term process and why, again, board-level commitment is so critical.

Setting realistic expectations for brand development begins with having a clear vision for the firm, benchmarked against a realistic ‘snapshot’ of how the business is viewed internally and externally.

Understanding the clients’ perceptions, requirements and desires is fundamental to reviewing, adapting and building the firm’s own strategy. When you have a comprehensive understanding of where you are now and a clear picture of where you want to be, which is supported by researched business and market intelligence, then you can plot a path to your desired destination. For those embarking on this epic journey, it’s useful to remember this metaphor: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Dawn Hollingworth is director at UK branding and design consultancy Brand Remedy. She can be contacted at dawn@brandremedy.com