Welcome to logoland

When lawyers practised as a cottage industry brands were unimportant.  Clients sought out their legal advisers on personal and, often, very local knowledge. Over the last twenty years, the average size of a firm has increased dramatically and many have expanded to reach not only a regional but national audience.   We see the need for an identity to be created which can personify the firm and its services. 

In this way, brands enable business entities to achieve human qualities such as trustworthiness and reliability.   With the prospect of external financial investment looming, these brand qualities may become vital in determining which firm’s profile is raised above the parapet in what could be a crowded marketplace.   Moreover, it should also be noted that for corporations, much of their financial value results from the brand asset value, which often far exceeds the value of all of the company's tangible assets.  

To many firms a new logo or website design sums up their branding ambitions.   They mistake creating an identity with creating a brand.   Creating a brand involves building awareness and positioning the firm to take competitive advantage.   In doing so, both the management and staff can become brand champions.   

So what factors do we consider when creating a brand and how can technology help?

New clients happen upon firms in a number of ways:  for example, they may be personally recommended, introduced by third parties or locate the firm using a web search.    Whichever way, they will expect their first contact with the firm to reinforce the brand qualities they were expecting.    If making a web enquiry, it is likely that pages of firms will be listed.   Experienced surfers may avoid entries which are obviously paid for and instead look for key words which sum up what they are looking for.   These are detected by search engine spiders when indexing your content so always ensure that web copy is relevant for the services you are providing.    Commercial firms can be employed to help raise your listing but at a price.

Having reached your home page, you will want to ensure that your surfer stays.    Our own statistics show that only 3% of visitors to our home page use narrowband dial-up connections, and therefore issues over the delay in downloading that first page are less than they once were.   Moreover, only 7% now use low-resolution screens of 800x600.   Clients are therefore used to a richer web experience and come to expect the same standards everywhere.  

The best websites are often those that employ a clean, simple design combined with easy navigation.   Avoid being gimmicky.   The use of Flash may have a place in arts or museum sites, but is best avoided in the legal world where the majority of clients will expect to get the information they need quickly and without the feeling that they are being “sold to”.     Moreover, Flash has the disadvantage that its code cannot be read by search engines.

Burying away the “Contact us” section is a cardinal sin which many sites commit.  If a user cannot find this information quickly and easily then he may look elsewhere.   Always provide downloadable map links and photographs of the building:  they help a client find you when he visits.

Typestyles on websites are a thorny issue.   Some, such as Verdana, translate well onto webpages, but be aware that not all will look the same when used with Apple’s Safari browser – although, with only 1% of our viewers using this, it might not be regarded as a major obstacle.   Logos, of course, will generally be created in one of the popular formats such as GIF, JPEG or the less well used PNG.

Carrying through the typestyle to the firm’s printed brochure and stationery creates a consistency in approach.   The firm’s style should be applied to all correspondence and other documentation – this is one area where individual expression simply should not be tolerated.   Guidelines and standards need to be adopted and used by all.

If you must have news, avoid the temptation of believing that internal promotions matter much to anyone outside and, even worse, the obviously bought in newsfeeds.    Aim to differentiate yourself.   News needs to be relevant, perhaps with comment on changes in the law and their everyday application.  The purpose of news in this context is not only to inform but also to provide a legitimate opportunity to offer a potential service to the client in the light of a relevant change in the law.

When all this has been done, we have the underpinnings of a brand:    a style and image of the firm which we believe represents what we are and our place in the market – populist or bespoke, high-street or boutique.

For some firms, brand loyalty programs may play a part in their business development.  

Used properly, your database can be enlisted to encourage clients to revisit your website.  Instead of using a blanket approach, target clients with updates – recent examples would include the changes which ended the previous Enduring Powers of Attorney regime.  

Don’t always seek to sell:  seek to inform.   Offering “free” advice via email or the web costs little other than the time spent in compiling it.  However, in marketing terms it may offer the best conversion opportunities.  You are targeting clients who already deal with the firm and encouraging their loyalty.   Instead of being what is often a “distress” purchase, law firms become a natural source of information. 

Using the above elements we can help create a strong brand for the firm in its intended marketplace encompassing its strategy, its identity (including its logo and its tagline), its marketing communication and the way it interacts with clients and potential clients.

With continued effort, brands can be created and further strengthened in ways that both appeal to existing and potential clients as well as future investors or stakeholders as we enter a brave new world.

Published on: 26-11-2007