THE POWER OF BRAND. The power of brand. Strategic brand communications

Transcription

1 + THE POWER OF BRAND

2 + Ian Hunter, Managing Director of Jellyfish discusses how a competitive market and new regulations are putting even more emphasis on brand power. The power of brand has never been more important to legal partnerships and LLP s. Last month saw new regulatory changes come into place meaning and subject to licence and the employment of one qualified lawyer, any supermarket, bank or retailer will be able to offer legal services. Add this to the Jackson Review and the ban on referral fees which looks set for introduction in April 2013 and we start see a market place that is fast become saturated with law firms and other brands vying for space. So what makes one law firm better than the other? Whatever it is communicating this to the market will become the key differentiator in a drive to gain market attention. Embarking on a new brand or rebranding exercise can seem like a daunting exercise into the unknown for a legal partnership; it s certainly not an everyday exercise for practise manager, partners or indeed marketing departments. It however doesn t have to be so. Here are my tips for implementing a brand successfully...

3 1. Why rebrand? Business strategy any good brand should reflect the strategy of your firm such as: what are our objectives, what are we offering and who are we offering it too. Branding is about creating desire around a need, so understanding who requires the need is vital. So does your existing brand reflect who requires the need?. Apathy - sometimes brands just get tired, they lose their focus and become indifferent to the market and the needs of your customers. This can happen through many reasons including poor advocacy, growth, merger, acquisition and a silo mentality. Rebranding can often unearth issues and help to engage people both internally and externally. Legal requirements the change from a partnership to an LLP can be the spark for a firm to take a look at how they present themselves to the market. Merger and Acquisition - questions over branding are often raised when two firms merge or if a partnership is acquired by another. This becomes even more apparent when one or both companies already have a strong brand offering.

4 2. Create a plan of implementation Understand what you re getting into. A brand is not just your logo, it is how people feel when they see or interact with any part of your organisation. This includes every touch point from the visual to the organisational; so carrying out a thorough audit is vitally important. This will enable you to identify the impact of the process in terms of activity and cost and also get that important buy-in from senior partners who don t like nasty surprises. 3. Getting buy-in Identify who you need buy-in from before embarking on any communication process, let alone a new brand or rebranding processes. Don t make it lengthy, but do make sure that key shakers and moves are included; especially the ones that have the power to veto the process if they feel left out as this also helps to engage people and encourages them to not just talk about the brand but to live it. 4. Who does what? Depending on the size of undertaking, it may be worthwhile putting together a project plan; especially if you have extended marketing resources in a number of offices. This way you can time-line the project and assign tasks, milestones and ownership to your team. This will help to keep everyone focussed and push the process through.

5 5. Pen to paper Needless to say this part of the process receives the most attention from the stakeholder team (Senior Partners). It s certainly the most emotive and rest assured will be the one part of the project where momentum can be lost. Define a brief built around the brand a good brief is informative; it is a conversation that presents the functional i.e. this is who we are, this is what we offer, this is how we offer it and this is who we offer it to; and the emotional i.e. this is our personality, this is what we believe in and these are the promises we make to our clients. A good design agency will understand the branding process and therefore ask the right questions. If they don t, then walk away. Remember a brand is not a logo and a set of corporate stationery. If you have engaged the expertise of a branding specialist, then work with them from brand audit to delivery. Whatever the situation, speak with them they are experts in their field just like you. Internal sign-off - make sure you consult your stakeholder list and get approval from partners you have identified as key for creative sign-off. I have witnessed a six month rebranding project fall flat on its face because a senior partner wasn t consulted over this.

6 6. Creativity Make sure that the creative work that is undertaken is fit for purpose. Your brand image needs to be engaging and relevant, but also consistent and manageable. Implementing designs which are impractical can be time consuming and costly. Any legal requirements such as indication of LLP or memberships and association status, such as Lexel accreditation, need to be clearly communicated to the agency as this may affect the way the brand is presented. 7. Marketing collateral From a business card to the sign outside your office, what does the brand concept look like on physical touch points? Has it the flexibility to cover the full spectrum of your communication requirements. 8. Brand police Keeping control over the way the new brand is communicated is vital. Partnerships with multiple offices and regional suppliers need to have clear consistent guideline for use. Brand guidelines are a standard way of policing this; they needn t be complicated and should always have a list of advocates who can answer any queries.

7 9. Love the brand Firms are a hive of reluctant stalwarts. And obtaining buy-in from certain individuals and departments can sometimes seem slow and painful; many seeing the new process as not relevant to them. Identify where there are potential issues and engage with people individually or within business groups if applicable. Educate them to see the direct benefits of embracing a unified and consistent brand. This will help reduce a silo mentality and ultimately a dilution of the brand. 10. Internal launch A brand lives from the inside out. A brand lives from the inside out, so everyone and I mean everyone must be involved in the process. This may be the first time many of them have been introduced into the world of brand, so communicate the importance of it in a way that is relevant to their everyday work. Support your staff throughout. Give them points of contact, access to brand guidelines and training tools where necessary. Brand awareness campaigns around the office are a great way to leverage the brand and remind staff of the personality and values promised by the brand. 11. Shout it out Rebranding is a great way of creating some noise both to existing and new prospects. It s also an opportunity for you to build a story around what makes you so great. You can use a multitude of channels to do this depending on your budget and audience.

8 Never lose track of the fact that a brand creates desire; it doesn t create trust in its own right. This can only be achieved by the consistent delivery of your services and values. Therefore, don t create a brand around something you can t deliver on