Written by
Andrew Baird on March 25, 2010
Remember the good old days, when lawyers were lawyers? When everyone dressed like Captain Mainwaring and hung around El Vino talking knowledgeably about Suez and its possible influence on the Glyndebourne season? In Latin?
Well, if that’s the way you think then you’ll be one of the many appalled by the latest gizmo on offer to the partners and associates at Camerons. Called ‘Reflect’, it’s an application which gives lawyers things to talk about when entertaining clients.
The Lawyer headlined its story, ‘Camerons to generate cocktail chat from a computer’, with editor Catrin Griffiths labelling it ‘faintly depressing’ and an example of how ‘even normal business interaction has fallen prey to systematisation’.
Well, maybe. But then again, maybe not.
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Written by
Andrew Baird on March 23, 2010
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Interesting news in the legal press this week of a tie-up between Irwin Mitchell and Telegraph Media Group. The pair are co-branding provision of fixed-fee legal services, resourced from a contact centre in Sheffield. Quoted in The Lawyer, the firm’s head of insurance Joe Simpson says:
“For Irwin Mitchell it broadens the channels and echoes the new ways in which legal services will be delivered [after the Legal Services Act (LSA)]. It’s the first post-LSA move for a newspaper brand.”
On the face of it it appears to be a good move for both parties. Irwins will profit from a direct approach to a large number of High Street clients, all of whom are presumably reassured by the brand association that The Telegraph lends to the enterprise.
But what clues might this give us to future brand alliances?
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Written by
Andrew Baird on March 10, 2010
Ask anyone who hasn’t been to describe Mishcon de Reya’s offices. They’d probably envision velvet-lined hat-stands upon which Princesses can safely rest their tiaras. Maybe a nice butler with a moustache and a good line in dry sherry. And, somewhere in the distance, perhaps the soft riffs of Anthony Julius jamming with a rock star in a sound-proofed drawing room.
Or now – perhaps not. Mishcon has just launched its new web site, and it’s the very incarnation of restrained classiness.
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Written by
Andrew Baird on March 10, 2010
I was flicking through Peter Rush’s columns on Legal Marketing the other day when I came across this passage which I thought worth sharing:
Build relationships before you tender and stop fantasising with your partners’ cash. Would you award a tender for millions of pounds to people you had never met or worked with before? Of course not. Firms who enter into a costly bid process for legal tenders publicly advertised because there is a requirement to do so are nearly always wasting their partners’ money and the business development team’s time and patience. Incumbents win eight times out of ten and when they don’t their replacements will know who they are and almost certainly have already successfully supplied legal services to one of the key decision makers.
A sobering thought, whichever line of business you’re in. Yes, it’s exciting when a tender from a previously unassociated multinational lands on your desk. But is it worthwhile responding to it, or would you be better off sticking it in the shredder and directing your attentions on other less exciting, but more attainable goals?
Strangers, perhaps, rarely ever dole out sweeties. So what’s the answer?
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Written by
Andrew Baird on February 25, 2010
Raised eyebrows in many quarters this week as Eversheds is named the UK firm with the strongest brand. A judgement coming to us courtesy of Business Superbrands, which organises annual league tables ‘based on the opinions of marketing experts, business professionals and thousands of British consumers’.
Eversheds – 214th in the league table – comfortably outclassed all the Magic Circle firms and was only beaten in the legal sector by The Law Society. So what’s going on, then?
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Written by
Jamie White on February 23, 2010
Full marks to Olswang for some very smart thinking around digital tactics for its +TECHNOLOGY events. Not only do they have a dedicated microsite with lots of opportunities for users to comment and engage, but it’s also crammed with straight-talking and insightful video, delivered through some slick PDF guides. It also spurs over to a well-populated and carefully-maintained Linked-In group and is signposted by regular tweets. +TECHNOLOGY is Olswang’s 12-month campaign designed to create a respected forum for technology specialists across a varied selection of key sectors. Smart thinking, indeed.
Written by
Jamie White on January 31, 2010
It seems that 2010 has come around with not even so much as a whimper let alone a bang. It’s been a while since The Firm Identity has had an update and the reason why is thus – The team has been feverishly working on a new launch called Monogram Associates, a brand new brand for brands in Legal. As part of Blackbridge Communications, Monogram Associates is a specialist creative consultancy for the sector, delivering corporate identity, brand development and management, internal communications, business development and digital innovation.
Now that the brand has been launched, we’ll be spending the next few months updating The Firm Identity with articles on current brand leadership thinking, which will also feature at intervals on Legal Marketing. What does 2010 have in store for brands in the Legal world? Who knows. One thing’s for sure, though. There’s never been a more important time to think about leading your brand from the top.
Written by
Jamie White on October 21, 2009
With all the news over the couple of years about convergent technologies, it’s easy to forget the pleasures of a good, old-fashioned book. I recently read an article slamming the Kindle and E-reader, posing that they both faced a couple of insurmountable challenges – people are still genuinely terrified to use them on the beach or in the bath. Read the rest of this entry »
Written by
Jamie White on September 17, 2009
Interesting article in The Lawyer (14/09/09), which serves as a reminder of how firms are moving towards interesting new ways of strengthening the BD agenda. Read the rest of this entry »
Written by
Andrew Baird on September 10, 2009
Some web sites have big mouths. Others, such as this offering from Denton Wilde Sapte, have lips which are very tightly pursed indeed.
Want a firm which doesn’t bullsh!t? Which plays cards close to its chest? Which won’t turn up to represent you sporting a garish suit, a panama hat and a bottle of Pimms under its arm? Then welcome to DWS, the folks to whom (apparently) garrulousness and ostentatious branding are anathema.
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