Since my first blog post last week I have been hurled headlong into the world of social media and commentating on the Legal Services Act. Unsurprisingly, mostly people want to know my views on law firm branding.
I recorded a podcast in the esteemed surroundings of the Law Society reading room. When it has been edited I will mention here where it can be dowloaded. I have written a couple of articles for other companies newsletters. Again, I will publicise my writings here when they are available. I have also had my first experience of being an expert pannellist at Conscious Solutions conference which touched on the Legal Services Act amongst other issues facing law firms at the moment. Alongside me were the directors of Contact Law, Quality Solicitors and Wigster.com.
One of the more interesting debates was around branding of law firms. Why should a law firm spend money on joining an existing legal brand such as HighStreetLawyer.com rather than spending money on its own brand? This is a topic that law firms have only really had to think about before when considering their position against other similar law firms. Now, a law firm's position and identity needs to be compared against other established companies looking to take an increased market share of the legal services market. Some of these organisations are already well known brands whose public persona is instantly recognised by consumers. Others, such as HighStreetLawyer.com aim to provide the public with clear brand qualities so that the consumer knows the intrinsic values of using them to provide their legal services.
Small general practice firms therefore have to add branding and identity to their lengthening list of strategic dicsussion points. First though, they need to understand what a "brand" is. Is it a new name and a fancy logo? Is it a set of values? Is it a cultural review of the firms behaviour? Can there be such a thing as a legal brand? Once firms have a basic understanding of this they can consider whether they will benefit from reviewing their own brand or becoming part of a larger organisation and taking advantage of someone else's branding and messaging.
I will be talking about this subject on Wednesday 18 May at the LawNet conference. I will let you know my own views in more detail in future posts.
I recorded a podcast in the esteemed surroundings of the Law Society reading room. When it has been edited I will mention here where it can be dowloaded. I have written a couple of articles for other companies newsletters. Again, I will publicise my writings here when they are available. I have also had my first experience of being an expert pannellist at Conscious Solutions conference which touched on the Legal Services Act amongst other issues facing law firms at the moment. Alongside me were the directors of Contact Law, Quality Solicitors and Wigster.com.
One of the more interesting debates was around branding of law firms. Why should a law firm spend money on joining an existing legal brand such as HighStreetLawyer.com rather than spending money on its own brand? This is a topic that law firms have only really had to think about before when considering their position against other similar law firms. Now, a law firm's position and identity needs to be compared against other established companies looking to take an increased market share of the legal services market. Some of these organisations are already well known brands whose public persona is instantly recognised by consumers. Others, such as HighStreetLawyer.com aim to provide the public with clear brand qualities so that the consumer knows the intrinsic values of using them to provide their legal services.
Small general practice firms therefore have to add branding and identity to their lengthening list of strategic dicsussion points. First though, they need to understand what a "brand" is. Is it a new name and a fancy logo? Is it a set of values? Is it a cultural review of the firms behaviour? Can there be such a thing as a legal brand? Once firms have a basic understanding of this they can consider whether they will benefit from reviewing their own brand or becoming part of a larger organisation and taking advantage of someone else's branding and messaging.
I will be talking about this subject on Wednesday 18 May at the LawNet conference. I will let you know my own views in more detail in future posts.
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