Law Firm Branding

As marketers of legal services, we all want to present our firms in the best possible light. Sometime it can feel like our hands are tied by the need to be taken seriously and unlike our colleagues in consumer markets we can’t rely on some of the more emotive drivers to win our customers attentions.

Looking for inspirational examples of exciting brands within the legal sector reveals slim pickings, so this month we’ve scoured the web to bring you a selection of brands, across all industries, that successful communicate a serious attitude to their field while remaining dynamic and interesting.

1. Cinven (Private Equity)

Cinven is a leading European buyout firm that acquires successful, high-quality companies across six key sectors and works closely with them to help them grow and develop. Cinven is responsible for many buyout industry ‘firsts’, including the first €1 billion plus buyouts in France, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

The Cinven site has a structure that is quite similar to that of some of the best sites in the legal sector. The strength of the site lies in its subtle use of media elements to enhance the messages within distracting from them.

Lessons for law firm branding: on brand graphic treatments to stock photography, video profiles for each of it’s investments that bring it’s holdings to life, and a youthful colour palette that sets the firm apart from it’s more austere competitors.

2. Amnesty International (Human Rights Charity)

Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. It has more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and it co-ordinates this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.

Executions, stoning, and torture must certainly rank among the most serious topics you could write a website about. The design of the amnesty site employs a layout and design you might expect to find on a teen magazine. In this case the design, on first sight, seems friendly and accessible only to deliver shocking content once you brain has time to take it all in.

Lessons for law firm branding: the juxtaposition of fun and friendly with the shocking exaggerates the effect of the words and images and strengthens the message.

3. Euro NCAP (Automotive Testing)

Euro NCAP provides motoring consumers with an independent assessment of the safety performance of the most popular cars sold in Europe. Established in 1997, it is now backed by seven European Governments, the European Commission and motoring and consumer organisations in every EU country.

The scientific testing of vehicle safety is a highly technical topic; one where it would be easy to loose readers if the information isn’t pitched at the right level. Euro NCAP has solved this by offering information at two levels. Readers who just want to find star-ratings can use a search facility located prominently at the top left of every page and emotively titled “How safe is your car?”. Readers looking for technical information can browse the site to find full diagrams and descriptions of test methodologies.

Lessons for law firm branding: Information presented in forms to suit different audiences. Strong navigation and user-friendly search facility.

4. Sage (Accounting Software)

Sage provides business software, services and support to small and medium sized businesses. Traditionally it has been associated with accounting software, but over the last twenty years Sage have taken this experience and insight and applied it to other areas. It now offers a wide range of solutions from business stationery to customer relationship management.

Sage has managed the seemingly impossible by bringing excitement to a brand involved primarily in accountancy software. By focusing the entire brand around a key benefit - growing your business - Sage has been able to escape a historically dull image and increase the distance between itself and its competitors.

Lessons for law firm branding: amplify your firm’s unique selling point by using it to inspire a visual identity system.

5. TED (Education & Conferences)

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds:  Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences in California, USA and Oxford UK, TED now includes the award-winning TEDTalks video website, a new community program, and the annual TED Prize.

The speakers at the TED conference are leaders in their field and often cover some pretty heavy ideas. Bringing those ideas to the masses calls for a pretty special approach. Limiting each talk to 18 minutes, forces speakers to be succinct, with most using visual aids, live demonstrations and performances to get the point quickly.

Lessons for law firm branding: Video use on law firm websites is still largely limited to a brief office tour, or introduction by the managing partner. Why not set your staff the task of recording a TED style presentation for each of your key practice areas as a way of proving your expertise online.