Defining a law firm’s brand intelligence
19 March 2019
Establishing a positive brand perception has never been more important. Often a client’s first brand experience is a visit to a website, therefore the digital expression of law firm’s brand intelligence is paramount in building the right kind of connection with a user.
Creating a more influential digital experience requires careful attention to the way a brand behaves, speaks and presents itself visually. Cohesion and consistency are key in achieving this along with a mode of communicating that is distinctive and proprietary to that brand.
Many law firms have much to do to improve the digital deployment of their brands, particularly around visual identity and brand language. Indifference to making a brand work better often comes from a cynical perspective that rests in the complacency of a steady balance sheet. However, firms must deploy their brands intelligently, effectively and consistently, especially to engage with the new audiences arising each day through increased merger activity across the sector and business diversification beyond law. Clarity and articulation of who you are, what you do and why it matters to your audience form the foundation of creating significant difference for your brand in the legal landscape.
Expressing brand intelligence online can be done in a number of ways. Consistent and coherent brand language is essential and extends from a succinct and meaningful positioning statement that articulates the who, what and why of the brand and influences all subsequent content in the site. Brand values, supported by evidence in the broader content, deliver succinct points of reference to influence brand perception both internally and externally. A clear tone of voice throughout a digital experience serves to set governance to all written content from sector or service content, case studies and right through to partner bios.
A distinctive visual brand is a powerful tool for law firms to use in building brand recognition in a busy marketplace. Having an engaging and proprietary visual identity is an effective way to capture and retain user attention. It can inspire more compelling content, such as video and animation, and protect brand consistency in the continued conversation in social media. Effective visual brand design is an essential part of the bigger brand picture that is all too often overlooked or underestimated by law firms. In a sector that is beset by blue and grey colour palettes and arbitrary stock photos of modern city architecture, embracing a visual identity that makes a statement about who you are as a firm can be a huge advantage and pay dividends in user engagement.
This viewpoint has been extracted from our latest Living Ratings – the brand and digital intelligence of the world’s leading law firms 2019. To download a copy please visit our Living Ratings content hub.
If you would like to know more about Living Ratings or how we can create award-winning and evidence-driven brands and digital experiences for your firm, please contact Greg Hobden in London, Kevin Windorf in New York or Gigi Yung in Hong Kong.
