Back in 2005 I read Good companies are from Venus, a piece by Richard Tomkins in the Financial Times. I still have the index card on which I copied out a quote (I have a number of these, all now somewhat dog-eared). This is one I often refer to. For in less than 100 words Tomkins catches what “brand” means (and in doing so highlights the particular challenge for law firms when thinking about brand, if indeed they do).
A high quality product is just the price of entry to a market. Beyond that, what companies are really selling is the thing they can use to differentiate their products from their A high quality product is just the price of entry to a market. Beyond that, what companies are really selling is the thing they can use to differentiate their products from their competitors: the set of emotions, ideas, and beliefs their brands convey . . . The most successful brands and companies are those that establish a relationship with consumers based on communicating with them, understanding their needs and empathising with them.
Although Tomkins was writing about companies, much of what he said is equally applicable to professional service firms.
Law firms, by and large, accept that to succeed in today’s legal services market they need to establish differentiators (see my last post Futurology sucks). Not least, as in terms of legal expertise there is often very little to choose between good law firms and good lawyers.
Where lawyers have difficulty, is in articulating their brand, and communicating it. Lawyers don’t really do emotions, ideas, and beliefs - well, not in business. What they do is “law” - but then so do any number of other law firms.
Asking law firms to think about the intangibles of "brand", rather than what they do, is not always a very rewarding exercise. But it should be, because this is the first step for a law firm and its lawyers in identifying and then realising their brand. And in helping them to use this to build those long term relationships with clients which are so necessary to the success of the law firm.
