Law Firm Branding

Branding is an important part of a client’s purchasing decision.  When you create a brand, you want to tell a story about your firm and demonstrate how you are different from your competition.  Below are a few tips for branding.

Branding

• Don’t make a product or service for everyone.
• Tell a story to your audience. Your story should make the product/service better.
• Every interaction is important: web site, phone, meeting, email.
• Your story is being told, you can participate or not.  What is your story?

No Differentiation – Don’t Brand Your Company as These

• Vague:  Quality, Customer Satisfaction, Creativity
• Services: Easily imitated services/programs, breadth of line (“We do it all”)
• Money: Discounts, Price, or Promotions

Differentiation

1. Being 1^st
2. Attribute Ownership
3. Leadership
4. Heritage
5. Market Specialty
6. Preference
7. How Made
8. Latest
9. Hotness

Tell a Story

• Story must be True
• Make a Promise
• Trusted
• First Impression
• Sensory
• Focused
• Don’t Contradict
• Align with values

Positioning

• Size, Price, Sex, Speed
• Don’t Be Everybody
• Be 1^st…or be against the leader, don’t go head-on, focus on leader’s negatives

Offer

• Shortcut
• Miracle
• Money
• Social Success
• Safety or Fear
• Ego
• Fun & Pleasure
• Belonging
• It’s all about our experience.

Types of People

• Intuitive – Next best thing.
• Thinkers  – No feelings, just logic
• Feeler – Endorsements
• Sensors – Facts

Trying to Brand a Commodity

• Identify and Personify
• Create or Reposition the Category

Worldview

1. Worldview – Share your view of the world
2. Frame –  Aware, listen, believe
3. Worth Noticing – Subtle, palatable, or care about
4. Live the Story – Authentic, don’t compromise
5. Shortcuts to tell the story
6. Change product to make natural, easy to tell.
7. Permission – Follow-up with clients

Humans

• Snap judgments. Humans make decisions on almost no data.  What does your website say?
• You need to be authentic to back up your claim.
• People resist change once a decision has been made.

Powerful Brands

• Don’t be generic, be different
• Don’t dilute, contract product lines
• Build on publicity
• Are first and consistent
• Own a word
• Code word for prestige
• Authentic, leaders and credentialed
• Raise prices
• Narrow until you are a category
• Two products for two markets = two brands
• Second brand should be distinct
• Logos: Horizontal, Luxury = Typeface, Masc. vs. Fem. And Old vs. New

Color Theory

• White = Purity
• Black = Luxury
• Blue = Leadership
• Purple = Royalty
• Green = Health, Nature