Make Your Law Firm a Global Brand – Strategies beyond Recession

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Make Your Law Firm a Global Brand – Strategies beyond Recession

Dr. Ranjeet Mehta | November 2009

Have you ever wondered how can you easily categorise your friends and colleagues as per your perception of their traits? Few are funny, others are dull, some are smart and of course, others are quite boring.

Someone, who has been positioned as the funny guy, do you remember what did he do to get positioned as funny? He probably cracked a joke at a canteen during lunch, or may be he forwarded some amusing e-mails to a group, or he just looks funny and is usually cheerful. Well, what he definitely did not do is to go around telling people that he is a funny person! That’s exactly how brands get their position.

It could be the theme of an advertisement, the packaging, the colour of your product or uncompromisingly high service quality standards; each of these elements positions your brand in your client’s mind. Positioning defines where your product or service stands in relation to others offering similar products and services in the marketplace as well as the mindset of the customer.

All innovative law firms like- Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co, Luthra & Luthra, Indus G & D regard positioning as the heart of competitive strategy. The ultimate aim of any business strategy is to satisfy the customer needs and create value for the company.

If personality is the main part of a brand’s identity, positioning is the other pillar of brand’s strategic platform. Some law firms can have all great personalities from the legal profession, or a company can create a unique personality for itself or its services. However, unless people see it and perceive it as much, it will have little effect. On the contrary, positioning can be much more successful if it is personified, as the personality of your firm is a differentiator in itself.

AVOID THE GAP BETWEEN IMAGE AND IDENTITY:

All advocates aim to build a great image of their firms. Law firms brand image may not turn out to be the same as the identity and personality we want the firm to be perceived, because image is always subject to perception. If we do not project the identity in a right way or not powerfully enough, the audience to whom we want to acknowledge our identity might see it as something totally different. They might not view us as honest and reliable.

Image can be based on facts or imagination depending on how people perceive things. The difference between identity and image is called ‘Perception Gap’ and it must be avoided at all cost through strong positioning strategy. To avoid this gap, the firm should ensure what is offered and what is acknowledged.

Some people argue that branding is actually positioning, stating that unless a brand has a position, it has no unique value in the minds of consumers. You can establish the brand personality of your law firm and can reach your target audience through precise market segmentation identify. However, you can connect them together through positioning your law firm as a brand in the minds of that audience.

The key points to positioning are:

Positioning is aimed at creating sustainable competitive advantage.
Positioning is to manage the perceptions.
Brand personality and image are the result of the positioning process.

SEVEN MOST POWERFUL POSITIONING STRATEGIES FOR A LAW FIRM:

Solution to problem in a different way- This is highly effective strategy for a service industry and for law firm in particular. Since, problems have always an emotional impact on the people. In this strategy, a solution to the problem can be offered by emphasising an emotional benefit to the solution. Emotional strategy drives people to wish for things.
Corporate identity- In this strategy, a law firm can rely on its corporate name to endorse the services. The power of a corporate name helps in making a strong position for even an average service. A well known name can go to different countries and create global service position.
Aspirations- Aspirational positioning can be applied for the segment of people, who rely on expressing themselves by one way or other while associating with firms or brands to make a statement of status and prestige.
Causes- This strategy is also linked to emotion and focuses on people’s beliefs and need to belong. Firms can hold a strong position through this strategy. For the cause, strategy can be used more widely and significantly, as it relates to freedom of thought and speech in democracy such as PIL, liberation of women, human rights and other significant social trends.
Personality- Personality creation is extremely effective to build world class brands. People will respond to personality only after realising it relevant and likeable. Characteristics such as honest, caring, experienced, innovative, genuine, strong, successful, trustworthy, approachable prove to be the most attractive to majority of prospective clients. Finally, this is the only way to gain and sustain a strategic competitive advantage in the market.

Positioning can be much more successful if it is personified, as the personality of your firm is a differentiator in itself.

The difference between identity and image is called ‘Perception Gap’ and it must be avoided at all cost through strong positioning strategy.

About Author

Dr. Ranjeet Mehta

Dr. Ranjeet Mehta is Professor Marketing & Head Training at Rai Business School. He has a proven track record of Brand Marketing, New Product Launches, Brand Management, Digital Direct Marketing, Business Strategies, and Consumer Behavior.