Hard Working Law Firm

Toronto Firm Breaks Through the Branding Ceiling

Originally Published in:

If you knew Toronto marketer Lisa Dutton, you would understand that she is a brash, 'been there, done that,' no-nonsense-kind of professional. Knowing her penchant to cut to the chase makes it all the more interesting that she put herself and her firm Goodman and Carr in what seems to be an ever-growing trend toward brand development in the legal marketing community.

Strange as it may seem, crossing into branding may be one of the last bastions to fall in the traditionally staid global legal community. Where longstanding client relationships began to give way for law firms in the 1980's, todays client challenges include marketing to a stronger, more entrenched general counsel as well as to myriad owner-operators of entrepreneurial ventures. The challenge of marketing legal wares in an increasingly fragmented community is immense. More than ever before, clients try to distinguish one faceless, multi-named firm from another. They look not only to what services a law firm can and does provide, but to what it stands for as an institution.

But even this doesn't fully explain what drew Dutton to branding, one of the latest law firm marketing words to join the "must-be-a-buzzword" bandwagon list. Like many services marketing fold, re-defining what a brand meant helped Dutton bring it to Goodman and Carr. "We're not (branding)," she explains. "At least not in the sense that Kleenex is a brand or Coke is a brand. And I don't believe you can brand a law firm. I do, however, believe that you can build on the firm personality in many of the same ways that product managers create a brand personality for their products."

Dutton simply calls her approach an integrated marketing program. Under the banner of "Hard Working Law," Goodman and Carr has integrated its sales effort, service teams, culture and communications. It has done so in one of the most unique and cohesive ways in law firm history.

A Brand by Any Other Name

Call Goodman and Carrs program a brand or call it an integrated marketing program. Regardless, it focuses on the unique points of differentiation that it-- and only it-- could claim in the marketplace. Beyond such features such as its geography, size and full-service capabilities, the firm identified its very distinctive personality. Quite like Dutton herself, the firm and its clients viewed it as brash, dynamic, creative, innovative and aggressive. It also saw itself as one of a mere handful of Canadian law firms with a niche in assisting US counsel responsible for overseeing operations n Canada or assisting Canadian corporate counsel of US parent companies or subsidiaries.

Getting from the creative storyboards to implementation was one of the most strategic aspects of the program. "You cannot inflict something on lawyers-- they are too smart and too strong to allow it. But there's no point in implementing a marketing strategy which they don't support. Consulting the lawyers and trying to build consensus would be a doomed strategy. Instead, with overwhelmingly positive test market results, we chose to get buy-in for an idea already executed and build momentum-- piece by piece," says Dutton.

The first piece of Goodman and Carrs launch puzzle began at its summer picnic. Instead of party favors, Dutton arranged for each member of the firm to arrive at their desk and find "Hard Working Law" products including a shopping bag, sweatshirt, baseball cap and coffee mug.

"The buzz and excitement helped keep the naysayers quiet and at least created an atmosphere of 'wait and see' among them," she says.

The Pieces Fall in Place

Other aspects of the program began to fall into place, including:

A "Hard Working Law" tie-in at the America Bar Associations annual meeting in Toronto last summer. As part of this program, Goodman and Carr send copy-rich mailers to all lawyers in its database offering complimentary limousine service from the Toronto airport to their hotel. Participating lawyers simply sent in their itineraries to Goodman and Carr and were greeted at the Toronto airport by firm delegates with signs reading "Goodman and Carr welcomes hardworking lawyers [name]."

"Hard Working Law" advertisements in key publications read by US lawyers.

A "Hard Working Law" trade show booth at a key annual gathering of US in-house counsel. The booth was staffed by members of the firm, trained in how to use it to generate leads, qualify those leads and then position themselves for the most effective follow-up possible.

Creating a line of GoCarr Gear, private label apparel named for the firm's former telex address. The line has become so popular that Dutton says the firm has 'gone retail."

Beyond marketing promotion, however, Dutton stresses that the "Hard Working Law" program works at her firm because the firm is client centered. "Only a client centered firm can undertake an integrated marketing program," she says. "Because to do so means you must have credible answers to questions like 'What are your objectives as a firm?' 'How do you achieve equity in the firm?' ' Can you create consistent perceptions in the minds eyes of your clients about who you really are?' and so forth."

Dutton is also ready to answer some common questions she's seen since the launch of "Hard Working Law," such as "Why would a client centered, sales focused firm like Goodman and Carr spend so much money on a communications program?"

Armed and ready, she responds, "First, we didn't spend a lot of money. Secondly, there is no 'communications program.' There's a marketing program of which communications is one component. Finally, it's my contention that only a client-centered, sales focused firm like Goodman and Carr can undertake and execute a program like ours successfully."

This may all be so. But is "Hard Working Law" a brand? In the minds eye of clients, the goal is for them to understand a type of lawyering like no other. Brash, innovative, creative, dynamic, aggressive. Other law firms may lay claim to these same characteristics. But Goodman and Carr has created brand ownership for them in the marketplace.

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Anne Gallagher is a partner of Extreme Marketing and provides law firm branding services with Merry Neitlich through their venture, Extreme Marketing. Anne can be reached in Chicago at 773-227-0700