Firms continue to ignore importance of marketing

RESEARCH: partners think they know best but this must change

Top law firms continue to underestimate the importance of professional marketing, according to recently released research.

Only 13% of respondents to a survey of law firm marketing departments said their marketing strategy was fully supported by the partners and integrated into the firm.

Four out of five said many partners believed they had a 'special relationship' with their clients, and were confident they knew best how to sell the firm to them.

This difficulty of obtaining full partner approval and support was the main concern for marketeers, along with a lack of brand awareness (80%), limited resources for marketing (70%) and the current economic climate (69%).

The survey was carried out by corporate research consultants Business Planning and Research International (BPRI) and questioned marketeers from 23 of the top 100 firms, including City firms Clifford Chance, Lovells and Ashurst Morris Crisp.

The average size of the firms surveyed was 346 fee-earners, and the average marketing department comprised 12 people.

BPRI client services director David Burton said: 'Many partners still maintain the traditional viewpoint that they know best about marketing; however, for a firm to survive in today's tough marketplace...

that attitude needs to change.'

He added that the reluctance may spring from many lawyers still regarding marketing as the province of businesses, and hence being reluctant to view their firms in this way.

'Although some partners are fully supportive towards marketing, there is still a problem of the "many headed boss": all the partners have to agree on a marketing strategy, and it only takes one to disagree for the whole project to collapse,' he said.

Victoria MacCallum