Marketing focus: BLOW YOUR OWN TRUMPET

BLOW YOUR OWN TRUMPET

Some law firms are big spenders on marketing, writes Jon Robins.

Are they becoming a soft target for advertising agencies?

Many law firms spend on average 3,000 per fee earner every year on marketing - and some spend as much as 5,900, according to research released late last year.

But is the profession getting value for money?The report, conducted by marketing consultants Wheeler & Associates, concluded - perhaps not surprisingly - that it is not.It has become the accepted wisdom that firms will sink without a trace without the support of a team of PR professionals churning out glossy brochures, furiously hosting seminars or arranging 'amusing' photo opportunities for the legal press.

The report surveyed 150 law firms, including 29% of the top 50 practices, and cited a catalogue of problems from 'insufficient focus on clients' needs' to 'under-investment in marketing resources' and 'misunderstand of branding'.Of course, not everybody has followed the marketing route.

For example, City firm Slaughter and May has famously never bothered, and - with 213 million in gross fees last year - seems to have suffered no harm to its magic circle status.'We believe that the best form of marketing is doing a good job and looking after our clients professionally and personally.

That comes down to personal relationships,' says partner Patrick Balfour.

Of course Slaughters does 'market' its services to clients but it does not bother with a marketing department, advertising campaigns, brochures or corporate sponsorship.

'Those things are way down our list of priorities,' he says.According to Kevin Wheeler, author of the research, the message was not so much that firms were spending too much money, but that they were not spending it wisely.

'Many firms have become seduced by the glossy, glitzy marketing techniques that have been sold to them by the agencies,' he says.

Firms have come relatively late to marketing, only since the Law Society relaxed restrictions in 1986.'But they are learning quickly and they're certainly not reluctant to throw money at it,' Mr Wheeler adds.

'They pay some of the largest salaries for support staff and have some of the largest budgets.'The problem is that they are throwing their money at the wrong end of the spectrum - at 'general name awareness' initiatives, such as brochures and advertising campaigns.

He argues that 'arm's length' tactics are as effective as direct contact.

A client will not buy a service from firms 'unless they look them in the eye and get the measure of them', he says.According to the report, 31% of firms did not commission market research on their clients' needs; 26% never asked how satisfied they were with the firm's services, and only 5% measured satisfaction levels for all their clients.Like all in-house lawyers Paul Gilbert, past chairman of the Law Society's Commerce and Industry Group, is the target of much marketing.

Two or three years ago, he reports, most of what landed on his desk would be filed straight into his bin - not because it was poorly written or researched but because it was irrelevant.

'The position now is much different and maybe only half of what is received lands in the bin,' he adds reassuringly.

Firms are getting the hang of it and the material that is useful is 'a valuable assistance in the peripheral area of one's work'.Even sceptics like Mr Balfour do not rule out the use of marketing for others.

Our firm 'has a reasonably well-established reputation', he says with understatement; whereas smaller practices 'with aspirations' might need the marketers.

He also sees a role for global firms - 'which we don't pretend to be' - to co-ordinate their identity as part of the international strategy.

'We're a pretty focused group and we can organise these things quite simply,' he adds.Chris Hinze, marketing manager at Andersen Legal and formerly with City firm Nabarro Nathanson, argues that for firms to get the most out of their advisers, they have to be 'part of thinking process' from the start.

And that process should include where to position the firm in the market place, what services the firm wants to provide, and how to communicate this to new and existing clients.

He says what tends to happen is that the partners come up with the ideas by themselves without any professional input.

'They then think that it is the marketers' problem to go away and make it work,' he says.The marketing team needs to be integral to the management of the firm and that requires doing its own marketing to the partners.

'They have to earn their admittance to the top table,' he says.

According to Kevin Wheeler, this is already happening.

In his research, 50% of senior marketing people had either a seat on the board or management committee.

However, his survey also uncovered a high turnover of senior marketing staff - with two-thirds of marketing heads lasting two years in the job at most.Earlier this year, Hammond Suddards caused a splash by spending 1 million on an advertising campaign devised by the Saatchi & Saatchi off-shoot Team Saatchi.

Full page advertisements in the national papers contrasted the firm's northern roots with its growing City presence.

'We've done more mergers this year than tha's 'ad ciabatter butties,' ran one.

'Our expansion is faster than our whippet,' another claimed.Matthew Baldwin, Hammonds' national PR and communications manager, says they wanted to be the firm that 'dared to be different'.

'It's a bold firm making a bold statement and the advertising is part of that statement,' he says.

One sceptical marketing expert believes little long-term benefit will be gained from a one-off campaign.

'It raises the profile, but you have to question whether it represents a strategy,' he says.

Mr Baldwin defends the campaign.

'The newspaper adverts formed part of a longer-term integrated marketing drive with seminars, newsletters and client entertainment,' he says.

'Feedback from clients has been good.

There has been a lot of eyebrow-raising - but that was the point of the exercise.''Should we sue our advertising agency?' asked one advertisement, drawing attention to Hammonds' alternative dispute resolution service.

'They said full pages in The Times would make us a very famous law firm,' it went on.

'"If it doesn't, you can take us to court."' Whether it goes down the litigation or mediation route, perhaps Hammonds should get on with drawing up the claim.Branding a law firm, whether an existing or a newly created one, can be a controversial issue.

Bibi Berki talks to those who know

A mere 14 years ago, law firms were finally allowed to advertise their services - as long as they did not claim they were any good.How sophisticated things have become since then.

Practice rules have relaxed until almost anything goes and ambitious firms employ a battery of marketing experts who lecture partners how to get noticed in a savage market.And nothing seems more ripe for lectures at the moment than branding.

What was once a way of keeping an eye on your errant cattle is now a creed, a way of life, for professionals charged with keeping a firm's earning potential in the higher stratosphere.So what is branding? Jeremy Knott, director of marketing at Clifford Chance, says it is 'about reputation'.

Meirion Jones, director of business planning at Birmingham-based Edge Ellison, calls it 'a shorthand for the culture of the organisation'.

Eversheds' director of business development, Simon Slater, says it is the way firms differentiate themselves.Think of a firm and then think of what it stands for - that seems to be the mantra of the legal branding expert.

They all like to use Slaughter and May and Olswang as the best examples of firms that instantly conjure up an image.But far from being an aggressive marketer Slaughters gets on with business by ignoring what people say about it.

And Olswang, while being very go-ahead and modern, is also helped by having such a memorable name.The puzzle of branding is that although it has to be based on the quality of the product, its very existence is saying 'we cannot rely solely on the quality of the product to get noticed'.

Perception, it seems, is everything.At Eversheds, the branding process is being linked to the style of service clients receive from the firm's lawyers.

Simon Slater explains: 'Our brand attributes are: straightforward, enterprising, and effective.

We know that our clients see us that way.' This is coupled with moves to make the firm be perceived, in its own words, as 'business lawyers in Europe'.

He stresses that the brand is not something the firm has dreamt up and is imposing on the world, but something it has taken from existing client perceptions.

Perhaps using Eversheds' straightforwardness, he says that if a firm cannot become famous for being the best in a certain market then it becomes one of the also-rans.'What we're trying to do and other firms are trying to do is to create a magnetism to their brand that makes them a safe bet for people to take advice from,' he says.

'A lot of nonsense is spoken about branding.

People think it's about packaging.

But it's about real people issues.'At Clifford Chance (brand attribute - surely its vast size), marketing director Jeremy Knott also helps to define branding by what it is not.'It's not about logos, identities and symbols,' he says.

'Branding can be local, it can be national, it can be global.

It's the way people act and behave and it's also about the building and the environment.

Before you even walk into Olswang, I bet you have an idea what the reception looks like.

It's a reputation.

It's what they stand for.

It's about attitudes and behaviour.'He says that while the concept of branding is ancient, the version being used in professional services is only about five years old.

Law firms tend to be pretty old as well.

So how does a branding supremo come in and change a reputation that is based on years of service? The names of established law firms 'have stood for something for a long time', says Mr Knott.

'Branding is now about keeping them relevant.'Clifford Chance is not only the product of a previous UK merger but also a more recent one with US firm Rogers & Wells and German practice Pnder Volhard Weber & Axster.

Each firm comes with its own reputation.

The whole package has to be re-marketed on a new 'proposition' (a marketing term for what a brand stands for).'What do the clients want? They want an international firm and that's what [the firm] has to stand for,' says Mr Knott.

'Marketing is about talking to the client and the market and to deliver what the market wants.'Branding is not always successful.

Consumers can be sceptical and bad reputations can stick even when service has been improved, just as they do in any other field.

Springing a new brand on the consumer or client is a tricky business.

Strand cigarettes famously failed to make an impression among smokers.

Many say the slogan 'You're never alone with a Strand' was the cause, because no one wanted to be associated with loneliness.But it cannot be that simple.

If branding is not merely based on slogans, then sales of theproduct should not have suffered.

Secondly, far from being unattractive, the film noir loner has always been a rather desirable figure.

Had the product been a great success, then the slogan would no doubt now be hailed as an advertising classic.

Such inconsistencies suggest how tough creating a new brand can be and how much work PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has ahead of it to market its new global legal brand, Landwell.It is not as if the firm has not put its back into it.

The law firm network run by the accountancy giant operates in 42 countries under 20 different names, including what used to be Arnheim Tite & Lewis in the UK before re-branding earlier this year.

PwC brought in consultants Interbrand Newell & Sorrell to come up with a new name and after several months was given a shortlist of choices.PwC has not revealed what the rejected suggestions were, only that Landwell was a clear winner.

'[Interbrand] had to find a name that meant something sensible to 42 different countries when translated,' explains Landwell's head of communications, Bridget Juniper.'It had to be a name that was not already registered and which reflected an Anglo-Saxon bent because so much corporate law is US or English.' Landwell may not be the most exciting name - but nor are British Airways, Ford and BT, and they have no trouble getting recognised.

The real challenge is in getting people to make the connection between the new name and PwC.Ms Juniper says several marketing initiatives are being explored to raise awareness of the name, such as sponsorship, publications, surveys, seminars and 'aggressive press relations'.

But, she points out, just as it took Coca Cola a long time to get widespread recognition, so Landwell will need time to achieve recognition.

'It's not a five-month job,' she says.

She, too, is at pains to point out that 'a name is nothing on its own', that a reputation has to be attached to that name.But that does not mean that names are not important.

Midlands and London firm Edge & Ellison certainly thought so when it re-branded itself following an abortive merger with Pinsent Curtis and a period of low morale.Meirion Jones, director of business planning, was brought in to oversee the re-branding.

He says the firm felt it was time to 'draw a line in the sand' and to come up with a new image, based on its strength.

He stresses it was not simply an exercise in dreaming up a logo, although, of course, the new lower case, ampersand-free name 'edge ellison' - as well as a signature swishy 'e' - is the most obvious change.In fact, the firm took quite a gamble and opened itself up to much criticism over the direction it took, a direction which owed much to the new media and advertising work it was handling.

The concept that it wanted to get across, says Mr Jones, was a firm with 'more innovation, more creativity, more flair than is certainly traditional in the legal profession'.The small 'e' in the new name was conceived to reflect the large number of e-commerce clients and the overall innovative feel to reflect the advertising and design clients.

'We came in for a lot of flak, with some clients writing in asking: 'Are you going to be an advertising agency?' But over time it's proved absolutely the right decision.

The brand is slightly ahead of the curve,' says Mr Jones.He, too, wants to make it clear that the branding exercise is not simply about a name.

'Lots of firms and companies believe all they have to do is change their logo and they are a different organisation.

Branding is not creating a logo.

It's creating a culture and then delivering that,' he says.

Mr Jones supplies perhaps the most credible definition of branding.

'It's a way of doing business better,' he says.

'Branding has to continue all the time.'The legal world has changed since law firms were first allowed to publicise themselves in the 1980s.

There is more inter-firm movement and clients are more cost-conscious and discerning.

The branding exercise is part of the greater struggle by firms to make sure that the best new recruits come their way and the pick of the clients do not go away.Linda Tsang dives into the 'science' of rainmaking as it is practised by people who live under a continual cloudburst

The rainmaker in John Grisham's eponymous novel 'does not believe in sharing much of his wealth, he is the sole partner'.

But the reality in the legal business is that few rainmakers who share that view will survive.According to Denise Kingsmill, a consultant at City firm Denton Wilde Sapte and deputy chairman of the Competition Commission: 'What rainmakers really do is grow things for the benefit of the business - and the community - as a whole.

You have to have a certain generosity because you are hunting for clients for others.

The truly successful rainmakers are the ones who see the opportunities for themselves and others, seize on those opportunities and capitalise on them.'What makes a good rainmaker? She says: 'You have to be hungry in the first place, and you need to feel a sense of urgency about wanting to develop and to grow clients.

There is also a distinction between the different kinds of rainmaker: there are the hunters who see everyone as a potential client, who can meet someone at a dinner party and develop a relationship over that dinner; and there are the planters who develop relationships with potential clients in the longer term, planting the seeds for the future.'Harold Paisner, senior partner at mid-sized City firm Paisner & Co and an established rainmaker himself, also draws a distinction between the finders of the business and the grinders servicing the business they bring in - but he considers that that division is becoming blurred.He says: 'Work comes into a firm for a combination of reasons, whether it is the reputation of the firm or the reputation of particular partners.

But times are changing, in the past it was acceptable to divide a firm into the rainmakers and the servicers, but now the economic pressures of maintaining a profitable operation are such that all lawyers need to have a rainmaking ability - it is not enough just to be a very good lawyer.'Ms Kingsmill agrees that the days of there being ten grinders in a firm for one rainmaker are over.

She says: 'I recently overheard a group of young lawyers discussing having to do marketing, which they saw as "schmoozing" over lunches.

That shows many lawyers are unsure of what marketing means.'She says it is all about establishing a reputation for excellence.

'When I was practising as an employment lawyer, I was seen as being incredibly tough - which was the right formula for my practice, and a useful marketing ploy.

Clients want someone who will win their cases, and who is known for going that extra distance for them.'Successful rainmaking covers a range of activities - not just winning cases, although that is a major factor in attracting clients.

It can cover a broad spectrum from doing presentations and beauty parades to speaking at seminars and conferences, to networking and socialising at the right events and focusing on potential clients there.

But opinions are mixed as to whether women - or even sport-hating men - should 'stoop' to learning how to play golf to get a client, or should just enjoy social occasions such as sipping Pimms at Wimbledon or at Henley, and target clients there.Mr Paisner says: 'There is no particular secret about making rain; it's a question of plugging away, and being in the right place at the right time to cultivate potential clients.' He adds that when he first started off as a rainmaker, he was helped by his wife in the entertaining and social activities.

But not all rainmakers have a partner, and although one is not necessarily essential it can help.

Ms Kingsmill admits: 'I go to twice as many events because of my partner [Richard Wheatley, who runs Jazz FM].

In a sense you get twice as many opportunities with a partner who is also an executive.'As to whether there is a difference between men and women, she suggests there is not - 'although you can argue that women are more empathetic and responsive to the needs of a potential client and, because they are used to juggling different activities, see the potential in what may not initially seem a marketing opportunity'.

Others clearly feel there is: this summer, the American Bar Association's women rainmakers' network is to set up a London branch.One of the most obvious ways to spot a successful rainmaker is to look at the lawyers that the US firms and their competition are wooing with seven-figure rewards.

Maurice Allen, a one-time Clifford Chance banking lawyer who is now at his second US firm, having recently left Weil Gotshal & Manges and taken his banking team to White & Case, says: 'Rainmaking is not a science, but at Clifford Chance we did do research into it by talking to the relationship partners.

There are two types of rainmaker: those who are good at building up a personal practice, which in some firms is a good thing and very profitable, and the other type are those who can attract the clients and can do more than build up just a personal practice but to expand that - they find the client, build up the relationship, introduce them to the firm and move on.

That is how Clifford Chance has expanded its practice.'And that is what the US firms are looking for because with that model, you create the leverage very quickly and that allows you to leverage up the rainmaking across the firm.

Essentially, it is an attitude of mind - you have to have the ability to develop the work and to be selfless, and you have to keep doing it.

The US firms have a particular need for that model because they want to grow rapidly, build up the client base and get to critical mass because they are playing catch-up.

It is easy to take on partners with "portables" but for the long term, you need the enthusiasm and energy to grow the practice.'For Ms Kingsmill, rainmaking is straightforward: 'You have to figure out the market and what the client wants and show that you can satisfy those needs.

If, for example, you are a banking lawyer, you must understand the marketplace and develop a reputation for excellence and service so that when they need a lawyer, you come immediately to the minds of the decision makers in the banks; equally if you are a lawyer in the music business, coming to the front of the major players' minds may involve being seen in the right places at 2am so that they see you are immersing yourself in their business.'And that immersion is a long-term commitment, based on common sense tactics.

Mr Allen says that rainmaking means investing time and energy in the client - it is natural for anyone to be suspicious of anyone is when someone is selling them something.He says: 'You should make a real effort to get in front of the client in helpful ways, whether it is a phone call, or just being persistent in letting them know you can help; and you shouldn't be embarrassed about marketing yourself to others, because the clients market themselves to their clients, that is how all business is done.

Law is a service industry - it may not come naturally to lawyers, but they have to work at getting the client to like and trust them, and that needs commitment and effort.'As for the question of whether rainmakers are born or made, it is no longer being asked; the consensus is that more and more lawyers arehaving it thrust upon them, because an essential part of becoming and staying a partner is being able to sell yourself and your firm.Linda Tsang is a freelance journalistEvents and entertainment have long been a marketing staple.

Bibi Berki finds ways of spicing up your corporate diary

A night at the ballet or a curry and a pint.

Two events with the same motive in mind - to win or maintain business from your client.But in these competitive times nothing is that simple.

Firms with sophisticated marketing operations are coming up with some off-the-wall or headline-grabbing ideas to keep their clients happy.A little taster of a number of recentcorporate events thrown by firms in London should give an idea of how imaginative these things can be:X Guests at a party thrown by Memery Crystal did a double take whenever they passed Elton John, Jack Nicholson and Richard Branson in the crowd.

The celebrities were in fact lookalikes brought in to spice up the event.X Rakisons gave a much talked-about party at the London wine museum, Vinopolis, complete with stilt walkers, a magician, kangaroo meat nibbles, a band and a disco.X Nabarro Nathanson hired an Internet cafe to give media guests a chance to pay each other at computer games.Even before the term 'marketing' was invented, lawyers would socialise with their clients outside working hours.

The more go-ahead firms entrust fee-earners of all levels with the task of generating business, allocating each one with an allowance for wining and dining clients.An intimate meal might be more conducive to relaxed business talk, but a free trip to a prestigious event is intended to impress and to linger in the client's memory.

Eversheds' London office recently invited over 2,000 guests - both staff and clients - to a preview of the Royal Academy's summer exhibition.

The trip has become a regular event, providing the main social gathering for clients in the firm's calendar.But director of business development Simon Slater says individual relationships nurtured by the lawyer towards his or her client are still the best way to market the firm.

The Royal Academy event is a way of building on relationships rather than finding new work, he maintains.Firms that spend thousands on swanky events to impress clients are wasting money, Mr Slater believes.

'People are increasingly sceptical about it.

Some firms will never go out of fashion, like golf.

At any one time, the maximum number of people you are with on the golf course is three others so that does foster relationships.'Ian Hawkes, a partner at niche shipping practice More Fisher Brown, agrees that fostering good relations with clients is vital.

'It's much easier to do business with people you know well,' he says.

Although the firm invites clients to some of the major sporting events, 'we find a curry and a couple of pints is more relaxing'.The international nature of the firm's business means that corporate hospitality can just as easily involve travelling across the world as visiting London's Brick Lane for a curry.

'Making the effort to say hello is never taken as an unwelcome step,' says Mr Hawkes.Christine Jackson, an assistant at Lovell White Durrant, says corporate entertainment depends on the clients' preferences.

'Some people like the whole company to be involved, others prefer the personal touch.' She says smaller-scale lunches are valuable because 'you get the opportunity to talk business in an informal atmosphere and you learn a hell of a lot more about the business'.These informal meetings also show the client that 'you've got a commercial head and a sense of humour.

People don't like lawyers who sit back in their suits and pontificate', says Ms Jackson.Clients are the main benefactors of law firms' entertainment budgets, but journalists are not far behind.

The invitation list to parties, seminars and receptions usually contain the names of legal correspondents and business writers.The effectiveness of this extension of the marketing ethos is harder to calculate.

One legal journalist who arrived for a day of centre court tennis at Wimbledon courtesy of a City practice was unimpressed to find that rain stopped all play.

'We had to spend the day with two rather boring marketing people,' he complained, although he adds: 'There was as much drink as you could want.' The lesson is to avoid corporate events which could be a wash-out, he says.In the end, like any party, a legal corporate event will succeed or fail according to who is there.

Gimmicky venues or themes may be risky but they can pay off if everyone enters into the spirit of the thing.

Hill Taylor Dickinson should know.

Partner Graeme Baird's idea to host a Scalectrix party at the London office proved so popular that it is now a regular event.Football has become a staple of corporate hospitality, with this month's European football championships providing opportunities for many solicitors to combine business with pleasure.

However, even these events are fraught with danger.

The story is told of a senior partner at a City law firm who invited some foreign clients over to England to see a Euro 96 game.

Tickets for St James' Park were obtained, and the clients flew in for lunch at the firm's offices.It was only as kick-off time approached and everyone else began looking nervously at their watches that the partner discovered that this particular St James' Park is located in Newcastle, not central London.

CASE STUDIES

CROSSING THE CHANNEL WITH DLAOn 1 May this year, Dibb Lupton Alsop changed its name to DLA, having made a decision in late January to go ahead with a re-brand that reflected its pan-European aspirations, writes Alison Clarke.

Peter Coleman, a partner and director of business development at the firm, explains: 'The name Dibb Lupton Alsop has served us well but our overall strategy now stretches beyond England and into Europe in particular.

DLA is easy to say and crosses jurisdictional boundaries.'Part of the logic in changing the name (and its logo), was to align DLA more closely with D&P (formerly known as DLA & Partners), the three European law firms in Spain, France and Belgium with which DLA currently has an exclusive association.

Part of the firm's vision is to move towards a fully integrated European law firm, hence the need, according to Mr Coleman, for a 'euro brand'.

He says: 'If we are looking to develop relationships with law firms in Europe, then Dibb Lupton Alsop didn't mean very much.

What we have arrived at is something which does not have any specific English connotations, but is global in its application.'He argues that the firm is, in effect, dual branded, with the result that when DLA (with over 200 partners in 11 offices) finally branches into Europe, it will not require a further re-branding.

'When we decided on the name DLA, we were thinking of the future.

There is nothing ad hoc about the way we have adopted this hallmark.

It is all part of a well thought-out, strategic approach.'But a desire to branch into Europe was not the only reason for the re-brand.

The firm also wanted to relate more closely to its current corporate clients.

Mr Coleman argues that the corporate market values its brand and closely guards its identity and logo.

'Corporate clients see brand value and corporate identity as fundamental aspects of their image.

By adopting our own global, multi-jurisdictional brand, we are making a statement to our clients that we seek to be much more in their image and the way they value things.'The primary driver, he says, was to make the firm more attractive to existing clients, not necessarily to attract more.

He wants law firms to be seen as an integral part of the way the corporate client works, rather than as a service that is an adjunct to their operations.

'This is all part of the holistic approach that we are taking.

The way the law is being provided is changing and lawyers now have to think about what their client wants, as opposed to what they think they should have.

Our approach is part and parcel of that.'Although the firm has no specific evaluation planned for the new brand, Mr Coleman says it was tested on some of their top clients before the launch, who responded very positively to its clean, crisp, uncluttered image.

On top of that, the firm will have an ongoing evaluation on a day to day basis through its well-established client relationship programme.

FROM HIGH STREET TO HIGH FINANCEIn the 1970s, Donne Mileham & Haddock was a high street firm with multiple small offices, writes Alison Clarke.

Today it is a commercial firm, DMH, based in Brighton, Crawley and Worthing with 26 partners and about 100 fee-earners.

It provides legal services in intellectual property, IT, corporate, employment, innovation and media, and commercial property.Marketing manager Bridget Cooper says: 'The old name did not reflect where we were in the marketplace.

We are now a modern, open and approachable firm and we wanted a new brand image to reflect that and to provide a seamless approach to the client.'Some of the partners felt that change could not come soon enough.

Tim Ashdown, head of the innovation and media group, says clients - particularly young IT firms - want to be associated with organisations that have a modern image.

They expect law firms to have a good Web site.Each department has a business plan.

Mr Ashdown says: 'We want to be acting for clients with turnovers of between 5 million and 50 million a year, or fast-growth start-up companies or those with a large intellectual property portfolio.

This is where the marketing element comes in, because it is very important to decide what steps to take to attract that sort of client.'The firm has also branched into creativity, with a contemporary art gallery at the head office in Brighton, showing work by local artists which can also be viewed on the firm's Web site.Mr Ashdown says the re-brand has ushered in a fundamental cultural change in the firm.

'Decisions regarding the future strategic direction of the firm used to be taken at partner level.

Now we have Saturday workshops, at which everyone has the chance to discuss strategic objectives.'The workshops - attended by everyone from the senior equity partner to the receptionist - have resulted in the company becoming more client focused, with the introduction of client care surveys and client care representatives in every specialism.

RE-BRAND AIMED AT REGIONAL MARKETTLT solicitors is the result of a 1 May merger of two Bristol firms - Lawrence Tucketts and Trumps - with a complementary client base and similar practice areas in lending services and corporate practice, writes Alison Clarke.The firm (with 29 partners and about 130 fee earners) is more than just the sum of its former parts.

David Pester, head of corporate finance and business development partner, says it is a new entity with its own distinct identity.

What is important, he argues, are the brand values that lie behind the new corporate look.

TLT was trying to create something new in the regional market around Bristol, having identified a gap in the mid-corporate market.The new firm wanted to retain the strengths of its existing practice and hold on to its client base.

Mr Pester says: 'What we have done is to establish a new identity, but one which retains the strength of the existing practices with a strong client-driven focus.' He says it is important to understand the market and differentiate your firm from competitors.

'It is important not to try to be all things to all people, but to develop an expertise in a sector of legal specialism.

You have to be honest about what you can do.

We are seeking to create something new with a strong client focus in key specialisms.'Likewise, Mr Pester says that before rushing headlong into any re-branding exercise, it is crucial to find out the likely response from the market, because 'there is no point in operating in a vacuum'.

The two business development managers got information from fee-earners and partners in the merging firms, as well as clients and local opinion formers, such as local business people (and even journalists) to find out what they considered to be the key issues surrounding the merger.Leigh Lyons, business development manager, says: 'It was very important that nothing was imposed on people and that everyone was involved, so that the whole process was validated.'The firm will look to its client base when evaluating the exercise.

Ms Lyons says: 'Our success will depend on our relationships with our clients and their satisfaction with the service we deliver.'

HOW FFW SHOOK OFF ITS OLD IMAGEAbout two years ago, City firm Field Fisher Waterhouse asked its intellectual property and technology partner Mark Abell to become practice development partner, writes Alison Clarke.

Under his supervision, the firm's intellectual property practice went from 100,000 to 6 million in a few years.

The key to success, he says, was 'building carefully and marketing ourselves'.He used the same approach with the firm's latest re-branding strategy, launched 18 months ago, in an overhaul of its corporate identity.

The idea behind the new image was to shrug off a perception that the firm (with 67 partners and about 200 fee earners) was behind the times, presenting it as approachable, modern and creative.

Apart from changing its logo, the firm commissioned a commercial artist to come up with some unique artwork used in its brochures and in different parts of the office.

The firm's public areas were upgraded to give a feeling of space and light, emphasising a perception of the firm, says Mr Abell, 'as the pedigree City law firm that we are, but also as creative and clear about where we're going'.Staff and clients were asked for ideas, which were then worked into the key images for the re-branding.

The exercise did not just involve a change of logo, but was a completely new strategy to project a more up-to-date image of the firm to the outside world.

'We have an aggressive, can-do attitude and know where we're going as a firm.

This is just one step in achieving that.'But that was not always the case, as Mr Abell admits.

One major client suggested the re-branding was long overdue.

Market research carried out two years ago showed a recognition rate for Field Fisher Waterhouse among the legal profession of 10%.

A year on, that had increased to 65%.Mr Abell says the firm now gets work it would not previously have attracted.

British American Tobacco is a case in point.

'BAT has asked us to do their whole e-commerce strategy because of the place we now have in the market,' he says.

'We can provide top-quality work for top-quality clients because we are a lifestyle firm, not a law factory, made up of real people with real lives.'