Have you ever seen a really effective, memorable ad for a law firm? Didn’t think so. The ads usually reinforce the most negative impressions about lawyers – long-winded, self-absorbed, aloof. Good advertising should do the opposite. Will law firms ever get it right?
Today’s Financial Times has a useful example of just how clumsy law firm advertising can be. This little ad from King & Wood Mallesons is, well, baffling. Origami-styled paper windmills and law books? Really? What exactly is the message?
A look at the firms website quickly reveals a much more forceful message, however. The firm claims to be “the first-ever global law firm headquartered in Asia, and the only firm able to practise English, Australian, Chinese, European and Hong Kong law.”
Now that, in simple block capitals, would be an excellent advertisement. Clear. Informative. And no odd pictures.
Long prohibited from doing any kind of marketing, law firms are new to the game. Most are still figuring out how to market their services effectively, using a mix of paid advertising and public relations. Advertising is a tempting solution; after all, you can say exactly what you want. PR can be so, well, messy. But effective advertising is very tough to pull off, as the example from K&WM illustrates, and audiences discount it.
The more promising route is the one taken by other professional firms, like consultants, accountants and other business advisors. They’ve used a mix of media relations, direct outreach and content production to project their expertise and establish their brands. It’s a time-consuming process that takes sustained investment, but it can produce real benefits.
Unlike an oddball ad campaign.