It depends! If it’s part of a well-considered brand strategy, then absolutely, but if alternatively it’s seen as a quick way to rejuvenate a little life into your ageing brand mark, then forget it!
The latter is a dangerous approach, and we’ve had contact with firms, thankfully who were just about to renovate their brand and coincidentally thought they might need to update the website, which gave us an opportunity to ask some probing questions about their motivation, and the depth of their consideration and strategy. For example, we work with a firm that had been a part of the cultural fabric of a relatively small community for close to 100 years and even despite an exhaustive amount of work to get it right, the firm did cop a little push-back from rusted on clients who liked, the ghastly brown, gold and antiquated font.
You see, brands, particularly in the case of law firms often possess deep resonance with their clients, not only from the length of the relationship and awareness of the brand but also from the perspective of the depth of a person’s interaction with a firm. For example, in the case of a personal injury practice, it may be the case that your firm has journeyed with your medical negligence client for over 3 years, of which together you have traversed the ups and downs of injury litigation and consequently forged a very deep relationship. This relationship is with lawyer and the people of the firm, but also every touchpoint the client interacts with. Remember, a touchpoint is any client interaction (passive, active, direct, or indirect) with your law firm or your brand, using all five senses, from the time a client becomes aware of you, for the duration of the relationship. Touchpoints are opportunistic in that the client’s experience, opinions, and relationship with your firm are affected at every touchpoint in a positive, neutral, or negative way.
The important thing to be remembered with all this, is that your brand isn’t what you think it is, but rather the embodiment of a number of things of which culminate in what they think of you, all those touchpoints culminate in an experience of your brand. We call this your “brand essence.” In this context, your logo is pivotal as it is likely the first touchpoint a potential client will interact with.
Practically speaking, in constructing your firm’s brand identity and its corresponding brand strategy, you’re essentially facilitating, influencing and fast-tracking a potential client’s decision to have your firm resolve their legal matter and it derives from a brand discovery process and its communicated consistently and synergistically across every marketing touchpoint. Changing key touchpoints can potentially signify to past and current clients that it’s out with the old and in with the new and like any change management, if you don’t do it in a way that brings people with you, they won’t understand the reason for the change and you risk fall-out. Notwithstanding this, the mere aesthetics of your logo can convey the personality of the firm you are.
Don’t dismiss the importance of your firm’s primary touchpoint, the logo! Lots of things will come and go from a marketing perspective during the life of your firm, but the logo remains the longest. If you’re considering a re-brand, do it very carefully!
