Review of Legal Tech Branding 2019 – 2020
Top 30 UK law firms
Corporate branding still dominates
Strengthening the offer Firms have used lockdown time to rationalise and expand their brands; and, make them easier to understand. Allen & Overy re-grouped its mix of solutions within six easy to understand groupings. Linklaters too regrouped its solutions under Technology & Process, Partnership & Collaboration and People & Culture. Like-wise for Clifford Chance who realigned its innovation strategy around Create, Applied Solution and Best Delivery. Beyond this, firms strengthened their branding. Allen & Overy realigned Peerpoint and Fuse using the sign-off ‘By Allen & Overy’. Linklaters repositioned Nakhoda as its technology brand and launched Legal Operations and Re:Link (a separate brand for flexible resourcing). Ashurst made its Ashurst Advance Delivery and Ashurst Advance Digital the two main pillars for Ashurst Advance Innovation; and Norton Rose Transform added Legal Operations Consultancy to its mix of services. In October, Clifford Chance Applied Solutions launched its online tool Cross Border Publisher: Data Protection, adding CC Dr@ft, Cross-Border Publisher: Banking Confidentiality, SMCR Manager, and Continuing Obligations: Debt Securities to its portfolio of products. Such a mixed bag of names (descriptive, abstract and acronym-based) however, could hinder products’ adoption if partners and/or clients are not clear about what each one does, and how they fit together. As firms expand their toolboxes of solutions, it’s increasingly important they make good decisions about positioning and naming groups and sub-groups in branding tech (see our article ‘Simplifying tech naming’ on page 24). Pinsent Masons, too, regrouped its solutions. It recently launched a new practice, Advanced Delivery, to combine its expertise in the areas of people, process and technology. The name is popular, used by Allen & Overy, Ashurst and in part by WBD. Others use the same categories, often just as lists. By contrast, BCLP – with its BCLP Cubed sub-brand – broke away from the pack to use the idea of ‘three’ to develop elements of its brand identity (with a name, logo and positioning line). Cubes aren’t unique, but give BCLP a neat visual metaphor to build awareness internally and externally. Developing this core idea to illustrate three elements can elevate any ‘listing’ into something more compelling and exciting.
The monolithic approach to branding tech and innovation is still popular, with 93% of firms taking this approach (down from 97% last time we reviewed the market). Only two – Eversheds Sutherland and Fieldfisher – broke free from this model and developed separate brands (Konexo and Condor respectively). They join a small group of firms from outside the UK who have created separate brands for their technology, innovation and related services: these include Reinvent from Baker McKenzie, Nextlaw from Dentons, Gravity Stack from Reed Smith, and several others from the US including Encompass from Nelson Mullins, Tritura from Faegre Drinker, and the planned Recurve from Greenberg Traurig. Understandably, the use of a well-known corporate brand is reassuring. In the past 18 months, however, several firms have used naming to create distance between their legal expertise and legal delivery – 60% of Top 30 UK firms (18) now use this strategy. The approach to using names however, varies between the generic ‘Alternative Legal Services’ (Herbert Smith Freehills) to something more specific and bespoke, Law& (DLA) for example. DLA Piper’s Law&, Pinsent Masons Vario and Simmons & Simmons Wavelength joined this group in the last 18 months. In addition, a few new sub-brands were launched but positioned further from the masterbrand (BCLP Cubed, DWF Mindcrest and Kennedys iQ, for example). They join a select group of endorsed sub-brands (twoBirds and NRF Transform). However, it’s an area that’s not black and white. There are no neat brand categories. Linklaters, for example, launched separate brands for technology and resourcing (Nakhoda and Re:Link) but positions its wider capabilities under the Linklaters brand. Allen & Overy follows a hybrid approach too, as do others. The challenge is to ensure that a mixed approach is carefully managed (using brand architecture) to avoid the development of a smorgasbord of solutions and products: this can become impenetrable not only to clients but also to partners (see our article ‘Brand Architecture: it’s no joke’ on pages 22 -23).
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