2012: Burness, How Burness became a different type of law firm, Excellence - Case Study

Précis

Coming out of a difficult transitional period, and in a crowded sector with little differentiation, Burness faced the added challenge of a recession. They addressed this by embarking on a transformational re-brand, resulting in a clear positioning, sustained growth, improved profit margins and new business opportunities. And a revitalised team.

Executive Summary

Scottish legal brands are no different from any other that operate in over supplied categories – those brands with a distinctive positioning tend to endure but there’s a dangerous mid-market category which lacks clarity and tend to suffer most in tough market conditions. Faced with the impact of a recession, which hit the legal profession particularly hard, Burness took a brave decision to re-brand from the inside out to avoid this trap. A distinctive and dynamic new identity was brought to life through a new social media strategy, PR, Sponsorship and a series of thought-leadership initiatives. These galvanised staff, captured the attention of clients and helped Burness increase its profits dramatically in recessionary times. Increasing spend on marketing despite the economic downturn and breaking with the conservative traditions of Scottish professional services paid off handsomely for Burness.

Difficult, uncertain times

Burness is a long established Scottish law firm with offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, employing 249 people. 2009 was a tough year for all professional service firms, Burness included. With talk of a deepening recession looming, these were difficult and uncertain times for Burness. Whilst they had a strong crop of partners and an ambitious management team, their brand was recessive and in danger of becoming perceived as traditional and midmarket.

The uncomfortable truth

Moving into financial year 2009/10, difficult decisions were taken to improve efficiencies. This threw a high-pressure spotlight on the 2010/11 strategy. At the same time, research with clients and prospects revealed that efficiency measures alone would not solve the firm’s challenges. The Burness name and brand had developed some fundamental weaknesses. • Burness had a low profile amongst potential prospects. • This was exacerbated by uncertainty inside and outside the business about what Burness stood for and its point of difference. • Marketing collaterals were deemed relatively poor, and their ‘old school conservatism’ failed to reflect how the staff saw themselves.

Setting clear and ambitious objectives

For 2010/11, amid continuing tough market conditions, Burness set themselves the ambitious target of delivering an increase in profits after a significant fall in 2009. To support this target, and address the brand weaknesses, the marketing plan set four clear objectives: • To increase brand profile, particularly in corporate Scotland. • To win more Scottish market share to balance referral work from English firms. • To differentiate from the competition by defining and communicating what the business stands for, and how the firm’s key personalities contribute to and drive that direction. • To express the brand identity in a way that shook-off the traditional professional services reserve, and enabled staff to get behind the firm’s image more confidently, proudly and bullishly. To achieve these goals, Burness took the brave decision to increase its marketing spend and re-think its whole brand identity from the ground up.

Courage of their convictions

Burness’s marketing goals were clear but they were not going to be easy to achieve: • Scotland’s professional services are notoriously conservative. It’s one thing to have a bullish marketing plan. It’s another to turn conviction into action. • Professional services brands tend to say the same things and convey similar images. Standing apart in the marketplace is not easy. • The prevailing industry wind was to cut-back rather than invest in marketing. The Burness management team had to find a way to take staff with them on the road to a new marketing solution, lifting and motivating them in the process. Get it wrong and the new efforts could have a highly detrimental effect.

Creating a new brand identity

Leith were briefed in December 2009 to help Burness clarify what their brand stood for, where it was heading and how it should come across, and then to encapsulate this in a fresh, powerful new identity that would work across all marketing materials, online and offline. Given the scale of the challenge, it was agreed from the outset that Burness needed to be taken on a transformational journey. The brand redevelopment process, (illustrated opposite) was created to achieve this. The initial immersion stage revealed a gap between the way clients saw Burness and the way Burness wanted to be seen. The main insights are summarised opposite.

Creating a new brand identity

Burness did not just want a new logo. The new brand identity and marketing collateral had to shift perceptions considerably, giving Burness more gravitas, likeability and standout. The workshops revealed a passion to be, and be seen to be, a different kind of law firm. It was agreed that Burness should stand for the 4 S’s:

•Steely

•Stylish

•Smart

•Successful

The value of staff engagement throughout

The brand development process was designed to build the brand from the inside out; canvassing the views of the staff and engaging them throughout was imperative. The strategic development process involved extensive internal consultation. This ensured that the new look and feel would be much more than a ‘face lift’; it would be the embodiment of how staff saw themselves and Burness, and how they wanted the firm to be seen by clients and potential clients. The inclusiveness of this strategic stage would prove to have a huge impact, creating an organization full of evangelists and providing the spark that would drive the brand.

A new dynamism

This powerful and flexible marque shaped all aspects of the marketing collateral, both online and offline. The dynamic diagonal proved to be digitally liberating. Blonde (the digital arm of Leith) worked with us to create a distinctive design, which enhanced the diagonal beautifully and memorably. The site works hard at engaging the audience, translating the personality of the firm through a compelling and dynamic site. It also has a strong focus, on attracting top industry talent.

A new dynamism

New photography and language presented a contemporary, stylish image, conveying a company brimming with confidence. Imagery reflected the ‘4 S’s’ – Steely, Sharp, Stylish and Successful, created in a style that broke the mould of the sector, of stereotypical corporate environments and subjects looking static and disengaged.

A new dynamism    

1. Social Media

2. Brand guidelines

3. Brand spirit book

4. Advertising

A new dynamism Finally, we developed a quirky and immaculately executed animation that set out the firm’s ethos and made its new values even more inspirational, another sign of how they now boldly stand out in their sector. http://www.burness.co.uk/About/


Selling the story

There were three strands to launching the brand internally: • The Beat. • The Reveal. • A Small Guide to Big Things – the brand guide.

The Beat

In the weeks running up to the launch, the internal newsletter, ‘The Beat’, was used to explain the planning and logistical aspects of rolling the brand out and to reassure that on day one it would be ‘business as usual’. We also used ‘The Beat’ to share the forthcoming client communications strategy to launch the brand. Bottom line, everyone knew what was happening and when.

The Reveal

Each year Burness hosts an Annual Review for all 249 colleagues. This event was used to tell the story of the re-brand and unveil it to staff, 4 days ahead of its launch to clients. A Leith presentation set out the firm’s ethos and new brand values using the ethos animation to end the presentation. It was hugely powerful and motivating. At the end there was spontaneous applause. Buy-in was unanimous. The brand development process had been designed to build the brand from the inside out; canvassing the views of the staff and engaging them in the process was imperative. The inclusiveness of the preparatory strategic work had a hugely positive impact, contributing to the enthusiasm the project received when it was launched. It created and organisation full of evangelists, providing the spark that would drive the brand.

A Small Guide to Big Things

After the reveal everyone went back to their desk to find two important pieces of print. Firstly a booklet ‘A small guide to big things’. A personal exposition of the new brand, written to make everyone feel proud of the new brand and celebrate their part in it. This booklet is now given to all new starts in the firm. In addition every member of staff received a copy of the firm’s new brand guide. The guide reiterates Burness’s approach to its business and values of Style, Ambition, Innovation, Passion and Focus. Crucially, it clarifies what Burness stands for, its ambitions and the direction it is heading. Brand booklets are of little value unless staff bring them to life in the way they communicate with clients.

Bravery paid off

Burness undertook a re-brand costing £80k, significantly increasing spend on marketing despite the economic downturn and at a time when other firms were reducing theirs. Whilst no re-brand can ever credibly claim to produce an immediate turnaround, in a professional services business such as Burness, it can (and did) immediately encapsulate and galvanise the firm’s focus. The team supported by the re-brand produced outstanding results. In the year to 31st July 2010, turnover increased 8% to £21.2m and net profit increased by 40%. In the year to 31st July 2011, turnover increased by 10% to £23.4m and net profit was up by 14%. These improvements in net profits underpin the re-brand’s purpose of positioning Burness as a premium player which expertly tackles demanding legal tasks.

Bravery paid off

The re-brand and creation of a new website aided recruitment. The number of applicants received through the website has increased and Burness has recruited 4 people directly through the use of social media, saving them circa £50k in recruitment fees.

Conclusion

Burness have bucked the trend and acted bravely. Aware of a need to clarify what the brand stood for, to freshen up the way it came across and to capture the attention of clients and prospects, it invested in a rebrand at a time of falling profits and relatively low staff morale. A truly inclusive strategic process led to the creation of the ‘dynamic diagonal’, a visual embodiment of how the staff really saw their company, and a memorable marque of distinction. The new brand came to life through a new website and social media strategy, PR, sponsorship and client engagement initiatives. Inspired by the brand refresh, Burness are delivering a financial and positioning growth strategy, of which the re-brand forms an essential element, despite being in the midst of the toughest of economic circumstances.