Brand recognition: Law firm brand building by sports sponsorship

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Key takeaway points: 

1. Pick the right opportunity. Having synergy between your business brand and the sponsorship opportunity is essential.

2. Have a thorough game plan. Invest the time to make sure your investment can pay off – sticking a badge on your firm and then sitting back to enjoy the action is not enough.

3. Stick a badge on! Don’t be shy about letting people know your involvement and make it central to your brand.

4. Build trust with the organisation you are sponsoring – a close, transparent working relationship will allow you to maximise sponsorship activation.

5. Go for it and have fun. Sports sponsorship will only pay off if everyone within your firm can buy into it. Make sure they have every opportunity to do so.

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Are law firms brands? Ask the average person in the street to name five law firms and, the chances are, they'll struggle. Commercial law firms tend to operate in a sphere where only those who need to know their names do so. However, mention a few big firms to those in that sphere and they'll quickly sum them up - outstanding, expensive. So, how can you influence what they say about your firm? You can let your actions do the talking, but what about influencing those you don't interact with directly? Word of mouth can only go so far.

Harper Macleod is a young firm, with a 26-year history which has seen us grow into one of Scotland's leading full-service law firms. Our name was never part of the historic Scottish legal establishment - a potential drawback in the past. Conversely, we have been free to define our image as we've grown - the story of our rise is integral to that image. We have worked hard on our brand, striving to make Harper Macleod a byword for excellence, value and great levels of service.

In a Scottish legal market where several once-famous brands have ceased to exist, we recognised the value of our brand, as well as the danger that the pace of our growth could outstrip the perception people had of the firm, both internally and externally. That's why, when an opportunity arose that we believed could be transformational for our brand, we grabbed it with both hands.

Business case

When Glasgow was awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Games back in 2007, we knew we wanted to get involved. In 2011, we won the role during a tough competitive tender and were appointed legal adviser to the Games.

National pride, international camaraderie, sporting achievement, organisational excellence and the ability to deliver a world-class event were the qualities Scotland wanted to showcase. They are also among the reasons we decided to become the event's very first sponsor.

Opting to tie our brand and reputation to Glasgow 2014 was ambitious and, at the time, may have been seen as a risk. The Scottish legal scene was undergoing a difficult period and the London 2012 Olympics were still to come, their success or failure unknown.

Looking back, it's easy to say that we never doubted that it would be a success, but it wasn't a decision we took lightly. For a start, the business case had to stack up. Even though we had sustained growth year on year, we needed to have one eye to the future and ask the question: "does this fit in with our business plan and how do we see the legal industry evolving?"

We also had to assess how the partnership would be viewed externally and internally, with consideration to how the Games would fit with our people, as we'd be investing considerable time and effort.

Finally, we needed to make sure we could maximise the benefits of the sponsorship. This wasn't a case of putting on a Glasgow 2014 badge and sitting back in anticipation.

Strategic opportunity

Shortly after we were appointed, we undertook a rigorous review of our branding. The firm had changed beyond recognition over the previous six years, almost doubling in size. We had to ensure we were describing it as it was now, rather that as it used to be. The legal market had also changed and, consequently, our firm's standing within it.

We recognised that there was a straightforward opportunity to make gains in our market based purely on keen brand stewardship. This exercise would have been invaluable in any circumstances. In light of the Glasgow 2014 opportunity, it was priceless. We engaged an outside agency and conducted in-depth research, interviewing internally and externally to gather an honest appraisal of where we were as a firm. How were we different? What did we stand for?

Our firm is well regarded for its leading sports law practice - one of the reasons it made sense to take our brand in this direction. The analogy between elite sports and the drive to be better is easily understood. Equally, the opportunity to equate the ultimate benefits of working with our firm - expectation of delivery, extraordinary results, success - fits well
with sports.

Our strategic opportunity was to make the best possible use of our sponsorship, extracting maximum brand value during the period leading up to the Games, during the Games time and in the legacy space thereafter. This was summarised as two measurable objectives:

1. strengthen and develop the brand of Harper Macleod and, in doing so, raise and enhance our profile; and

2. generate additional revenues.

Aligning ourselves with the Games gave us an extremely valuable way to tackle strategic challenges and positively influence perceptions of the firm, both internally and externally. It lent credibility to the firm, demonstrating that we were a serious player in the UK legal market. It showcased our capability, strength and depth in a high-profile way. Making the most of the work we did as legal adviser to the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee was a fundamental aspect of maximising the brand benefits of our sponsorship.

That sounds simple, but it takes time, effort, imagination and investment to make the most of the opportunity. We took the results of our brand review and used them to inform our 'HM Game Plan', which outlined our sponsorship activation programme and milestones and aligned them with each of our objectives.

Brand-building campaign

We knew our firm's association with Glasgow 2014 could be a match made in heaven, but only if people knew about it. From September 2011, we made the Games central to the Harper Macleod brand. To keep it fresh and relevant to our audience, our brand and messaging programme evolved over the course of the period leading up to the Games. Due to the length of our engagement, this involved several distinct stages.

The first stage of our campaign, 'defining moment' ran through all of communications, signage, stationary and merchandise. We adopted the Games colours and official supporter logo within our branding and brought the 'legal adviser' designation into our logo.

We also applied the results of our in-depth research to understand our brand, reputation and positioning in the legal market. Our 'driven' campaign aligned the unique platform of Glasgow 2014 with the roots and culture of the firm according to client feedback.

The final stage, dubbed 'greatness begins behind the scenes', enabled us to talk directly to the people behind the sporting events and performances, relate our vital role in Games preparations and remain relevant following the event.

Whether it was dressing our offices, internal communications, events, firm literature, PR and advertising messages, website or social media platforms,
we strived to ensure that people got
the message.

What quickly became apparent was the attraction of the Games. Clients, other external stakeholders and people within the business community asked about it continually. It was only when we attended the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace that we ourselves began to fully appreciate what this meant. The world's media were there and it was that sense of occasion that emphasised the scale of what we had been appointed to.

Thankfully, our clients were delighted that their advisers were also advising on the largest sporting and cultural event in Scotland's history. Clients and stakeholders want to be around success, and being around the success of the Games was great for them.

A key objective of our sponsorship was to not only engage our people in the Games but also to enable them to participate and benefit from our association - to encourage our people to be brand advocates.

While I've already said that it wasn't just a case of sticking a badge on, that turned out to be one of our simplest yet most effective strategies. Early on in our association, we commissioned pin badges which featured the Harper Macleod and Glasgow 2014 logos side-by-side. We already knew that our people are our best marketing tool and, short of emblazoning the Glasgow 2014 logo across the front of suits, this was the most effective way of using that human resource to engage people with the Games and share our involvement. It led to people asking us about what we were doing for Glasgow 2014, rather than us trying to introduce it into every conversation.

It wasn't all so simple. The key message we wanted to get across was one of credibility and capability and this involved a huge amount of hard work to enhance our brand awareness in the business community. A detailed week-by-week schedule, contained in our HM Game Plan, included everything from hosting seminars for key sectors to hosting a Commonwealth sports and law conference at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, a Games venue. Glasgow 2014 was integrated into everything we did.

We also decided to ask a sporting
figure to act as an ambassador for our
firm. While this wasn't a groundbreaking strategy, in the context of our Games involvement and our brand, it was one of
our most rewarding projects.

We listed the qualities we were looking for - youth, vibrancy and a determination to win against the odds - and then worked with the organisers of Team Scotland to create a shortlist of six individuals. We only met one of them - minutes after being introduced to 18-year-old Scottish wheelchair racer Samantha Kinghorn (Sammi), we knew those values and attributes shone through. She took the firm on a journey which ended with us cheering ourselves hoarse as she finished fifth in the T53 1500m final at Hampden.

Without a doubt, being part of Sammi's story was a highlight of the entire project, and part of the Glasgow 2014 experience for our people, clients and everyone who became aware of our involvement. We are continuing to support her post-Games as she sets her sights on the Paralympics in 2016 and beyond. We even made a beautiful short film with Sammi - 'Greatness Begins Behind the Scenes' - which has had more than 17,000
views on YouTube.

Glasgow 2014 sponsors

Returns on investment

Measuring success at the Games was
easy - who took the gold, silver and
bronze medals? Measuring the return on our sponsorship isn't so straightforward, but from the beginning we identified
three key indicators.

1. Increased fee income

Our turnover in 2010-11 was £16.7m and, in 2014-15, we expect it to be £22m. Of course, that can't all be directly attributed
to our branding efforts and sponsorship,
but they haven't hurt.

2. Enhanced reputation and
brand awareness

Externally, we have enjoyed significant additional media exposure while our digital traffic and social media performance - perhaps the most straightforward element
to track - has been exceptional.

Since we were awarded the role of
legal adviser to the Games, our website traffic has increased by 80 per cent. In
early 2014, we claimed a UK-wide award
for 'most innovative use of social media' among professional firms for our Glasgow 2014-themed campaign. From January
2013 alone, our social media audience
grew by 350 per cent, while our Games-time digital strategy reached
more than 150,000 people.

Internally, we conducted a series of employee benchmark surveys throughout the duration of our association. The results of the final survey showed 100 per cent positive responses across three questions relating to the levels of recognition of our involvement, opportunities to participate and positive brand association with the Games.

The success of this brand-building project was inextricably linked with the success of the Games. We couldn't guarantee this singlehandedly, but we could do our best to anticipate any problems. Our relationship with the Games organisers was all about trust, founded on transparency
and good communication. The nature of
our relationship over three years - with six of our lawyers seconded to their in-house team and many more advising them - meant we were close. This was mirrored on the sponsorship side.

The relationship proved to be successful, with David Grevemberg, chief executive of Glasgow 2014, commenting: "We came to see Harper Macleod as an extension of our own team and trusted advisers who we could rely on to deliver, no matter the challenges we faced. They shared our culture and developed comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the Games, which was both impressive and invaluable."

Being a part of the Glasgow 2014 'sponsor family' brought its own benefits, lining us up with brands including Virgin Media, Emirates, BP, SSE, Ford and Longines. A strong network emerged, which offered its own opportunities to build new contacts. Like us, many of them were also suppliers to the Games, so demonstrating our capabilities at close quarters was an invaluable opportunity.

3. New business

Throughout the period of our Games association, we have won several significant instructions and been introduced to new opportunities thanks to the strengthening
of existing relationships and the creation of new ones.

Since Games time in particular and, following the success of the event, this process has accelerated. As a method of differentiating ourselves from competitors vying for new work, our brand association with Glasgow 2014 has been priceless.
It is still too early to fully measure the
financial impact of the project, but we are already benefitting from it in the short to medium term.

A successful outcome

If deciding to sponsor Glasgow 2014 and making it integral to our brand could be described as something of a gamble, then we certainly managed to play a good hand. Simply put, the Games were a spectacular success, hailed by many observers as the greatest Commonwealth Games ever.

Glasgow 2014 was a powerful brand in its own right. Its strength increased as the Games moved closer and, in many ways, it is stronger now. Aligning our brand with it offered an opportunity to accelerate our brand positioning in a way that we could not have done otherwise.

However, in the end, you can only take out what you put in. Over the next few years, we'll get a clearer picture of the full impact of the Games sponsorship on our brand and business. But, it is safe to say that it has already exceeded our expectations, as did the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in the project, which ended up being every single person within the firm in one way or another.

And now, if you ask the average person in a Scottish street to name a law firm, they might just say Harper Macleod.

Professor Lorne Crerar is chair of Harper Macleod (www.harpermacleod.co.uk)