Countdown to launch: Merging marketing on a tight deadline

 

Key takeaway points

1. Allocate plenty of time and resources for the proper integration of the combining firms’ administrative functions. This includes maintaining extensive ?and frequent communication between the two firms prior to ?the merger and ensuring a transition that is as seamless as possible ?for the combining firms’ personnel post-merger.

2. Although a merger inherently contains many challenges, if such hurdles are confronted and overcome, the benefits of a strategically sound combination ?can be immense.

3. Separate the execution items into three distinct categories: pre-merger tasks, ‘day one’ tasks and post-merger tasks. Each time period contains different challenges and opportunities for integration.

4. Cultural differences need to be addressed and overcome in order for the marketing team to work together in a truly collaborative fashion as systems and processes are streamlined and dual systems merge into one.

5. Build a strong working team that contains members of both merged firms. The collective marketing team will have a plethora of tasks to complete and projects will need to be efficiently prioritised.

 

On 1 January 2013, K&L Gates merged with Australian firm Middletons, adding 300 lawyers to its already vast global platform. The combined firm now has more than 2,000 lawyers in 48 offices spread across five continents, as well as the largest integrated presence in the Asia-Pacific region of any US-based law firm. Within the marketing department, a group of approximately 20 professionals from the former Middletons firm joined the broader K&L Gates team to create an administrative function area with nearly 100 members around the world.

The challenges surrounding the assimilation of the marketing team were extensive, requiring numerous individuals from both organisations to put a great deal of time and effort into various merger-related activities. These ongoing integration efforts, which are expected to continue for quite some time into the future, can be loosely grouped into three distinct categories: pre-merger action items; 'day one' execution items; and post-merger activities.

Pre-merger

Although K&L Gates and Middletons formally combined in January 2013, initial merger discussions began in the early part of 2012. As conversations between the two firms progressed over the ensuing months, merger due diligence teams were created to handle the plethora of administrative issues related to a potential combination. The teams included chief officers (CMOs, COOs, CIOs, CFOs and so on) from each firm, as well as partners specifically designated to address regional tax issues, manage M&A deal aspects and overcome other legal hurdles surrounding the complex integration of two distinct law firms.

Over time, separate discussions were established between function area members for each department, such as a regularly scheduled call between Jeff Berardi, chief marketing officer at K&L Gates and Debra Woodman, director of business development at Middletons. Given the significant time zone difference between Berardi's primary location of Boston and Woodman's primary location of Melbourne, calls generally needed to take place either early in the morning or late at night.

An extensive action list was created and used by the joint marketing teams, which assigned specific people to drive key tasks and assisted the two firms in remaining focused on the urgent action items required to be completed for 'day one' of the merger. Members of the integration team were selected based on their past experience with law firm mergers and/or their ability to work quickly and stay focused on key objectives for the department as a whole.

Because there was a relatively short turnaround time between the partner vote and the effective date of the merger, the pace of activity was expected to be frenetic. Thus, it was important to identify people for the project who showed signs of being able to manage any stresses and complications along the way. ?The integration team maintained and updated the list regularly, and any issues with any of the actions were elevated ?to the attention of Berardi and Woodman to address.

On a marketing front, plans were made in the early stages around the media strategy, internal and external communications, and business development strategy (including cross-selling), among other areas. The importance of building a strong working team that included members of both firms for each of these activities was critical. The collective marketing team had a myriad of tasks to complete, and understanding the priorities was important.

Two of the key priorities we identified were branding and cross-selling which, unsurprisingly, remain topics of interest for employees and clients alike. Questions around the implementation of the new brand were prolific pre-merger, not least because Middletons had successfully invested a lot in building brand awareness in the various Australian markets in which it operated prior ?to the merger.

Cross-selling is a key area of importance for almost all law firms that maintain more than one office, and especially so for fully-integrated global ?law firms like K&L Gates, so it was natural for a great deal of attention to be placed on how well the two merging firms could coordinate client activity. The marketing team conducted research on our mutual clients, producing a roster of targets across jurisdictions and practice areas, a list that has since grown into a full cross-selling initiative spanning the globe.

The defined target audiences for marketing activities included existing clients, potential clients, competitor law firms (industry peers and colleagues) and interested candidates. Once the importance of brand and business development was established, there arose a need to appropriately prioritise the varying levels of emphasis placed on external client-facing activities, and this information needed to be communicated to other administrative departments. Marketing activities for recruitment campaigns, for instance, were not considered to be as time sensitive as notifying existing clients that the Middletons brand would be changing to K&L Gates.

One of the challenges that the marketing department faced was a relatively short timeframe between the vote, which took place in December 2012, and the merger effective date of 1 January 2013. As a result, establishing the timing for activities such as advertising, sponsorships and the website became even more complicated.

As an example, major advertising campaigns are typically secured many months before the advertisement is placed. Once the decision was made to advertise in The Australian Financial Review, negotiations had to quickly take place regarding the advertising period, which ultimately started in early February. Printing of materials, branding benefits for sponsorship and other marketing factors were handled in an appropriate and sensitive manner.

Separate from the joint marketing calls between Woodman and Berardi, the chief officers of K&L Gates and Middletons maintained weekly calls for many months prior to the merger. An update on the progress of the activities of each department was provided on the calls, and issues - ongoing and potential - were identified and ironed out where possible.

Equally important, Berardi and other selected chief officers travelled to Australia prior to the vote taking place to meet with local team members and present to partners and staff on behalf of the firm regarding various administrative function areas. The trip was well received and the office visits assisted in bringing the two firms closer together.

Day one

There were countless items that needed to be ready for day one of the merger, including extensive updates to the K&L Gates website, the addition of new lawyer bios, the development of internal/external communications and the ongoing integration of the marketing team.

The Middletons website was redirected to the K&L Gates website on day one, with information about each of the four new Australian offices prepared and ready to go live on the site on the same day.

The website versions of the bios of all 300 lawyers in Australia had been prepared in the short time post-vote and were uploaded on the site by day one. The website contains various maps of the firm's presence around the world as well as maps by region, and each of these was also updated by the date of the merger.

On the internal employee engagement front, the more than 500 people in the new offices were greeted with a branded gift on their desks on the first day of operation, with a small card welcoming them to the new firm.

The four offices had access to the global intranet, while continuing to maintain a refined version of the previous firm's intranet. All kitchens in the four Australian offices were stocked with newly-branded mugs, while branded stationery filled ?the cupboards and client boardrooms. Even spine labels for internal folders ?were redesigned and ready to replace ?the Middletons-branded spine labels on day one.

External communications were also ready for 1 January, with newly-branded electronic templates redesigned prior to the merger and new letterhead paper used to fill all printers. Client alerts, branded Legal Insights, were disseminated and new business development proposals were prepared in the pre-loaded template from day one. Signage was replaced in time for day one. On the media front, two press releases were disseminated to key media prior to the merger, so one final release was prepared and released post-vote.

Post-merger

A merger of such magnitude takes many months, if not years, to completely embed. We were aware of this from early discussions and continue to discuss the extended timeframe that this might entail. A number of initiatives have been implemented post-merger to alleviate some of the discomfort that has been experienced.

For starters, a video conference ?with all global marketing team members took place two weeks post-merger, ?with all offices participating. This ?helped to reinforce the close-knit environment in the marketing team and ?the importance of collaboration, despite the time zone challenges.

In addition, a member of the K&L Gates marketing team, Bree Metherall, was embedded in the Australian marketing team for one month to help encourage integration between team members. An Australian national, Metherall had been living and working in the United States for nine years, so she was able to serve as an effective bridge between the two cultures. Metherall's main tasks during her time in the Melbourne office included guiding team members in Australia around processes and directing them to the most appropriate resources across the firm whenever they had inquiries.

Systems continue to be streamlined and, in many cases, two distinct systems were merged into one. The two firms maintained their own systems for recording details of outgoing proposals, as an example, and because the Middletons system also contained useful features, adjustments were made to the K&L Gates system to incorporate these. Information about proposals from the previous six months was imported from the Middletons system into the K&L Gates proposal tracking database, so this exercise provided yet another method of identifying mutual pursuits. Similarly, the two firms had different approaches to the preparation of proposals to clients, so the superior aspects of each were adopted in a new version which was released just before the merger took place.

Other software tools were implemented and many were prompted by the merger. These include a database to hold global credentials and a client intelligence tool that adds value to local and global pursuits.

Internally and externally, marketing teams are focused on increasing efficiencies and processes continue to be tweaked in order to achieve greater efficiency across the globe. As most time zones are covered by our 48 offices, an expectation has arisen that the marketing department offers a 24/7 service to our clients, which include both internal lawyers as well as external clients.

Responsibilities have also been shifted in order to provide adequate coverage in areas where our clients are. Cross-border projects are now in place and some of these concentrate on developing global brand messages, supporting industry/sector approaches and rationalising systems for incoming lawyers.

Ongoing work

Managing a merger from any perspective requires a great deal of time and patience. Efforts to streamline business processes and to integrate teams within the K&L Gates marketing department continue, and such activities are likely to be ongoing for many more months.

Challenging issues naturally arise along the way and these can only be properly resolved with the right level of attention. For instance, understanding and accepting that there are vastly different work styles, especially when a merger crosses cultural boundaries, is fundamental.

Any pain around the embedding of teams and systems is almost always alleviated by increased communication. Technical workarounds, while not ideal, are essential while the affected parties wait for technology and other systems ?to merge.

Yet, despite the enormous challenges, the benefits of a merger can be truly immeasurable if difficulties that are encountered throughout the journey are overcome and the numerous opportunities that arise as a result of a successful combination can create a worthwhile experience for all involved.

Jeff Berardi is global chief marketing officer and Debra Woodman is Asia-Pacific director of business development at K&L Gates ?(www.klgates.com)

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