Mad Men, Lawyers and Legal Marketing
Like most of my Facebook friends, I sent the kids to bed at a decent hour last night and engrossed myself in the season premier of Mad Men.
For those who missed it and have it DVR’d — this isn’t so much a SPOILER ALERT, but a discussion of a truism that popped up mid-way through the episode.
For those who don’t watch the show, not to worry. This isn’t so much a post about Mad Men, but about legal marketing and the responsibility of the lawyer.
Don Draper, ad man extraordinaire, blew an interview with Ad Age. He didn’t toot his own horn. He didn’t toot the horn of the firm. He didn’t mention the clients. His aloofness came across as arrogance … challenging the reporter to “do his job,” yet giving up no details.
When confronted by his partners, Don defiantly holds onto he’s “Don Draper” and his work speaks for itself. He shouldn’t have to do the job of the reporter, finding out about clients, or how the firm created the latest ad.
His partners disagreed. This interview was an advertisement for the firm, and now it was a liability. Senior partner Bertram Cooper admonished Don:
Turning creative success into business is your work.
Wow. How simple, succinct, and so very true.
Yes, lawyers, that’s what it comes down to. It is YOUR job to turn YOUR success into new BUSINESS.
The marketing department and the business development team can open doors, help create opportunities, make the reservations, help fill the table, get the reporter on the line, get you in the room. But, once the doors close, the hands are shaken, and the business cards exchanged, it is YOUR job to turn YOUR success into new BUSINESS.
You need to SPEAK about your wins and successes. You need to SHOW your expertise. You need to STAND IN FRONT OF your work.
You might not be able to mention your clients in specific marketing materials, or on the website, but you can showcase your capabilities: You can upload your public record filings to JD Supra. You can blog about similar cases to the ones you handle. You can speak about your expertise at conferences.
Marketing: We can make it all look pretty, coordinated, sleek and professional.
Business development: We can help identify the opportunities, get you in front of the right people, provide you with the background and competitive intelligence.
Communications & PR: We can help put it all into words, and get it out the door and in front of the right people.
As for you, the lawyer. What is your your job and your role in all of this??
It’s very simple: Your job is to turn your successes into new business.
Heather –
Excellent Post!
Learning to brag effectively (without coming across as arrogant or conceited) is difficult, but it can be done and it should be done.
Jaimie
Heather,
If Don was my client, I would have been upset too. This was a huge missed opportunity. Despite the fact that Don probably thought that he didn’t need to prepare for the meeting with Ad Age, even the most seasoned executives do need some coaching. A good PR pro would have done some research on this reporter, his writing style, the focus of the interview. And, if Don knew he was the focus of the story before the lunch, he should have been prepared with speaking points, examples of successful ad campaigns, explanations why the firm’s talent will make it one of the most successful ad firms on Madison Ave. Unlike in this TV show, if you don’t get it right the first time, you can almost guarantee that there won’t be a second opportunity.
Good post Heather. Business doesn’t happen by accident, but because a client’s trust has been earned. The scenario you described is one part of sending the message in to the marketplace in order to establish credibility and trust. In all things, preparation and passion, combined with an ego in check, will work wonders.
I couldn’t agree more. I watched the show and walked over to the computer and tweeted about the importance of PR and how DD had blown it. My girl friend thought I was nuts but I told her, well, it was all about legal marketing.
Heather -
Agree with your post and the quote from the show 150%. It has been my belief since entering the legal industry a dozen years ago that the only true differentiator in law firms/lawyers is experience as seen through its successful demonstration: results. From the client perspective, herein lies safety, value and loyalty. Effective business development, therefore, relies on the ability of lawyers to articulate these results in relationship to the problem a particular client or prospect may encounter or is encountering. Results, then, have their best aligned expression in stories. The most successful lawyers do this naturally because making the client’s case in a matter demands the same skill, but it can and should be taught to every lawyer. In fact, most of what I do in business development coaching is to refine this particular tool of lawyers for use in acquiring work.