One of the trends I’ve been seeing recently is the use of taglines for law firms. Just a quick look at 148 of the AMLaw 200 yielded the following (I used 148, as there was one merger and one firm that folded out of 150):

52% of the firms had a visible tagline on their site.

Wow.

I took a further look at the taglines and sliced them into a few different “categories”:

Generic:
When I say generic, I’m referring to lines like “A global law firm”, or “Providing legal services since 2005″. These are basically statements that say nothing about the firm other than that they exist.

About 20% of firms on this list had a generic tagline.

Excellence and Experience:
Most prospective clients want to know if your firm has experience in their particular business area. Because of this, 13% of the firms with taglines use the word “experience” in some way. In many cases, they use the word “excellence” when they use the word “experience.”

Hard to say:
These firms use a tagline that has some pop to it, but the tagline tells you nothing about what they do. Examples of this would be “awesome” or “years ahead.” I’m not making a value judgement here, as this can work in many cases. The difference here is context. If you already know a firm and what they cover, using a wildcard tagline can work.

The right tagline can be a great opportunity to say what your logo can’t say.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Law.com has an article today by Jennifer Moline called “Law Firms Look to Color for Identity.” The article notes a study by Partners & Simons, which looked at the AM Law 200. The study finds that 58% of the firms studied use some shade of blue as a main color in their brand identity.

The study also found that:

• 19% use red
• 8% use gray
• 2% use green

The article postulates that law firms refrain from using green due to “stark allusions to money.”

The study went into more detail asking what the colors meant:

The color blue, according to the study, conveys a feeling of authority and royalty, as well as a sense of calm — much like the color green, but without the filthy lucre connotation.

Red, however, has been known to raise blood pressure and suggests excitement, action and aggression.

…the study says that even the outwardly benign color gray can be fraught with meaning: Darker gray connotes dour, overcast skies, and lighter gray suggests seriousness.

So, have you thought about how much your color actually means to your overall branding? I’m currently reading “Blink” by Malcom Gladwell, which is basically about our perceptions that are formed in nanoseconds. I wonder how much the color of a firm’s logo means to our unconscious mind when forming our initial impression of a firm.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Yesterday I went to the Association of Legal Administrators monthly luncheon. The speaker was Burkey Belser from Greenfield Belser, and it was by far the best presentation I’ve ever seen at an event like this.

Mr. Belser is “The Father of Legal Advertising”, and is recipient of the Presidential Design Award. You’ve seen his work every day, as he is the designer of the Nutrition Facts label on foods.

And he knows a LOT about law firm branding.

During the presentation, he made some very interesting and valid points that have relevance to legal blogging:

1. Promoting your firm doesn’t take a lot of money: It takes a lot of committment.
This is why blawgging has really taken off in my opinion. It doesn’t cost much, but it takes a level of committment from the blawgger. And as I’ve said before, once a lawyer has started maintaining their own site, it’s much easier to get that committment. Blogs give individual attorneys a sense of ownership and responsibility not seen in a firm’s main site.

2. Consumers of Legal Services Have Implied Trust
It’s something I really never thought of that way. When you’re looking for an attorney to represent you, wondering if an attorney is competent is already implied. So instead of trying to promote your firm as competent and trustworthy, it’s a better idea to actually set yourself apart from your competition.

There are so many lawyers out there, and it’s nearly impossible to tell two firms or attorneys apart by just looking at a web site. And once a visitor gets to your site, they already believe you can do the job. But they also believe your competitors can do the job.

What you really need to do is set your firm’s site apart from the crowd. Your firm has to be a brand, not just another “mid size full service general practice firm.”

Popularity: 3% [?]