What does my firm’s communication strategy say?

Just a few days ago, our partner in Colombia, Juan Martín Fierro, explained to Ámbito Jurídico the change of paradigm in the communication of law firms. In this regard, he commented that “the communication of law firms is today much more open to communicating what they did not do before: gender equity policies, corporate social responsibility, diversity, and environmental care”, elements that have been gaining importance over time and that, today, are crucial in the business environment.

Indeed, strategic communication is a key aspect at the corporate level. Undoubtedly, the way in which companies convey what they do and their values leave a mark not only on their customers but also on society. It is therefore essential that firms adapt the way in which they communicate their activity to their different stakeholders, i.e. customers, suppliers, governments, alliances, and, after all, society as a whole. 

We are even talking about an aspect that can determine the success or failure of a company in the market. Let’s think, for example, of some successful communications in certain companies that have achieved their positioning in our minds. We are not only talking about official communications such as press releases or traditional advertising, but about all the actions that these companies can carry out when it comes to making contact with the outside world. Let’s think about Apple, Starbucks, or Nike. These large companies have known how to focus their communication actions: everything they transmit is aimed at achieving a certain goal. They have clear objectives and this allows their message to be clean. This is called successful communication, and it is strategic precisely because they have been able to define an objective and have carried out a clearly defined strategy to make that goal a reality. However, there have been many companies that have not known how to carry out a communication strategy, either due to the absence of a clear objective, with their values and philosophy defined, or because the actions they have carried out were not entirely appropriate for that purpose. 

Unfortunately, there have been many companies that have been born with a novel and useful product that, surely, due to its functionalities, would have been very well received in the market, but they have not known how to communicate the benefits of using their product or service.

Moreover, we must bear in mind that, according to studies, we have an average of three seconds to capture the attention of our potential customers. Communicating what we do is becoming more and more complicated and not devoting efforts to it is a serious mistake. While it is true that in the past a company’s communication and marketing was based on very limited and simple actions, nowadays, with the development of technology, we have a multitude of channels and ways to reach consumers. We are in a VUCA environment, increasingly dynamic and complex. We can take advantage of it and be among the first companies, those successful ones that have known how to communicate their values, philosophy, and mission, or we can fall into the second group: a bag of brands that are totally unknown to the vast majority.

What about communication in the legal sector?

The same thing happens in the legal sector. There are many law firms in our business fabric, but some are undoubtedly better known than others, in many cases without even taking into account the number of employees or turnover. So what is the difference between one and the other? Precisely, the importance is given to communicating their great virtues and differential aspects. 

That is why corporate communication can never be kept in the background, but all members of the firm must be involved, from the partners to the intern. As Seth Godin, one of the gurus of marketing, states in his book The Purple Cow, this is too important an aspect to be left behind by the Marketing and Communications Department. Strategic communication must permeate all aspects of the company, from start to finish: the mission, vision, values, corporate culture, and even the value proposition must be known to stakeholders. Having a good team in this area will be a crucial aspect to take into account for this purpose.