#BrandManagerMonth: Law firms - beyond the courts and lawyers

Andrea Collocott, now the marketing and business development manager at Baker McKenzie South Africa, has spent the last nine years working 'behind the scenes' in the marketing and communications department some of South Africa's major law firms, including Bowmans, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and Werksmans Attorneys. Here she gives us some insight about how she got into the legal industry and what goes into handling a law firm as a 'brand'.

You've carved quite a niche for yourself in the brand management of law firms. Tell us a little about how you got into it?

Some would say luck! I moved into marketing when a role became available at HSBC Investment Bank in South Africa. It was a seven year massive growth trajectory but I landed as the brand manager for the Africa region and I knew I had found the thing I loved.

When I left HSBC, I was fortunate enough to find another brand management role at an insurance company in London and the global experience proved invaluable. On my return, I joined my first law firm.

Law firms have only recently been able to market and brand themselves so it was a huge mind shift for the legal industry. They were also bound by certain regulations about what they could and could not do. All of that made branding them more of a challenge, something I clearly thrive on.

I have moved around the legal industry over the past nine years and am happy to say that I have found my home at Baker McKenzie.

What is it you love about the legal industry and your role in it?

I love the challenge of the industry. There is never a quiet moment, something is always happening or changing. The law affects all aspects of our lives and businesses, how could one not be interested in developments in this sector?

I also really thrive on the my relationships with the lawyers themselves. They are expected to be the best at what they do, and in return they expect the very best from those providing a service to them. They push me to perform at the very highest standard and I relish that.

I don’t have a typical 'product' to market or brand. In the case of the legal industry, the lawyers themselves are the 'product', the partners are the firm owners and my immediate stakeholders. We all have a vested interest in the brand and how it is perceived in the market.

Baker McKenzie offers me the entrepreneurial freedom to put the necessary processes in place to ensure the brand/product and profiles are received by the market in the best way possible.

What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned from your experience in the industry?

You need to love your 'product', if not you will never successfully be able to market it. I work with some of the brightest minds in the South African legal market and that makes me immensely proud. Because I believe so strongly in the service we offer, it makes me passionate about what I do and I find it easy to take this 'product' to market.

Other lessons I have learned are to work hard and have a good attitude; and never stop growing or learning. I learn something new every single day – and very often something new about myself and my abilities. Also important to remember is that the one constant is change – be willing to adapt!

What’s on your wish-list for brand objectives for 2017?

I want the stakeholders to see the value that my team and I are adding. I want the firm name to be top of mind for big local corporates and multinationals and I want the firm's partners to be seen as the thought leaders and the experts in their field of law.

How do you plan on building on the Baker McKenzie brand going forward?

We have a number of plans including exciting, comprehensive marketing and strategic communications plans - watch this space! A business development offering which focuses on understanding our clients' needs first is a very important part of our plans.