As the legal services industry opens up, Pearse McCabe believes that the opportunity for branding practitioners is not to be missed

On January 3, the Solicitors Regulation Authority started to accept applications from organisations wanting to trade as Alternative Business Structures (ABS). These new licenses will allow companies that are not owned and run by legal practitioners to provide legal services. The term “Tesco Law” has been used in the media to describe how a strong brand may decide to make a play for this market.

Branding practitioners from across all sectors should pay close attention to what is happening here. More than ten applications were made on the first day: unsurprising, given that widely accepted estimates put the worth of the legal market at £25 billion. The Co-operative Group has been ramping up for this and, as predicted, was one of the first to put forward an application.
From a pure branding perspective, there are a number of interesting aspects to this deregulation of the legal services industry. Many argue that the waves of privatisation in the 80s actually benefited bosses and shareholders rather than consumers; British Gas enjoyed 14 years of market monopoly before the arrival of consumer choice. Clearly, cost of entry was a factor, and there was no instantaneous “battle of the brands” for consumer preference.

Fast forward to 2012, and the first ABS licences should be issued by November. Cost of entry is relatively low for those strong candidate brands that have built credibility amongst consumers and have experience in offering products and services beyond their traditional core competencies. While brands such as Tesco and Virgin might enter the consumer market, there is no reason why companies such as McKinsey & Co or IBM could not also take part..
The stage is set for a battle between the established order of traditional law firms and anyone else who wants a piece of this industry. The exciting challenge for those involved will be the requirement to manage their brands in a world where branding has played a minor role thus far.
 

This new scenario demands a new approach to managing brand, which can be summarised by three key principles:
Smart Insight
In today’s new communications world, those who are responsible for brands don’t have time to wait around for extensive conventional research projects to make their next move. In order to respond to and keep pace with customers, brands need to be quicker, more nimble, and more opportunistic. It’s all about putting insight at the heart of a brand.
Evolving Strategy
Long term strategy is still important, but it is critical to continually review and respond to customers’ changing needs with ideas that invigorate the brand.
Active Development
 

Brands are living entities that evolve over time, and need to be worked on continuously in order to remain relevant. The key challenge for brands is not consistency of identity but continuity of identity.
These principles are particularly important in immature brand categories where the territory is uncharted. The opportunity to help create a category from scratch does not come around very often. It will mean being involved in a very dynamic environment of listening, learning and reacting on a daily basis aided by the technology that will help us to do this. The benefits are clear for anybody working in or wanting to enter new categories that don’t currently exist: Brand managers get a more nimble and more cost effective approach to marketing, a brand that remains fit for purpose, and ultimately a brand that has a greater impact on the bottom line