Simpson Grierson's character ads swing client view

Deborah Fox and Stuart Hutchinson help change perceptions about Simpson Grierson.

When research in 2003 showed Simpson Grierson's clients viewed it predominantly as "successful" and "a large company", the law firm decided it was time to act.

Successful, large and traditional were not enough for a firm with 100 years of history behind it. Simpson Grierson wanted the future.

Marketing director Glenda Macdonald says client perceptions showed the firm could be in danger of being left behind by a dramatic shift in the business environment.

Where lawyers would in the past have waited for the phone to ring, American firms were going about their business in a new way. They were selling - and it was going to catch on in New Zealand.

The view of Simpson Grierson as traditional had its positive side - expressing strong ethics and values - but in other ways it was a warning.

"You don't want to be seen to be slow moving," Macdonald said. "We looked at where the market was going and that was what really made us think.

"What clients wanted was people who were keeping up with the times, they wanted people who could demonstrate leadership."

What followed was a campaign which saw the law firm put its successes, and its successful clients, firmly in the spotlight.

The most recognisable of the dozen "character" advertisements from that campaign stars commercial law partner Deborah Fox, then a senior associate with the firm, and tax partner Stuart Hutchinson dressed as if about to walk a Hollywood red carpet. The ad focused on their involvement with New Line Cinema, the US studio that financed Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

MacDonald said the ads were a mindset shift for the lawyers involved - but it paid off. "It created perceptions of lawyers more as people, not just suits."

The ads also caused comment - and competition among the firm's legal rivals. MacDonald has been told seven New Zealand law firms will be advertising in the latest edition of Australasia's leading legal magazine.

She said the changes at Simpson Grierson went far deeper than just advertising. "We are now one of many suppliers: you've got to set up account managers ... you don't just sit in your office waiting for the phone to ring."

Research undertaken for Simpson Grierson in April and May found the firm's efforts have resulted in a significant shift in client perceptions.

The research, conducted by Essence, surveyed the opinions of the top 200 firms in New Zealand, as well as major Simpson Grierson corporate clients which weren't already included.

Of those, 62 gave the firm the best or second-best rating out of five when asked which lawyers they saw as modern and innovative.

That ranked Simpson Grierson as top among the leading firms for innovation. It also topped the table for overall client satisfaction.

The campaign helped the firm come first equal for general awareness of its name, level pegging with Bell Gully.

"There is no question that the branding has worked," MacDonald said. "We have an image of keeping up with the contemporary business environment."

But she does not intend to apply the brake. In fact she has plans to step up the campaign and there won't be a significant change in direction.

"The results [of the recent survey] have pointed out some areas that for clients are important and we'll focus on those," she said.

Meanwhile, where the firm's lawyers were initially reluctant to become involved in the advertisements, that has all changed.

"Now there's a clamour to be in the ads."