Flying Elephants Used as a Recruiting Tool

For those of us who occasionally succumb to typecasting - e.g., referring to a "Cravath-type" or a "Simpson Thacher -type" to explain the relationship between a firm's culture and the personalities it produces - here is an intruiging piece by Harry Joiner, an Atlanta GA recruiter of marketing professionals (I have never met Harry) who hosts a fascinating blog at Marketingheadhunter.com.

Harry's basic point(s), as paraphrased for the law firm world, are as follows:

1. "If your law firm's brand was a person - how would you describe that person to a friend?" In asking this, Harry makes the observation that the best run companies have a very strong sense of self due to the alignment of their brand, their lawyers, practice specializations and their operating model. We all know firms who do this better than others - e.g., Orrick's evolution from an old-line San Francisco municipal finance firm to a full-service, cutting-edge, California-flavored, global player - marked everywhere by its ubiquitous "O". By comparison we have the somewhat confusing "what-were-they- thinking" imagery of dogs in turtleneck sweaters and flying elephants featured in Bingham McCutcheon's marketing materials. Each place is a fine firm. Which firm's brand is an easier sell?
2. Now more than ever, authenticity matters. Law firms need to know who they are so they can attract the best people. For the legal recruitment community, this is a critical issue insofar as we are constantly addressing the long-standing mis-perception, in our candidates, that "all firms are alike".

Obviously, a lawyer will not move to a new law firm on the basis of good branding alone. But we all know of firms that, for utterly unexpected reasons (remember Howrey's "Boot Camp"), have been deemed "cooler" then their peers - and thus more attractive places to work.

This is all very new. It's clear that law firms are still in the early phases of addressing the issues of branding and corporate culture that have long been "meat & potatoes" issues in Corporate America. It will be interesting to see where the elephants land...