Detox your firm. How to prevent and cure corrosive organisational energy. Virtual makeover Redesign and launch a global website

Transcription

1 February 2012 Volume 14 Issue 5 Detox your firm How to prevent and cure corrosive organisational energy Virtual makeover Redesign and launch a global website Avoiding apocalypse The role of lawyers in resolving the eurozone crisis Stakes and ladders Move to a merit-based remuneration system

2 bd Global branding case study Virtual makeover Chief marketing officer Jeff Berardi shares his experiences in redesigning and launching K&L Gates global website In the summer of 2011, we launched a redesigned website for K&L Gates. Initially built in 2002, the prior website relied heavily on outdated technology. Our marketing team realised several years ago that the aging site was no longer able to adequately address the needs of our rapidly-growing international law firm, and thus the initial plans for this multi-year project were set in motion. The main objectives of the website overhaul were threefold: 1. to effectively convey the global brand; 2. to better position our lawyers as thought leaders; and 3. to highlight relevant content that would allow us to strengthen relationships with web visitors. As the site team manoeuvred its way through the complex redesign project, the group encountered numerous complications that were addressed and ultimately overcome. Since the launch of the redesigned site, we have accomplished many of our principal goals and tracked significant increases in the number of site visits by individuals, the number of web pages viewed and the average amount of time spent by visitors on the website. Defining the need In June 2011, we completed a roughly three-year-long project to launch a fully redesigned website. Arguably the firm s most visible branding tool, the klgates.com website recorded nearly 25m page views in 2010, an average of over 2m per month. During that same time period, more than 4m web visitors spent an average of about 15 minutes each on the site. The website overhaul involved numerous teams comprising primarily marketing and information systems (IS) members, who worked in a collaborative and tireless fashion to reach the site launch the finish line in an effort that at times felt like an arduous marathon. As chief marketing officer, it was my responsibility to oversee and manage the internal and external teams as the firm worked towards the planned project completion. Law firms of the vast size and scale of K&L Gates must be able to rely on a website that adequately fits the needs of a complex and global enterprise. After all, the firm generates over US$1bn in annual revenues and currently comprises roughly 2,000 lawyers located in 40 offices on four continents. Yet, prior to the launch of our new website last summer, we were dependent upon a site that had been built nearly a decade ago and before the firm s international expansion. Originally constructed in 2002, 44 ManaGinG Partner, February 2012

3 key Takeaway points Trust your instincts. You know what is going to work best for your organisation. Outside consultants can sometimes provide a beneficial perspective on industry trends or innovative approaches, but what works for some firms may not work for yours. Even though some of their suggestions may be based on sound research and other logical conclusions, they might still be off the mark for your particular situation. Don t let issues linger. It is better to confront major problems at an early date than to push them off until later. You can sometimes exacerbate the situation beyond its initial significance if you choose not to face difficult issues in a timely fashion. Conduct internal reviews. Ensure you obtain appropriate buy-in from management or other key decision-makers early in the process. This step will cut down on having to make major changes after structural elements have already been built. Keep on schedule. Strive to maintain a proper working balance between pushing the project forward toward launch and dealing with selected problems after the launch of the site. Recognise that the website is never going to be absolutely perfect on day one. However, certain key aspects of the site should be non-negotiable and therefore retained for the initial launch date. Plan for conflicts. Put a lot of thought into how to deal with issues when things are tough, as those challenging times represent the true test of character for team members, as well as for firm leadership. Allocate sufficient time. Ensure you allow the necessary time to manage the project on a continuous basis. Critical components include organisation of the timeline, issue identification and resolution, and the communications plan. the previous website was intended to support a firm that, at the time, had 10 offices located only in the United States. Today, K&L Gates operates over three dozen offices located throughout the world in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Clearly, there were functional aspects related to maintaining a global operation that could not have been anticipated or factored in during the build of the old site. Furthermore, from a technological perspective, 2002 can pretty much be likened to the dark ages, prior to the advent of Facebook, YouTube and the ipad, among other significant innovations. Shortly after the launch of the K&L Gates brand five years ago, following a transformative combination of two legacy law firms, the marketing department proposed to firm management that a new website was needed to support the ambitions of the firm to be a global market leader for legal services. Although the prior site benefited from a much-needed facelift in 2007 when the K&L Gates brand was first created, those superficial updates essentially amounted to a refreshed design, with no real improvements to the back end of the site. In recent years, our marketing team often found ourselves holding the site together with the technical equivalent of rubber bands and glue, and the number of workarounds that were developed over the past few years by the web support team to keep up with the rapid growth of the firm were simply becoming too onerous to manage. Goals of the new site The primary goals and objectives of the site redesign project were to create a scalable database-driven platform that is able to: 1. properly showcase the firm s global brand; 2. support the firm s growth; and 3. enable the marketing department to take advantage of key market opportunities through the use of timely and relevant content. We often found ourselves holding the old site together with the technical equivalent of rubber bands and glue A fresh design with cleaner navigation and more dynamic elements was necessary. The display of integrated foreign language sites, along with the ability to display regionalised content, was deemed essential as well. The new site also had to support a broader range of multimedia, including video and audio capabilities, as well as increased interactive content. In addition, the site needed to be handheld-friendly to better meet the needs of clients, who often conduct business in a remote fashion without the use of a PC. Setting the stage The beginning stages of the lengthy website redesign project date back to the early part of 2008, when we first began to identify and consider different web vendors. Once we assessed the pros and cons of various possible organisations, we selected a web vendor that we felt best fit our needs at the time. We also partnered with an external design agency to assist with aspects related to the creative development. At that point, we had the foundational platform of the internal and external teams in place to initiate the redesign process. One of the initial steps was to divide the project into several phases. Phase 1 45

4 bd Global branding consisted of the website planning, design review and specifications development. Phase 2 was the website build, implementation and launch. At time of writing, we are in the midst of addressing phase 3, the post-launch stage of the project. Planning and design review Working together with our web vendor, design agency and internal teams from both marketing and IS, we discussed at great length the creative and business strategy surrounding the redesign of the site. We first did an overall assessment of the technical site. From there, we came up with wireframes that defined the navigation of the new site. A wireframe is essentially a blueprint for the screen devoid of graphic design elements that shows the layout of the navigation on the webpage and displays how the content is arranged. A sizeable amount of thought went into the user experience. We analysed what web visitors would consider to be most intuitive for the layout and navigation. Many time-consuming meetings were held even before our web vendor came up with a site map and wireframes for the home page. Once the wireframes were determined, the next step was to have our external design agency work with internal creative professionals to develop a series of potential concepts for the new website. After considering numerous options, we selected a design that not only aligned with our current and future brand values, but also fit with our desire to develop a web platform and layout that was highly attuned to the demographics of our clients and other visitors to the site. The essential purpose of the new design and functionality was to be able to provide comprehensive information about the firm s seamless cross-platform service capabilities in a user-friendly format. Build and launch The next phase of the project was the most lengthy, as it contained a complex series of steps to take us from the functional site design that was created in phase 1 to the actual website implementation, build and eventual launch. The visual design and content review was managed in-house by the marketing department, who worked with members of IS and our web vendor to define functional requirements and to build and test the site. As part of the overhaul of the design, content and functional structure of the site, more than 11,000 pages were updated and nearly 20 videos were produced, providing the firm with a strong foundation to enhance our online marketing and business development efforts. The new design aligns the firm s web presence with the broader K&L Gates brand and features a cleaner, more modern look, including a revised home page with rotating highlights of services, special events and other items to spotlight key site content. The site also boasts more multimedia and interactive features, enabling the firm to post video, audio and other components, such as webinars and an updated careers site that promotes the firm s recruiting efforts. We clearly needed to have a platform that was able to support the firm s rapid international growth, so we greatly We analysed what web visitors would consider to be most intuitive for the layout and navigation expanded our foreign language content, adding a dropdown menu that allows visitors to select numerous languages. The new site now has eight foreign language sites, in addition to the primary English language site. As of December 2011, the non-english versions of the updated website have received nearly 100,000 visits. To expand accessibility to relevant content, we developed a mobile version of the website. Additionally, the firm s practice groups maintain seven active blogs more than double the amount maintained in These cover a range of topic areas, from cloud computing, e-discovery and consumer financial services to climate change, land use, construction and telecom. The post-launch stage is ongoing, with weekly prioritisation of jobs. In my role as CMO, I was charged with ensuring that the project teams were making progress on a number of different fronts over the course of the multi-year development. Throughout the process, 46 ManaGinG Partner, February 2012

5 I was in frequent communication with key members of both the marketing and IS teams, as well as with our external web vendor and design agency, to keep the ball moving in the right direction. I benefited greatly by having a wonderful group of dedicated professionals surrounding me at all times, who sincerely cared about the finished product just as much as I did. Challenges faced and overcome As can be expected with lengthy and multifaceted assignments, a plethora of technical issues with the developing website were found and resolved throughout the duration of the project. Our web team identified hundreds of issues or bugs; these ran across the spectrum from the most mundane to the most complex. Technical issues needed to be sorted and prioritised on a routine basis, so that the team could sift through which areas were most critical for launch and which could be pushed off to a postlaunch time period. A beta version of the site was launched internally several months before the launch of the full site, so the web developers were forced to update the beta version along with the old version of the site until the new site was launched. To complicate matters further, the global economic downturn caused us to put a good portion of the web development project on hold for the majority of In addition, the sheer number of webpages to be updated as part of the content review process created major logistical support problems that were ultimately addressed and managed in an appropriate fashion. considerably higher in July to September 2011 compared to 2010, increasing from 14.5 minutes to over 18 minutes in Six months after its launch, the site continues to expand and evolve, with the initial launch goals having been met to create an enhanced user experience through improved functionality, a new design and updated and relevant content. jeffrey.berardi@klgates.com Technical issues needed to be sorted and prioritised on a routine basis, so that the team could sift through which areas were most critical for launch Post-launch results The launch of the new site went smoothly, with no major bugs experienced. Minor issues were caught and resolved over the first couple of weeks and months, and the web team worked in overdrive during the early days of the launch. Looking at the website statistics for the first three months post-launch, we have been extremely pleased with the early results of our site launch. Individual visits to the site have increased by nearly 30 per cent over the same time period in 2010, with the new site recording a monthly average of more than 465,000 visitors. Additionally, the average site visit was 47