Reality counts: Delivering on Totum’s brand promise
Launching a new brand is invariably nerve-wracking. For us, moving out of the comfort zone that was First Counsel to become Totum wasn't an easy decision but we were convinced that this was the right thing to do.
We knew that we had a fantastic brand consultancy in Brand Architects. And true to form, they worked with us to produce both a compelling brand proposition and a dynamic, beautifully designed website. But on launch day we still awaited market reaction with some trepidation. Would clients and candidates understand and welcome our new strategic direction?
Two weeks into our new life as Totum, we have all been greatly encouraged by the reaction to our demerger from First Counsel. We have had many positive comments, with one of the most notable ones coming from a fellow supplier to the legal services sector who said:
“Many thanks for sharing this exciting news with me. What a significant moment this must be in the journey you started so long ago and what a bold counter-intuitive step it is, running against that empire building desire to be a 'full service' search firm that one sees so often elsewhere. Just this week, I met the head of one of the newer search firms and there was a clear lack of focus in terms of practice, and I can think of another that seemed to wish to ape the big international firms, before it had even walked. Ambitious, yes, but wise? I am not so sure. Your branding is smart and fresh, and very up-to-date with technology sophistication. The film clips are great – what fantastic testimonials you've got. So, I wish you and your Totum partners every success. What a great week to have that report about the increase in the importance of law firm management. I think your brand is likely to become Totemic!”
This comment has continued to make us think about our strategy within the context of the broader developments in the legal profession: particularly given the general trend for consolidation/expansion being the order of the day among many firms. In that sense, to some our strategy must seem counter-intuitive. But to us, it made sense to come in line with a number of our clients who, rather than pursue critical mass and regional or global domination, are pinning their colours to a mast where niche specialism, whether practice or sector specific, will have its place.
The feedback hopefully shows that our clients and candidates agree that we have made both a bold and wise move, with the COO of one of the large international firms commenting “Focus and specialism is a great thing…” adding “I read about your rebranding last week and tried to look at the new site before you went live. I think it looks great and makes complete sense given how the market is developing.”
While it is gratifying to see that so many people have such faith in us, we now have to prove that we can effectively sail this new course - providing clients and candidates with a better and more dedicated service than ever before. We plan to achieve this through appropriate recruitment for ourselves and careful expansion, to ensure we can deliver on our promise to recruit across all business services functions into law firms, at all levels.
We are confident in our ability to deliver. But for all those who work with us, only time will tell. We thank you for all your support through our launch. We will now strive to ensure that we merit your continued praise well into the future.
Come back and let us know what you think as we progress – we always welcome your thoughts and feedback.
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