Managing Professional Services Communications: Reputation, Brand and Leadership

1. Managing Professional Services Communications:Reputation, Brand and Leadership December 6, 2007 AMCF Global Consulting Leaders Symposium Peter Verrengia, President and Senior Partner Communications Consulting Worldwide

2. Challenge: Grow Value Everywhere . . .

3. Against a background of global complexity. . .

4. Priorities? • Visibility for the firm • Global • National • Regional • Local • Credibility for the practices and partners • Lead generation • Recruitment and retention • Lateral, direct entry • Summer associates, associates

5. Questions and Complexity • How should we be known, what should we say? • Why do our competitors get more attention—does it matter? • Should we focus on practices, geographies or at the firm level? • How do we convert our experience into demand? • Does criticism or a link to negative issues hurt our revenue now? Will it hurt in the future?

6. More questions… • Can we increase productivity and quality if employees understand our strategy better? • Are we trusted, seen as innovative, expected to succeed? Is that view the same in every country and every service segment. • Should our leaders be visible, should they be thought leaders? Is the time and personal exposure worthwhile? • Shouldn’t our results speak for themselves?

7. Challenges of Business Development Communications in Professional Services Firms • Shared • Disintermediation of editorial function, decline of endorsed expertise • Speed, fragmentation of information sources—shift away from control • Desire for linearity in a non-linear decision-making environment • Scope and scale of global business • Lack of confidence in large organizations, personal credibility as a substitute

8. Challenges of Business Development Communications in Professional Services Firms • Unique • Partner time • Partner expectations • (Unlike clients, partners are never wrong) • Can’t easily use clients as examples in public communications • Expertise versus personalities • Lead generation in a relationship context • Business strategy vs. marketing strategy vs. partner priorities, reactions

9. Variety Of Effective Tools • Most programs involve the same tactics • Segmentation by practice, vertical industry, and geography Integrated Communications Program Controlled Uncontrolled Custom Publishing Speeches, events, seminars Advertising Interactive engagement Direct Media relations Books, by-lined Articles VISIBILITY CREDIBILITY Content Dependent

10. Objective? Conflict? Personality dependent Super Fully Integrated Strategic Communications If I could just get into the room… Super Tactical, High Volume Splashy Buzz Communications Chaos?

11. Organizations Must Tackle Communications Alignment and Integration Issues • Organization: How does it connect inside? • Effectiveness, Efficiency: How well are reputation and brand projected and protected? • Alignment: How well does the organization support its own professionals and their objectives? • Benchmarks: Scope and spending on communications activities and how does this compare to best in class? Integration New, Innovative, Strategic 3 Long-Term Opportunity Collaboration Together, Better, Faster 2 Near-Term Initiative Coordination Functional, Independent, Parallel 1

12. Reputation and brand • Brand: what we say about ourselves or our products • in the context of a buyer/seller relationship • Most often through controlled communications • Reputation: What others say about the company • In the context of its own actions and statements • Statements of competitors, and the issues and concerns that create the economic, public policy, and social trends environment • Wherever the company operates or plans to operate in the future. • Most often through uncontrolled communications Brand Visibility Reputation Credibility Credibility = Experience + Expectation In professional services, brand and reputation are very closely aligned

13. Managing Reputation & Brand Value Uncontrolled Communications Opportunity Platform Partners Reputation and Brand Value Performance Firm Safety Net Controlled Communications

14. Brand, Reputation and Thought Leadership • The firm’s reputation is a composite and reflection of its partners’ reputations—and potentially more • Institutional qualities, attributes • Communications from the firm requires the personal participation of the partners • Especially at the level of thought leadership • “Live the brand”??? same at any scale: partner, practice geography, or firm

15. Reputation and Branding Priorities For the Partner For the Firm PERSONAL CREDIBILITY TIME FOR VISIBILITY TIME FOR THOUGHT LEADERSHIP High Effort, High return

16. Two rules • Thought Leadership: • Need a thought • Need to lead

17. Essential Ingredients THOUGHT LEADERSHIP NEWS EXPERTISE Content is king in professional services communications

18. How do we know what matters? • In an increasingly complex world, attributes of our reputation, and what issues, are important? • Do we have, in our reputation, a sustainable competitive advantage? • What attributes to emphasize? • What attributes to protect? • How do we create and maintain visibility and credibility • Program messages, tactics, duration • Spending levels • What are the metrics we should use?

19. Practical Considerations • Motivate partner participation • Respond to partner priorities and desires (demands?) • Justify budgets

20. Practical Considerations • Motivate partner participation • Respond to partner priorities and desires (demands?) • Justify budgets

21. REPUTATION VALUE MEASUREMENT ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN & PERFORMANCE BD Comms. Management LEADERSHIP REPUTATION GROWTH AND DEFENSE MESSAGE & POSITIONING DEVELOPMENT Program strategy & tactics This is the easy part

22. Create Reputation Value Model • What outcomes matter most to you as a business? • What is the value of reputation overall? What metric should be used over time to measure progress or threats? • Which reputation attributes or messages contribute most to your reputation, sales volume, other outcomes? • Which should be emphasized more? • Which reputation attributes or messages about the company should your protect?

23. Reputation Index –Communications, Brand, Image, Other CCW’s Approach to Measurement • An approach using multivariate statistics and econometric modeling • A model using causal equations to link intangible driversto an overall score that links to corporate performance Intermediaries Outputs Inputs Components Possible Data Points: Possible Message Themes: Possible Elements: Potential Business Outcomes: Publicly Available Financial Data Strategy Execution Media Relations Data Revenue Corp. Culture and CEO Messaging Brand Data Management Strength Sales Volume/ Growth Stakeholder Survey Inputs (Customer, Employee, Other) Reputation Customer Retention Employee Relations CSR Data Financial Position Awards, Patents, Ratings Innovation Market Share Product/Service Quality Marketing Data

24. Leadership Defense • Understand the environment and risks • Cross-border political and economic issues • Relevance • Competitor initiatives • Timing—24 hours a day • Appropriate response • Sometimes no response is correct • Create just enough leeway for initiative • Focus and repeat (consultants get bored easily) • Measure • Involve knowledge owners • Always seek communications annuity programs and develop franchises