Content - Fall 2007 - (Page 8) Content The Voice of the Client A major D.C. law firm uses its custom magazine as a lever for business development. BY FRANK FERRIS over four decades, the washington, d.c.-based law firm Patton Boggs had become well known for its lobbying clout. But during that period the firm had also spread its wings beyond the nation’s capital and its lobbying and public policy practices. It had opened offices and gained clients around the world; its practice areas ran the gamut from litigation and intellectual property to business and environmental law. By the summer of 2005 it was looking forward to the opening of its first New York City office. It was time to spread the word that this firm was more multifaceted than its clients and would-be clients might realize and to showcase the firm’s thought leadership in such areas as business finance. While the firm had a long tradition of advertising, it was clear that ads weren’t the ticket for this ride. “We were looking for a marketing tool that wasn’t overused,” says Mary Kimber, Patton Boggs’ CMO. “We haven’t seen law firms use custom publishing very much, but corporations have used it effectively, and we could see that it was a great vehicle for marketing, positioning and branding.” Launched in spring 2006, Capital Thinking, which is produced by Leverage Media, was conceived as a platform through which the firm could involve clients and display its expertise in critical business issues. Such clients as e-Trade, Wal-Mart, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Halliburton were tapped as sources or authors. To broaden its reach—and to provide readers with click-through access to the firm’s website—the firm paralleled the launch of the print magazine with a web-friendly version, complete with its own URL. Because the magazine is written and edited by journalists and targeted to 30,000 businesspeople, “it’s not written in legalese,” Kimber says. “It doesn’t look like other law firm publications; it’s a business magazine.” Articles have focused on such topics as real estate, health care, finance, and issues facing corporate board members. The magazine—which earlier this year spawned the firm’s first-ever annual report—has been well received inside and outside the firm, Kimber says. Most importantly it has helped the firm demonstrate how well it understands—and can act upon—the problems its clients face. To that point, the firm’s deputy managing partner, Charlie Miller, recently told a group of marketers at the Legal Sales and Service Organization’s annual conference that Capital Thinking is “probably the single most effective tool we’ve utilized to capture the voice of the client.” THE ROI FACTOR HOW CUSTOM PUBLISHING PROVES ITS WORTH TO CLIENTS. BY ERIC BUTTERMAN Remember the days when companies wanted custom publishing just to get their brand out there? Well, now they want their customers in here—in their store or clicking away on the website. ¶ “ROI is everything,” says Fred Petrovsky, president of custom media for custom publishing company McMurry. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and not that long ago you never even heard of the term when we went and talked to a company. Now they’ll just send you out the door if you can’t show them real returns on the projects you’re undertaking.” ¶ So how is it being measured? ¶ “Every customer is different, so ROI means many things to many companies,” says Diana Pohly, president of Boston-based custom publisher The Pohly Company. “But people like to measure the impact on direct actions customers take because of receiving the publication— that’s the most critical.” ¶ One approach is research. Pohly’s Continental magazine did a reader survey in 2006 to find out how many recipients read at least half or more of a typical issue (73 percent), took an action based on reading it (82 percent) and recommended the airline to someone else (29 percent). For another client, the numbers were more specific. ECGC Distributors, a consortium of gardening centers, looked at three top products’ year-over-year increase in sales as the ROI model. “That was an easy situation to measure because it was simply looking at the previous year without our publication versus with us,” she says. “If there aren’t many other factors, then they’ll know the value you’re bringing.” ¶ Anticipating client demands for clear ROI measurements, Petrovsky tries to beat them to the punch. “As soon as we make a sale, we’re asking our clients how they want to measure a campaign as being a success,” he says. “Is it about getting their name out there, or is it sales? You may get away with low returns for a while without this approach, but then you lose the client when they start asking questions a year down the road.” If the company doesn’t seem to know their exact goal, says Petrovsky, work with them to find one. “It’s a question of whether you want a client for the next two years or the next 20. They only know you’re doing a great job if there’s a way to measure it.” The Magazine of the Custom Publishing Council PREMIERE ISSUE 8 BELOW: ISTOCKPHOTO
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