What can a service firm do when the outside doesn’t match the inside? MAGDALENA SUDER and EDANA THOMAS explain how Hadef & Partners rebranded to project the company’s personality and strengths to the world.

Hadef & Partners - the new brand

Established in Abu Dhabi in 1980 by the current Minister of Justice of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dr Hadef Al Dhahiri, Hadef & Partners has grown as a leading UAE law firm based on its strong, longstanding reputation in the region’s legal market.

As the UAE developed into an important business hub, Hadef & Partners saw increased competitive pressures in the region, mainly from international firms.

The firm’s lack of wider market visibility, its dated image and ambiguity over its name compounded the need for change. Management was keen to cement the firm’s position as a market leader and bring its external image up to speed with what it stood for internally.

Scoping out the project

The firm appointed global branding consultancy Fitch in March 2008. Together, Fitch and Hadef & Partners identified the core objectives of the rebranding project – defining identity and personality, what the firm stood for and how to communicate this message by:

• creating a new name
• positioning the firm relative to competitors and determining its differentiation in the market
• engaging employees to drive a culture change and achieve a brand that reflected the personality of the firm.

Preparing for the project

Fitch and Hadef & Partners quickly agreed on a high-level project plan and an optimistic timeline. The 12-month brand project consisted of the following phases:

1. Discovery: research and analysis. Understand the firm, how the market perceived us and how we perceived ourselves.
2. Distillation: develop and define. Strategise the discovery findings and achieve consensus on the firm’s identity and how we wanted to be perceived. Create the pillars of the brand, the brand essence and a new name.
3. Design: bring to life. Invent a visual identity that reflected our positioning, personality and essence.
4. Deployment: implementation. Create the new website, brand language, marketing collateral, environmental signage and interior design.

Recommendations

The firm’s new position needed to be strong and unique whilst being realistic with an important element of aspiration, reflecting the firm’s forward-thinking approach and perpetual desire for improvement.

Fitch recommended a brand strategy which aligned the firm’s existing values, personality and essence. It recommended changing the name from Hadef Al Dhahiri & Associates to Hadef & Partners. Fitch also created a visual identity which complemented the personality of the firm and its employees, while differentiating it from others in the market.

The brand consultants created a new logo and design grid which could be applied across the firm’s collateral. The typeface was chosen for its clarity, simplicity and modern appearance. Colours were clean, vibrant, approachable and sophisticated. The sleek and abstract imagery style was colourful and distinctive, with a theme based on approachability and friendliness. The website was designed with search, PDF printing functions and dynamic linking, highlighting the firm’s focus on clarity and quality and its helpful attitude.

Implementation

After final approval of the Distillation and Design phases of the project, Hadef & Partners’ team started working on implementation four months prior to the scheduled launch date. The group gave presentations to build awareness of how the brand essence would be delivered. They invited feedback from staff on all aspects of the project. Communication helped ensure a smooth transition and employee buy-in.

Launch

After more than 12 months of hard work, the brand was finally ready for launch. Over the duration of the project, the economy spiralled into a downturn. Bad timing? We didn’t think so. Hadef & Partners maintained a positive attitude and stuck by the launch schedule, hoping to bring positivity to the legal market and demonstrate the firm’s strength in spite of the climate.

We held an internal soft launch, with final firm-wide presentations from Fitch and the managing partners. The presentations cemented an understanding of the firm’s new brand and prepared people for the changes that would take place. The social yet professional atmosphere of the soft launch further underlined the essence of
the brand.

The external launch happened two days later. Employees received starter packs with branded gifts and a guidebook on the changes to expect and what they needed to do in order to implement the changes.

Living the brand and future

Feedback from employees, clients and other stakeholders has been phenomenally positive. Our monthly newsletter is receiving consistent praise from senior members of the legal and business community in the UAE and internationally.

Our website is already proving to be an important conduit for demonstrating our uniqueness and attracting interest in our services as well as serving to showcase our new visual identity.

Employees have been trained on the use of style. The enthusiasm is obvious among those working on important documents that showcase the firm’s capabilities and strengths. The firm’s employees are keen to comply with brand standards and have developed an understanding of the importance and impact this change has had on the business and culture within the firm.

The appetite continues to grow, with employees eager to get the message out there and stand out from the crowd.

Magdalena Suder is Head of Business Services at Hadef & Partners and Edana Thomas is the firm’s Marketing Manager. This article is reprinted with the kind permission of PSMG magazine.