Marketing and branding that helps great firms stay great.

There was a time when professional services firms paid little attention to branding and marketing. Work spoke for itself, and business relationships, nurtured over long lunches, could be counted on to endure beyond market fluctuations.

Those days are long gone. Today the marketing and communications departments of global law firms, executive search firms, consulting firms and other professional services firms operate in an environment of high expectations and intense competition.

For more than 25 years, Athlon has worked closely with some of the world’s leading professional services firms to help them meet this challenge. We partner with internal marketing and communications departments to give them the extra firepower they need to meet their toughest challenges. It’s all that we do.

Market research

Knowledge, not Guesswork

Many firms make the mistake of focusing on the "stuff" of marketing—logos, websites, public relations campaigns and so on—without first answering fundamental questions:

• What makes us different from our competitors?

• How are we perceived by potential clients?

• What holds someone back from hiring us?

Athlon can answer these and other questions through in-depth interviews with the firm's partners combined with an email or phone survey of current, former and potential clients. The findings are presented in a detailed report and SWOT analysis which provides a framework for a holistic branding and marketing strategy.

Website design and content

A compelling online presence

Professional services firm websites do more than act as a platform for the firm’s brand. They reveal how the firm sees itself, its clients and its place in the larger business, financial and legal ecosphere in which the firm operates. The best professional services websites don’t just recite what the firm can do—they provide value to site visitors by framing issues in new and thought-provoking ways.

Athlon has both the industry understanding and the technical capabilities to provide professional services firms with websites that engage visitors and spark conversations. We can cover the entire process, including design, coding and content, or partner with other providers you work with to provide additional support in strategy and content.

For firms looking to strengthen their current site, we can conduct audits of competitor sites and identify best practices, and work with practice leaders to develop web content that is compelling and aligned with the market.

Social media and public relations

Creating conversations and community

LinkedIn and Twitter have become essential communications platforms for professional services firms. Athlon can craft a comprehensive strategy to leverage social media as a distribution platform for your thought leadership and firm news, making you part of a community that includes your clients, potential members of your firm and the industries you serve. And for firms looking to accelerate the growth of their LinkedIn presence, we can design effective paid campaigns to increase the number of followers among strategically targeted audiences.

Athlon began at the end of the last century as a Madison Avenue public relations firm specializing in working with professional services firms. While our services have expanded significantly since then, the ability to meaningfully connect our clients to the trends and events of the day continues.

Branding

Distilling the Essence of your firm

Creating a brand identity starts with identifying the optimal intersection between the capabilities and culture of the firm, on the one hand, and the functional and emotional needs of the target market, on the other. Through strategy meetings with business unit leaders, collaborative ideation sessions and client interviews, Athlon will identify that intersection and then determine the firm’s positioning, mission, personal and style.

Athlon will then translate those components into a cohesive visual identity system that can be applied across channels and that can accommodate the firm’s future growth. We will also leverage our understanding of your business and market to create a brand architecture anchored in client needs and perspectives, and ensure that the visual identity system and brand architecture reinforce each other.

Thought leadership

Insight that sets you apart

It’s a marketing truism that compelling communications starts with story.  But executing on that truism is particularly challenging in the professional services arena, where the issues at hand are often highly complex and technical.

Athlon combines its peer-to-peer understanding of trends in law, policy, finance, governance, cybersecurity and other arenas with our ability to communicate with C-suite audiences to create client updates, quarterly newsletters, reports and other content that driven by a clear, compelling—and accurate—narrative. And we do so at a speed that lets firms stay in front of fast-moving legal, regulatory and industry developments and provide their clients with the insight they need in turbulent times.

Executive coaching and firm culture

Building a shared foundation

Maintaining a unified firm culture is so challenging in professional services firms because historically, these firms came into being as collections of solo practitioners seeking the benefits of economies of scale.

This tension between "one firm" and "eat what you kill" can be particularly strong in newer firms, especially if the firm is formed by consultants coming together from different organizations with different cultures.

Athlon has standardized hiring guidelines, helped create recruiting materials and has recruited speakers and designed content for professional development offsite events. We also provide confidential coaching for both senior and mid-level executives to help maximize both individual performance and team cohesion.