How a team rethink helped one brand go global

Despite being almost 250 years old, B2B law firm Addleshaw Goddard had never had a head of marketing or run a brand campaign before 2021. In fact, prior to 2019 the business had no marketing analytics in place, and had never worked with a creative agency or run a digital marketing campaign.

Having historically focused on long-term, in-person client relationships, the firm’s rivals were winning the battle for recognition. Some competitors enjoyed 2.5 times higher awareness and consideration in priority markets, while others were up to five times bigger in both revenue and team size.

Charged with sparking change, Addleshaw Goddard’s revamped marketing team unveiled a new brand promise ‘More Imagination, More Impact’, designed to make the business distinctive and amplify top-of-funnel visibility among senior managers.

Over a two-year period, the 25-person marketing team introduced market research, marketing planning and analytics for the first time. They launched seven new products and multilingual operations in five overseas markets.

From a creative perspective, Addleshaw Goddard released the first B2B thought leadership campaign recorded in a music studio and invited poets to write about the law. The latter brand campaign earned 3.2 million online impressions among more than 370,000 businesspeople, delivering a 6,500% increase in readership compared to the brand’s previous content.

National press coverage for Addleshaw Goddard rose 300% in 2022, while on LinkedIn followers grew by 71%, with engagement rates up 79% and click-throughs rising by 118%.

Over the past two years, the company enjoyed a 25.3% increase in search traffic, attracting 16% more new visitors to its website – results which helped Addleshaw Goddard win the 2023 Marketing Week Award for Marketing Team of the Year.