Passle CMO Series Podcast

Episode 117 - Justin Portaz of Jenner & Block on Trusting your team: Lessons from a legal CMO

Establishing a culture of trust within a marketing function, and across the wider firm, is arguably one of the most important roles of a legal CMO.

Today on the Passle CMO Series Podcast, Ed Lovatt is lucky to welcome Justin Portaz, Chief Marketing Officer at Jenner & Block who has curated a powerhouse marketing team over the past three years. 

Justin joins the series to share his journey so far and how he’s building an agile marketing team that thrives in today's landscape.

Justin and Ed discuss: 

• How Justin approached team building during the uncertain times of COVID-19
• The role that trust from firm management plays in the  team-building process
• How to ensure you bring the right people in to the team
• How to foster collaboration between marketing and other departments across the firm
• The importance of partnering with the COO during the process and why that was pivotal to building trust across the firm
• How collaborative efforts drive overall business success
• Advice for Marketing leaders looking to build trust within their team and the wider firm

Episode 116 - Andrew Laver of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman on Integrating a Culture of BD in a Super Regional Firm

Business development has become a central role for ambitious law firms, regardless of their size.  Today on the Passle CMO Series Podcast, Ed Lovatt is lucky to chat with Andrew Laver, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Porzio and 2023 LMA Treasurer, to discuss his experience in building out a successful BD-focused marketing team.

Andrew shares insights on everything from recruitment, to shaping culture and how he’s bringing lessons from AmLaw 100 and 200 firms to drive growth in a super regional business.

Andrew and Ed discuss: 

• Andrew’s role, three months in, at Porzio and the main differences between his previous firms and where he is now
• The key challenges Andrew is facing right now
• Why integrating a business development facet of the marketing team so important for the firm’s growth
• The opportunities in a super regional firm from a BD perspective
• The key BD initiatives or approaches Andrew is looking to implement at Porzio
• The goals for the next 6, 12, 18 months
• Advice for marketing and BD leaders looking to integrate a culture of BD in their firm
• Where folks can find Andrew at the upcoming LMA conferences

 

Episode 115 - Client Listening 101 with JeanMarie Campbell of Baker McKenzie

Perceived resistance from clients and a strong focus on billable hours could explain why law firms have been slower to adopt client listening programs. Today, we’ll explore the valuable lessons firms can take from a client's perspective to successfully implement client listening and enhance the overall experience.

Will Eke is lucky to welcome JeanMarie Campbell, Regional CMO and Head of Client Development for North America at Baker McKenzie, to discuss her remarkable career journey and the pivotal moment she recognized the crucial role of client listening in law firms.

JeanMarie uncovers how her experiences outside of legal influenced the client listening programs at Baker McKenzie, shedding light on the strategies employed to establish a culture of exceptional client service.

 

Episode 114 - Maggie Watkins on Leveraging Client Feedback: Lessons From Outside The Legal Industry

Client feedback is a cornerstone of improving legal services and fostering growth. In this episode of the CMO Series Podcast, we delve into how law firms can adopt these best practices. 

Alistair Bone is joined by Maggie Watkins, Founder of Maggie T. Watkins Consulting, and expert in crafting and implementing effective Client Feedback programs. Together, they unpack the critical role of client feedback in strengthening relationships and enhancing the overall success of law firms. 

Maggie shares invaluable insights on adapting practices from outside the legal sphere to optimize the client experience and drive business development opportunities for law firms. 

Maggie and Ali explore:

• The moment in Maggie’s career she realised the importance of client feedback
• What firms can learn from outside of the legal industry when developing client feedback programs
• How to introduce Client Feedback programs to firms and explain their value
• The key steps to launching a Client Feedback program
• The main challenges to getting Client Feedback programs off the ground
• How to analyse and leverage feedback to shape marketing and BD activities
• Advice for others looking to implement a successful Client Feedback program

Episode 113 - Will Brewster of Clyde & Co on The Journey Of A Law Firm Merger Through a Communications Lens

The pivotal role of marketing and communications in successfully launching the news of a law firm merger cannot be underestimated. Striking the right balance between client-centric narratives, internal messaging, brand management, and PR is a fine art.

Today on the CMO Series, Will Eke is excited to welcome Will Brewster, Head of Communications at Clyde & Co, who has first-hand experience of doing just that. Will joins the CMO Series Podcast to delve into the different stages of Clyde & Co’s merger with BLM from a communications perspective, and discuss the challenges, opportunities, and learning for others endeavouring to do the same. 

The conversation explores: 

• The point Will was brought into the merger with BLM and the first stage of the process from a communications perspective
• The main challenges during the initial phase 
• The key factors for success ahead of launching the communications campaign and how they played out in practice
• How to keep the clients at the heart of the campaign
• The impact of the merger on the team
• Advice for any marketing and communications leaders navigating a merger

Episode 112 - Ashley Horne of Womble Bond Dickinson on Taking a Campaign Approach to Legal Content Marketing

Creating engaging content is one thing, but producing a stand-out campaign that delivers added value to your clients is the key to legal marketing success. 

Today’s guest joins the CMO Series to discuss her unique process and the success stories and learning she has taken from taking a campaign approach to content marketing. Ed Lovatt is lucky to welcome Ashley Horne, Chief Marketing Officer at Womble Bond Dickinson (US) to the CMO Series to discuss this very topic.

​Ashley and Ed explore: 

• The traditional approach to content marketing at Womble Bond Dickinson 
• The moment Ashley realized there was an alternative way of doing things and identified a campaign-led approach to content marketing
• Why an Editorial Board, that brings attorneys together, has been pivotal to this approach
• The headline campaigns Ashley is working on and what they look like at a tactical level
• How the firm's traditional business development activities align with those banner campaigns
• The highlights of taking a campaign approach to content marketing and how to measure success
• Advice for marketing leaders looking to take a campaign approach to their content marketing

Establishing Meaningful Connections: A Sneak Peek at LMA MidWest ‘23

Building relationships and establishing meaningful connections, both with clients and attorneys, is a fundamental facet of a legal marketing and business development role.

That’s the theme of the LMA’s MidWest Conference happening in October, and today, Ed Lovatt is very lucky to welcome the keynote speaker, to give us a glimpse of what to expect from the event, plus his industry experience on the topic.

Rich Bracken, former legal BD and client service Director turned motivational speaker and high-performance coach, joins us to discuss the power of personal branding, emotional intelligence, and empathy in legal marketing and BD, as well as a sneak preview of his upcoming keynote, Become Unstoppable!

Rich and Ed explore:

• Rich's career journey from legal marketing and BD to his current role as a speaker and coach
• The point at which Rich realized the important role empathy and emotional intelligence play in legal business development
• What legal marketing and BD professionals can do to better engage with their attorneys
• How marketing and BD professionals can apply EQ and mindfulness approaches to enhance their work lives and become more productive and efficient
• The opportunity for firms to encourage these behaviors
• Advice for legal marketing and BD folks looking to engage their lawyers more empathetically

Episode 110 - Delivering successful research projects: What legal marketers need to know

In this episode of the CMO Series Podcast, we dive into what it takes to deliver a successful research project; sharing top tips for professional services marketers. 

Simon Hayhurst, Director of Hayhurst Consultancy, a B2B market research consultancy, joins the series to share his invaluable insights on how legal marketing and business development professionals can get their research projects off the ground, as well as how to avoid the common pitfalls and drive strategic decisions. 

Simon and Charlie explore:

• The first step to successfully getting a research project off the ground
• The most common pitfall marketers make when designing a questionnaire and writing the survey questions
• How marketers should approach profiling and identifying the right people to survey to  give them the information they need
• The importance of having a hypothesis about the audience you intend to survey
• The key considerations marketers should be thinking about when it comes to analyzing the findings of a survey
• How marketers should approach presenting their research findings externally
• Top tips for professional service marketers undertaking a research project

Episode 109 - Alison Janzen of Torkin Manes on Building an Integrated Approach to Content Marketing

Gone are the days when a website is merely a law firm’s online storefront. Clients now anticipate a higher level of engagement. They seek tailored content, consistently delivered, addressing pertinent topics relevant to their businesses.

In the latest episode of the CMO Series Podcast, Eugene McCormick is delighted to host Alison Janzen, Director of Marketing & Business Development at Torkin Manes. Alison delves into the firm’s integrated approach to marketing and discusses how switching to a content-forward strategy has helped differentiate their lawyers in the market. 

Alison and Eugene explore: 

• The moment Alison realized the importance of content marketing and why taking a content-forward approach would be pivotal to her work at Torkin Manes
• How the landscape has changed for legal marketers with the evolution of content marketing and the changing client expectations
• How a content-first approach aligns with your other marketing activities at the firm 
• Success stories from taking an integrated approach
• The challenges of getting the lawyers and different practice groups on board with creating content and taking a content-led approach 
• Advice for other marketing leaders looking to take an integrated approach to their content marketing

Episode 108 - Deborah Ruffins of Perkins Coie on the Lead-to-Work Revenue Mindset

Every CMO in professional services approaches their role from a unique perspective.

On today’s episode of the CMO Series Podcast, we welcome a guest to discuss an area of focus that we’re yet to explore in detail, and that’s how to develop a revenue mindset in legal marketing. 

Alistair Bone is very lucky to welcome Deborah Ruffins, Chief Marketing Officer at Perkins Coie, who joins the podcast to share how a revenue mindset and approach can enable marketers to become central to the growth of their firm.

Deborah and Ali discuss:

• Deborah’s career journey to her current role and why a revenue-generating mindset was central to that journey
• What it means to be revenue focused and why it is something that marketers in law firms need to adopt
• The moments in Deborah’s career that shaped her focus on revenue 
• What being revenue minded means for the team in practice
• The resources and infrastructure essential to this approach
• Advice for others trying to be more revenue focused in their roles