Passle CMO Series Podcast

Episode 67 - Koree Khongphand-Buckman and Daljit Doogal on building an effective relationship between the CEO & CMO in a law firm

Marketing and business development continue to rise in importance for ambitious firms, moving the relationship between the CMO and the Managing Partner or CEO into the spotlight.

We're so grateful to dive into this topic, discussing strategic relationships at the highest level, with Daljit Doogal and Koree Khongphand-Buckman, CEO and CMBDO respectively at Foley & Lardner LLP. 

Daljit and Koree share how they have established a solid relationship, enabling the marketing and BD team to progress key initiatives and elevate their efforts. 

Ali, Daljit and Koree explore: 

 

• How they first began to form a close professional relationship and realised the importance it would have in the future
• The importance for firm CEOs & Managing Partners to invest in their relationship with Marketing & BD Leaders
• What it means for the firm's Marketing and BD team to be performing to the highest level
• What a close relationship with the CEO means for the Marketing and BD functions at Foley as a whole
• How to work together in practice and typical discussion points
• Practices and habits that are particularly useful in forming an effective working relationship
• How to assess the impact of marketing and business development and the most valuable metrics 
• Where the firm is heading from here and how the role of Marketing and BD at the firm is changing as part of that
• Advice for those looking to build a strong relationship between the CMO and CEO at their firm

Episode 66 - Tom Elgar on the four pillars of effective content marketing in professional services

Marketing and BD professionals have a wealth of tools and channels at their fingertips to create and share valuable thought leadership with their intended audience. 

But what is often missing is the structure, strategy and process around that which enables professionals to create and publish relevant content, in a timely and efficient manner, that reaches their audience in real-time. 

We’re delighted to welcome Tom Elgar, Co-founder of Passle to the CMO Series, to talk about how a new framework - the Four Pillars of  Professional Services Content Marketing - will help overcome these very challenges. 

Tom shares what the Four Pillars of Professional Services Content Marketing are and why they are so vital in getting thought leadership programs right. 

Charlie and Tom discuss:

• The challenge or problem that the Four Pillars framework tackles
• What the Four Pillars of Content Marketing are and why they are so important and relevant to professional services firms
• What the first pillar, Author-Centric Publication, is and why it is key
• What Clear Governance looks like and why it’s so vital
• What Create Once, Publish Everywhere is in practice and how firms can get it right
• The final pillar - Relevant Feedback - why it’s important and how firms go about evidencing the impact of thought leadership 
• Advice for any marketing and BD professionals looking to implement a successful content marketing program

 

Episode 65 - Jen Dolan of Katten on establishing a successful work culture within legal marketing

The way firms operate day-to-day has changed. Many firms are adapting to professionals not returning to the office. With the culture of the marketing and BD department, and the broader firm, shifting, how can leaders establish an environment that engages employees, promotes productivity and keeps morale high?

 

Today, we are lucky enough to speak with someone well-versed in cultivating a cohesive culture within their firm, James Barclay welcomes Jen Dolan, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Katten to the CMO Series. 

 

Jen shares how their feedback programs enable them to listen, engage and unite teams, building a healthy and successful work culture within the firm.

 

Jen and James discuss:

• Jen’s career journey to her role now at Katten
• Why Jen recently completed an MBA, and her experiences during that time
• How those experiences have influenced Jen’s leadership style at Katten, particularly when it comes to managing culture
• The perception of the firm’s culture eroding with teams not returning to the office, and whether that’s a misconception
• How to go about rectifying any culture challenges, such as introducing feedback programs and listening circles 
• How management processes and feedback initiatives work in practice
• Notable successes of running feedback programs
• Advice for marketing and BD leaders looking to implement similar programs

Episode 64 - Bob Robertson of Jackson Lewis on the dimensions of client service and the role of marketing

Client feedback programs are nothing new to law firms. But there are a number of other ways that the CMO and marketing teams can contribute to enhancing the client service experience.

In this week’s episode of the CMO Series, Will Eke is delighted to welcome Bob Robertson, Chief Marketing Officer at Jackson Lewis to share his unique perspective on the dimensions of client service, and the role of marketing in truly serving the firm’s clients.

Will and Bob explore: 

• Bob’s career and how he came to his current role at Jackson Lewis
• The point in his career he identified the opportunity for marketers to get more involved in client service
• The value marketing professionals, as opposed to dedicated client management teams, bring to the table when it comes to client service
• The factors that determine what types of service clients need and how do you identify when they need to come into play
• How, and if, the approach to client service changes when it comes to serving the larger, key accounts 
• How the approach to client service can scale in the future to meet the evolving needs of clients across the board
• Advice for CMOs and marketers looking to improve their firm’s client service or implement a new client-focused program

Episode 63 - Chris Hinze of Steptoe & Johnson on law firm reputation management and its importance to CMOs

Managing the firm’s reputation is perhaps one of the most critical roles a legal marketing function can play. Actively managing how the firm is perceived, by both internal and external stakeholders, is key to its success.

Someone with extensive experience in this area is Chris Hinze, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer at Steptoe & Johnson. We’re so lucky to be joined by Chris in this episode of the CMO Series to discuss why reputation is critical to a law firm and the role of marketing leaders in managing the firm's reputation across all stakeholders.

Will and Chris cover: 

• Chris’s journey to CMBDO at Steptoe and the point in his career it became clear that reputation management was going to be important
• The difference between Brand and Reputation
• The importance of reputation management to law firms today
• How reputation management works in practice 
• What actions firms should be taking day-to-day
• How a firm can diagnose if its reputation management is performing well or poorly
• Advice for others in the legal marketing community who are managing their firm’s reputation 

 

Episode 62 - Robyn Addis of LISI and #FollowFriday on building an inclusive community in professional services

In this special edition of the CMO Series, Jennifer Green welcomes Robyn Addis, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Legal Internet Solutions Incorporated (LISI) to the podcast to talk about her career in professional services marketing and the very personal experiences that inspired the creation of #FollowFriday and its inaugural conference.

Jennifer and Robyn discuss:

• Robyn’s background and career journey to her current role at LISI 
• The catalysts for creating #FollowFriday and next year’s inaugural conference
• The importance of creating a platform and network that empowers women in professional services 
• What people can expect from attending the 2023 conference
• The different ways people can get involved in Follow Friday and the conference  
• The success #FollowFriday has seen so far 
• Guidance for anyone interested in joining the community

Episode 61 - Christa Crane of Loeb & Loeb LLP on the challenges and opportunities of hybrid work for legal marketing teams

The world of work has changed dramatically. People across all industries are adjusting to new ways of working, communicating and interacting. Flexible and hybrid work has become commonplace for many organisations including law firms. 

On this episode of the CMO Series, Ed Lovatt is lucky to be joined by Christa Crane, Chief Client Development and Marketing Officer at Loeb and Loeb to explore what a hybrid workplace means for legal marketers and how it impacts their teams, lawyers, and the firm.

Ed and Christa discuss: 

• How Christa came to her role at Loeb & Loeb and her experience with hybrid work 
• The impact of mixed and hybrid working on legal marketing teams right now
• How the new way of working affects the way that firms build their brands and businesses
• How the new way of working for Loeb is having implications on the "we're all connected" tagline and what that has meant for the firm 
• Implications of a hybrid or a work-from-home model that specifically or disproportionately impact marketing teams in law firms
• Advice for marketers adapting to the new way of working

Episode 60 - Mike Mellor of Pryor Cashman on the role of data in influencing the direction of the firm

Increasingly sophisticated CRM systems and data tools mean firms are now able to take a truly data-led approach to their marketing and business development activities. But with more data available than ever before, creating and implementing an effective strategy can be daunting.

 

Someone well-versed in utilising data to influence the direction of the firm is Mike Mellor, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer at Pryor Cashman. Cam Dobinson is lucky enough to talk to Mike about why he is so passionate about data and how it has influenced his work at Pryor Cashman. 

 

Cam and Mike explore: 

• Mike’s passion for data and his journey to CMBDO at Pryor Cashman
• How to take a truly data-led approach to develop a strategy and recommendations for other marketing and BD professionals
• How the data-led approach at Pryor Cashman influenced the go-to-market strategy 
• The challenges with managing both internal and external stakeholders and how those were overcome
• Key successes that have come off the back of this data-led approach
• Advice for any Marketing and BD professionals looking to make the switch to data-driven 

Episode 59 - Lynn Tellefsen-Stehle of Structura Strategy Group on the forms and benefits of agile marketing for law firms

With the team stretched to the limit and no end in sight to current projects, the CMO's phone rings with a new business-critical priority or project that needs to be completed ASAP. That is the reality of today's legal marketing teams and the reason behind this week’s topic on the CMO series - Agile Marketing.

Ed Lovatt is lucky to explore this subject with Lynn Tellefsen-Stehle, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at Structura Strategy Group and former CMO and Senior Marketing Leader for Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, Cahill Gordon & Reindel and Dentons.

Ed and Lynn cover: 

• The context in which agile marketing was born
• The technical definition of agile marketing and how it works 
• How Lynn came to agile marketing and when it became so crucial to her practice 
• What makes agile marketing something CMOs and marketing leaders should care about
• How well understood or leveraged agile marketing is in today's legal marketing functions
• How to go about diagnosing whether agile marketing is the solution to the problems a team is having
• Firms' readiness to adopt agile marketing
• What agile marketing looks like in practice
• The starting point for people interested in agile marketing for their firm

Episode 58 - Lindsey Bombardier & Adhi Reza of Lenczner Slaght on crafting successful legal marketing initiatives

Today on the CMO Series, we're lucky to be joined by not one but two of Canada's top legal marketers as we take a look behind the scenes at how they create and implement successful legal marketing initiatives.

We're so happy to welcome Lenczner Slaght's marketing dream team, Lindsey Bombardier, Director, Marketing & Business Development and Adhi Reza, Manager, Marketing, to the CMO Series.

Charles Cousins has the pleasure of delving into two of the team’s most successful programs to date, ReferToHer and commerciallist.com. 

Charles, Lindsey and Adhi discuss:

• How Lindsey and Adhi came to their roles at Lenczner Slaght
• What ReferToHer and commerciallist.com are and how they came about
• How to identify projects that are worth investing time and effort in and the process for getting that investment approved
• How to execute projects of this size and scale and how they were resourced
• The challenges of running complicated projects
• How to measure and report on the success of these initiatives 
• Advice for others embarking on complex projects like this