When it comes to “Communication Don’ts,” lawyers are the gifts that keep on giving.
Now I’ve got nothing against lawyers. I’ve worked with hundreds of them – literally. But they are, by nature, conservative and risk-averse. They go for the safe choice. They seek to fit in rather than stand out. (In their marketing and communications, at least.)
I talked about this recently but just came across another example that blew me away. I do some work with law firms and am often up against agencies that work exclusively in the legal industry.
One such agency designed a website for a small law firm. The site was okay — it didn’t blow me away or anything. But apparently the agency told the law firm that the color scheme they chose for the site was based on research that showed these particular colors were the most popular among firms of their type.
Which is awesome, of course, if what you want is to look like every other firm you’re competing with.
This is why companies need to look beyond their competitors and outside their industry for creative ideas. And rely less on creative providers who stick to just one thing. Specialization may be just another word for insularity. Knowingly or not, they end up recycling the same stale ideas from client to client.