February 2012
Volume 14 Issue 5
www.mpmagazine.com
Detox your firm
How to prevent and cure
corrosive organisational energy
Virtual makeover
Redesign and launch
a global website
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Avoiding apocalypse
The role of lawyers in resolving
the eurozone crisis
Stakes and ladders
Move to a merit-based
remuneration system
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bd Global brandinG
case study
Virtual makeover
Chief marketing officer Jeff Berardi shares his experiences in redesigning
and launching K&L Gates’ global website
I
n the summer of 2011, we launched a redesigned website for
K&L Gates. Initially built in 2002, the prior website relied heavily
on outdated technology. Our marketing team realised several years
ago that the aging site was no longer able to adequately address the
needs of our rapidly-growing international law firm, and thus the initial
plans for this multi-year project were set in motion.
The main objectives of the website overhaul were threefold:
1. to effectively convey the global brand;
2. to better position our lawyers as thought leaders; and
3. to highlight relevant content that would allow us to strengthen
relationships with web visitors.
As the site team manoeuvred its way through the complex redesign
project, the group encountered numerous complications that were
addressed and ultimately overcome.
Since the launch of the redesigned site, we have accomplished
many of our principal goals and tracked significant increases in the
number of site visits by individuals, the number of web pages viewed
and the average amount of time spent by visitors on the website.
Defining the need
In June 2011, we completed a roughly three-year-long project to
launch a fully redesigned website. Arguably the firm’s most visible
branding tool, the klgates.com website recorded nearly 25m page
views in 2010, an average of over 2m per month. During that same
time period, more than 4m web visitors spent an average of about
15 minutes each on the site.
The website overhaul involved numerous teams comprising
primarily marketing and information systems (IS) members, who
worked in a collaborative and tireless fashion to reach the site
launch – the finish line – in an effort that at times felt like an arduous
marathon. As chief marketing officer, it was my responsibility to
oversee and manage the internal and external teams as the firm
worked towards the planned project completion.
Law firms of the vast size and scale of K&L Gates must be able
to rely on a website that adequately fits the needs of a complex and
global enterprise. After all, the firm generates over US$1bn in annual
revenues and currently comprises roughly 2,000 lawyers located in
40 offices on four continents.
Yet, prior to the launch of our new website last summer, we were
dependent upon a site that had been built nearly a decade ago and
before the firm’s international expansion. Originally constructed in 2002,
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ManaGinG Partner, February 2012
12/01/2012 12:05:43
Goals of the new site
key Takeaway points
1
2
3
4
5
6
T
rust your instincts. You know what is going to work best for your
organisation. Outside consultants can sometimes provide a beneficial
perspective on industry trends or innovative approaches, but what works for
some firms may not work for yours. Even though some of their suggestions
may be based on sound research and other logical conclusions, they might
still be off the mark for your particular situation.
D
on’t let issues linger. It is better to confront major problems at an early date
than to push them off until later. You can sometimes exacerbate the situation
beyond its initial significance if you choose not to face difficult issues in a
timely fashion.
C
onduct internal reviews. Ensure you obtain appropriate buy-in from
management or other key decision-makers early in the process. This step
will cut down on having to make major changes after structural elements
have already been built.
K
eep on schedule. Strive to maintain a proper working balance between
pushing the project forward toward launch and dealing with selected
problems after the launch of the site. Recognise that the website is never
going to be absolutely perfect on day one. However, certain key aspects
of the site should be non-negotiable and therefore retained for the initial
launch date.
P
lan for conflicts. Put a lot of thought into how to deal with issues when
things are tough, as those challenging times represent the true test of
character for team members, as well as for firm leadership.
A
llocate sufficient time. Ensure you allow the necessary time to manage the
project on a continuous basis. Critical components include organisation of the
timeline, issue identification and resolution, and the communications plan.
the previous website was intended to
support a firm that, at the time, had 10
offices located only in the United States.
Today, K&L Gates operates over three
dozen offices located throughout the
world – in North America, South America,
Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Clearly, there were functional aspects
related to maintaining a global operation
that could not have been anticipated or
factored in during the build of the old
site. Furthermore, from a technological
perspective, 2002 can pretty much be
likened to the dark ages, prior to the
advent of Facebook, YouTube and the
iPad, among other significant innovations.
Shortly after the launch of the K&L
Gates brand five years ago, following a
transformative combination of two legacy
law firms, the marketing department
proposed to firm management that a
new website was needed to support the
ambitions of the firm to be a global market
leader for legal services.
Although the prior site benefited
from a much-needed facelift in 2007
when the K&L Gates brand was first
created, those superficial updates
essentially amounted to a refreshed
design, with no real improvements
to the back end of the site.
In recent years, our marketing team
often found ourselves holding the site
together with the technical equivalent of
rubber bands and glue, and the number
of workarounds that were developed over
the past few years by the web support
team to keep up with the rapid growth
of the firm were simply becoming too
onerous to manage.
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The primary goals and objectives of the
site redesign project were to create a
scalable database-driven platform that
is able to:
1. p
roperly showcase the firm’s
global brand;
2. support the firm’s growth; and
3. enable the marketing department
to take advantage of key market
opportunities through the use of
timely and relevant content.
“We often found
ourselves holding
the old site together
with the technical
equivalent of rubber
bands and glue”
A fresh design with cleaner navigation
and more dynamic elements was
necessary. The display of integrated
foreign language sites, along with the
ability to display regionalised content,
was deemed essential as well. The
new site also had to support a broader
range of multimedia, including video and
audio capabilities, as well as increased
interactive content. In addition, the site
needed to be handheld-friendly to better
meet the needs of clients, who often
conduct business in a remote fashion
without the use of a PC.
Setting the stage
The beginning stages of the lengthy
website redesign project date back to the
early part of 2008, when we first began
to identify and consider different web
vendors. Once we assessed the pros and
cons of various possible organisations, we
selected a web vendor that we felt best fit
our needs at the time. We also partnered
with an external design agency to assist
with aspects related to the creative
development. At that point, we had the
foundational platform of the internal and
external teams in place to initiate the
redesign process.
One of the initial steps was to divide
the project into several phases. Phase 1
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bd Global brandinG
consisted of the website planning, design
review and specifications development.
Phase 2 was the website build,
implementation and launch. At time
of writing, we are in the midst of
addressing phase 3, the post-launch
stage of the project.
Planning and design review
Working together with our web vendor,
design agency and internal teams from both
marketing and IS, we discussed at great
length the creative and business strategy
surrounding the redesign of the site.
We first did an overall assessment
of the technical site. From there, we
came up with wireframes that defined
the navigation of the new site. A wireframe
is essentially a blueprint for the screen
– devoid of graphic design elements –
that shows the layout of the navigation
on the webpage and displays how the
content is arranged.
A sizeable amount of thought went into
the user experience. We analysed what
web visitors would consider to be most
intuitive for the layout and navigation. Many
time-consuming meetings were held even
before our web vendor came up with a site
map and wireframes for the home page.
Once the wireframes were determined,
the next step was to have our external
design agency work with internal creative
professionals to develop a series of
potential concepts for the new website.
After considering numerous options, we
selected a design that not only aligned
with our current and future brand values,
but also fit with our desire to develop a
web platform and layout that was highly
attuned to the demographics of our clients
and other visitors to the site.
The essential purpose of the new
design and functionality was to be able to
provide comprehensive information about
the firm’s seamless cross-platform service
capabilities in a user-friendly format.
Build and launch
The next phase of the project was the most
lengthy, as it contained a complex series
of steps to take us from the functional site
design that was created in phase 1 to the
actual website implementation, build and
eventual launch.
The visual design and content review
was managed in-house by the marketing
department, who worked with members of
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“We analysed what web
visitors would consider
to be most intuitive for
the layout and navigation”
IS and our web vendor to define functional
requirements and to build and test the site.
As part of the overhaul of the design,
content and functional structure of the site,
more than 11,000 pages were updated
and nearly 20 videos were produced,
providing the firm with a strong foundation
to enhance our online marketing and
business development efforts.
The new design aligns the firm’s web
presence with the broader K&L Gates
brand and features a cleaner, more modern
look, including a revised home page with
rotating highlights of services, special
events and other items to spotlight key
site content. The site also boasts more
multimedia and interactive features,
enabling the firm to post video, audio and
other components, such as webinars and
an updated careers site that promotes the
firm’s recruiting efforts.
We clearly needed to have a platform
that was able to support the firm’s rapid
international growth, so we greatly
expanded our foreign language content,
adding a dropdown menu that allows
visitors to select numerous languages. The
new site now has eight foreign language
sites, in addition to the primary English
language site. As of December 2011, the
non-English versions of the updated website
have received nearly 100,000 visits.
To expand accessibility to relevant
content, we developed a mobile version of
the website. Additionally, the firm’s practice
groups maintain seven active blogs – more
than double the amount maintained in
2009. These cover a range of topic areas,
from cloud computing, e-discovery and
consumer financial services to climate
change, land use, construction and
telecom. The post-launch stage is ongoing,
with weekly prioritisation of jobs.
In my role as CMO, I was charged
with ensuring that the project teams were
making progress on a number of different
fronts over the course of the multi-year
development. Throughout the process,
ManaGinG Partner, February 2012
12/01/2012 12:05:45
I was in frequent communication with key
members of both the marketing and IS
teams, as well as with our external web
vendor and design agency, to keep the ball
moving in the right direction. I benefited
greatly by having a wonderful group of
dedicated professionals surrounding me
at all times, who sincerely cared about the
finished product just as much as I did.
Challenges faced and overcome
As can be expected with lengthy and
multifaceted assignments, a plethora
of technical issues with the developing
website were found and resolved
throughout the duration of the project.
Our web team identified hundreds
of issues or bugs; these ran across the
spectrum from the most mundane to the
most complex. Technical issues needed
to be sorted and prioritised on a routine
basis, so that the team could sift through
which areas were most critical for launch
and which could be pushed off to a postlaunch time period.
A beta version of the site was
launched internally several months before
the launch of the full site, so the web
developers were forced to update the beta
version along with the old version of the
site until the new site was launched.
To complicate matters further, the
global economic downturn caused
us to put a good portion of the web
development project on hold for the
majority of 2009. In addition, the sheer
number of webpages to be updated as
part of the content review process created
major logistical support problems that were
ultimately addressed and managed in an
appropriate fashion.
considerably higher in July
to September 2011 compared
to 2010, increasing from
14.5 minutes to over
18 minutes in 2011.
Six months after its launch,
the site continues to expand and
evolve, with the initial launch goals
having been met to create an enhanced
user experience through improved
functionality, a new design and
updated and relevant content.
jeFFrey.berardi@klGates.coM
“Technical issues needed to be sorted
and prioritised on a routine basis, so
that the team could sift through which
areas were most critical for launch”
Post-launch results
The launch of the new site went smoothly,
with no major bugs experienced. Minor
issues were caught and resolved over the
first couple of weeks and months, and the
web team worked in overdrive during the
early days of the launch.
Looking at the website statistics for
the first three months post-launch, we
have been extremely pleased with the early
results of our site launch. Individual visits
to the site have increased by nearly 30 per
cent over the same time period in 2010,
with the new site recording a monthly
average of more than 465,000 visitors.
Additionally, the average site visit was
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