Chiswick Marketing LexisNexis: From concept to sales launch
Role: Interim Marketing programme manager. 11 months
Brand Strategy, programme management, delivery
LexisNexis is part of FTSE100 Reed Elsevier. It offers the most comprehensive legal library in the UK containing an unrivalled collection of case law, expert commentary, and primary and secondary legislation as it is amended. With a suite of online products, it has led the market in the provision of information to the legal sector for a long time but is increasingly facing challenges from smaller, niche players.
The brief
Having develop a large and diverse range of online information products and productivity tools, LexisNexis’s offer to the market had become complex. There were a myriad of products and each was packaged and sold separately. Law firms would receive multiple sales calls.
There were in the middle of developing a new on-line product code named PAG. The business did not really understand what this was and were afraid it would cannibalise existing revenue. The project designer was having trouble describing it succinctly.
The interim assignment was to look at the on-line product range and the launch of PAG and create brand positioning, a communications strategy and nomenclature for the suite. Ensuring that the new product sat alongside existing products and was seen as a useful addition and not a replacement product. The assignment was to end with the successful launch of PAG.
Assignment overview
This assignment meant working with the product developers, sales, marketing and IT staff as well as lawyers in the target market. It was clear that there was confusion not only in the marketplace but also that sales staff found it difficult to communicate the proposition.
During interviews with lawyers it became clear that using legal jargon would be useful shorthand to describe the functionality of each product. For example, PAG gives an overview and interpretation of legislation, precedents and the law, like a professional support lawyer or PSL.. The product name, LexisPSL completely summarized the functionality of the newly developed product.
This approach was taken with the whole product suite and gave it a hierarchy, structure and descriptive copy within an overall proposition ” Lexis Legal Intelligence” – summing up the benefit and the feature in one phrase, delivered by the products individually or in combination.
Once the hierarchy was agreed then time was taken working with the different groups to ensure a successful launch and delivery; IT, product developers, marketing, sales management, training and the sales people were all involved at the appropriate time.
Results
The most immediate impact was on the sales force who, in their annual conference where the new product strategy was launched, quickly understood the brand story and how they could take it on.
The results were better than expected:
- exceeding the launch sales target by 33%,
- client reactions were positive,
- sales conversations elevated from the library function to partner level and
- the newly launched products achieved successful returns quickly.