Law Firm Media Blog
January 20, 2008
Colleges continue to be in the forefront of recognizing the power of Web video. Click here to view a video we just produced for Syracuse University's College of Law showing alumni all that's happening at the school.
January 07, 2008
An article in this morning's Boston Globe called "Colleges turn to Web tools in hunt for '08 freshman" has important lessons for law firms seeking to recruit law students.
College admissions is rapidly moving to online social media and taking advantage of podcasts, blogs and videos. Students are all wired and relate to the Web far more than traditional media. Web 2.0 is clearly here with regard to the online generation.
In order to keep up with the younger generation, recruiters need to speak to them through Facebook, YouTube, iTunes and other websites with which they're involved every day.
What students really want is to understand through a medium of their choice what it would be like to be student at a school that interests them. Law students are no different in how they narrow their choice of law firms. December 04, 2007
This morning's Wall Street Journal describes how M.B.A. programs are adjusting to the new generation. The article mentions that GMAC is incorporating new media into their website to make it more millennial friendly. Not mentioned, however, is that it's even more important for M.B.A. programs to add new media to the admissions sections of their websites. If schools want to have a chance to welcome these new millennials, new media is the best way to show what it's like to be one of their students.
December 02, 2007
An article in today's New York Times called "Lawyers Compete, Except in Bonuses" describes how 12 elite New York law firms just raised bonuses in identical amounts. The article mocks the business sense of this since bonuses are for people who are already on board, so it won't help recruiting. But this thinking is based on a former era when these firms were the only game on town if you wanted to join a law firm.
Today law students have the choice of numerous top firms such as Latham & Watkins, Jones Day and DLA Piper if they want to be in New York. Recruiting is incredibly competitive, so if 12 firms can maintain the myth that they are the elite, that will help them recruit top law graduates in competition against those outside the 12. That makes good business sense
November 23, 2007
An article in this week's Business Week describes a trend toward quality with regard to online video. The Pew Internet & American Life Project reports that more than 57% of U.S. Internet users say they have downloaded online videos. But the days that anyone with a video camera could put something up on YouTube and expect people to watch are coming to an end. Slick new shows produced for the Web are coming on rapidly, so a clever idea has to be pretty good if the graphics don't measure up. Law firms, that need to be aware of their image as professionals, should recognzie that "cute" videos may not be as effective when everyone's producing them.
November 12, 2007
Intel announced today a new generation of microprocessors that substantially improve the performance of computer chips. The new chips called xeon 5400 significantly increase switching speed, reduce power consumption and raise clock speed. The bottom line result is that a new generation of PCs is about to be introduced that will greatly enhance the ability of PCs to view high quality video on the Web.
October 30, 2007
To appreciate the job that Microsoft has done in their video described in the previous post, check out Google's recruiting video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcXF1YirPrQ.
Although Google's recruiting video tries to be down to earth and authentic. It just doesn't work. It adds minor video effects that don't support authenticity, and most important the employee interviews appear to have been carefully scripted. In fact, some participants appear as though they've memorized their lines.
Google may be giving Microsoft a tough time in the marketplace and it's one of the hottest places to work, but they've got a long way to go to catch up in their recruiting videos.
October 28, 2007
Microsoft's recruiting video called "What is it like to interview at Microsoft?" has now been viewed more than 250,000 times. The deceptively simple video can be seen at Microsoft's Channel 9
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=18472
The beauty of the video is that it's shot with rudimentary video equipment and untrained employees as the participants. Normally, I'd recommend that law firms present themselves in videos in the most professional manner possible.
However, if a large impersonal firm wants to present its human side, Microsoft demonstrates a great way to do this. But don't be fooled by the simplistic videography. This still requires creative thinking and professional planning and production behind the scenes.
September 28, 2007
An article in this morning's New York Times discusses how law firms are waking up to the fact that online video is a great way to reach law students. The article discusses examples of firms that have spent substantial amounts to create professional videos. This may be the YouTube generation, but that doesn't mean that YouTube quality will impress Web savy law students. If you want your firm's video to achieve the desired effect don't just grab a video camera and start shooting. Get professional help. For example, here's a link to play a recruiting video we produced for the U.S. Navy JAG.
September 25, 2007
This morning's Wall Street Journal talks about how the time for video ads on the Web has arrived. See article at this link. Websites from Facebook to newspapers and yellow pages publishers are finding that video can add impact to ads, thus increasing their value and how much advertisers might be willing to pay. The article quotes Charles Laughlin from the Kelsey Group that "Online video ads may appeal to a wide range of businesses such as law firms that want to present the faces of the proprietors as a selling point."
September 19, 2007
The marketing for recruiting M.B.A. grads is getting just as competitive as that for law students. On September 17th, the Wall Street Journal included a lengthy article on how companies are being creative to recruit M.B.A. grads. Some of the techniques include
- video interviews
- instant messaging
- meeting places on Second Life
The complete article can be found at this link.
September 10, 2007
I will be speaking on law firm videos at a Legal Marketing Association event on Wednesday, September 12th in Boston. The panel will be moderated by law firm adviser Larry Bodine and will include Jamie Heller of the Wall Street Journal talking about blogs and Beth Cuzzone of Goulston & Storrs talking about podcasting. For more information, go the the LMA, New England website at www.lmanewengland.org. September 09, 2007
Last week, Steve Jobs announced Apple's new fall lineup. To see his presentation, click here. Of particular interest to law firms was a tiny 8GB iPod nano that will show video. At its price of $200, even the poorest law student can afford to have one without much effort. The lesson for law firms is that for recruiting, podcasts should now be video. CEOs are unlikely to be carrying the new nanos, so audio podcasting is still fine for marketing.
August 22, 2007
In his Law Marketing Blog, leading law firm adviser Larry Bodine describes how the Web video produced by Legal Insight Media puts the Navy JAG in the forefront of legal recruiting. To read the article, click on this link.
August 15, 2007
Apple just announced a new version of its low end video editing program iMovie. The new version called iMovie '08 has disappointed early reviewers. See, for example, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (www.TUAW.com or A Bugged Life (www.abuggedlife.com). Basically, there are many video editing features that were included in previous versions of iMovie that have been taken out. For law firms that would like to do their own videos in-house, iMovie '08 is not going to help. You still have to use Final Cut Pro, which takes a fair amount of experience to use effectively.
July 17, 2007
In the BroadbandVideo360 blog, Will Richmond talks about the Navy Jag Recruiting video. He says "If I were a recent grad looking for some adventure beyond sitting in a window-less associate's cubicle, the JAG opportunity looks pretty enticing!" For more of Will's commentary, go to www.broadbandvideo360.com. July 16, 2007
Thanks to David Meerman Scott for pointing out in his WebInkNow blog a very interesting video by Randstad. It's too cutting edge for most law firms today, but it"s fascinating to see what innovative companies are doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5xF43POYv8July 09, 2007
We're pleased to be helping the US Navy JAG be a leader in recruiting law students. Check out a video we just produced for them on the Navy JAG’s website www.JAG.NAVY.mil or by clicking on this link or by pasting this url into your browser:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid979054715
I've included a copy of the news release below:
Navy JAG forefront of Legal Recruiting with Web Video
TrueView Video Captures the Experience of the Navy JAG
July 10, 2007
—The U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps (Navy JAG) has become one of the first legal employers to produce a Web video to recruit the next generation of lawyers. The TrueView* video, which can be viewed on the Navy JAG’s website, was developed by Legal Insight Media, Inc., a firm that produces electronic media for law firm recruiting and marketing.
“Given how competitive the legal marketplace is we knew the best place to reach law students was online,” said LCDR Colleen M. Shook, JAGC, USN, JAG Corps Detailer for Accessions and Recruiting. “This compelling Web video captures the sense of adventure that attracts lawyers to become JAGs better than any other medium could.”
“The Navy JAG is in the forefront of using Web video for recruiting,” said Legal Insight Media President Peter Marx. “We conducted an informal survey of the AmLaw 200 and found less than 20 percent were using video on their career websites. Yet, they’re all competing to reach a generation that has grown up in an electronic world where the Web is their lifeline to everything and everyone.”
“Videos have taken the Web by storm,” according to law firm marketing consultantand business development advisor Larry Bodine. “YouTube is the fourth most popular Web site on the Internet, reaching 10 percent of all the people online every day. That says to me that video is a must for recruiting Web pages. Static pictures and text just won’t attract them.”
The three-minute video highlights the experiences of Navy JAGs against a backdrop of action-packed visuals. In addition to being used on the U.S. Navy JAG website, it will be shown to prospective JAGs around the country and will be available as a download from iTunes.
The video can be viewed pasting the following link into a browser:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid979054715.
It also can be found on the U.S. Navy JAG website at www.JAG.NAVY.mil.
About Legal Insight Media
Legal Insight Media, Inc.is a marketing services company that helps law firms differentiate themselves using electronic media. The company produces TrueView Web videos and podcasts that help to drive a firm’s marketing, practice development and recruiting efforts. All of Legal Insight TrueView videos authentically convey the unique character and culture of a firm and its attorneys. They can be displayed on the Web, within PowerPoint, in e-mails and on handheld devices including iPods. Legal Insight Media has received honors for two consecutive years in the Legal Marketing Association’s national and regional Your Honor Award competition for electronic media. July 2, 2007
In an article called "Chasing the iPhone" in this morning's New York Times, Martin Fackler describes the response of other manufacturers. Samsung, Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola will all be coming out with competitive offerings. Unfortunately, no word on any alternative for the Blackberry or Palm Treo.
June 29, 2007
Today is the launch of Steve Jobs' new sensation the iPhone. Starting with the selection of AT&T's slow network, it's too bad that business users, much less lawyers, are of little interest to Apple at this time. The iPhone is clearly a consumer product. But lawyers have the same frustrations with cell phones and Blackberries as everyone else. These devices are just not very user friendly.
Lawyers love their Blackberries or Palm Treos because of their terrific ability to keep in constant touch with e-mail. They do the job but are no match for the easy control and large crisp screen of the iPhone. Lawyers in particular need to be be in constant touch with the Web, not just e-mail. And that's a Web increasingly rich in video and other media. Lawyers are eager consumers of online information. That's no pleasure on the Blackberry or Palm Treo.
Although there are hints of upcoming versions of the iPhone that will be addressed to business users and that some day the current one might be bought by AT&T business customers, it will be a long time before this will be a device used by many lawyers. I hope that the iPhone will serve as a stimulus for adding features to the Blackberry and Palm Treo that will make them more pleasant to use, including a larger, higher resolution screen. Put it on a high speed network and lawyers would flock to such a device.
June 20, 2007
This year's class of summer associates was probably the most pursued in history. It's clearly a sellers' market for law students.
Here are some interesting statistics by Leigh Jones in the May issue of "Marketing the Law Firm", essentially a republishing of the article in the February 16th issue of the National Law Journal.
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