The 8THIRTYFOUR team is known for being bold, creative and always ready to take on a challenge. That is why Miller Johnson, a well-known law firm with offices in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, sought our services when they decided it was time to launch a campaign that put a much-deserved spotlight on their female attorneys and staff.
Our team was tasked with creating and executing an integrated campaign that would highlight the female attorneys and staff at Miller Johnson. Not only was this meant to serve as an external campaign that would bring general awareness to the firm, but it would also create pride for everyone working at Miller Johnson.
After meeting with the Miller Johnson team at the end of 2017, and knowing they were going to be receptive to bold ideas, our team got to work. It was time to be “badass.”
The Big Idea
One of our agency’s strong points is when all of our team members are able to come together in one room and brainstorm around a single topic, which is something we do weekly for each client. We each came to the table with our own ideas, spent a lot of time crafting different messaging, scribbling on our whiteboard, crossing things out, and finally landing on what just felt right: “We Are Here.”
The statement was bold, yet simple, and it made a point. Our plan was then to use different subheadings to tweak the message for different practice areas, such as “We Are Here. For You.” or “We Are Here. For West Michigan.” The subheading gave us wiggle room to be versatile with different attorneys, as the goal was to highlight one woman from each practice.
Creating the Vision
In the initial stages of the campaign, our design team created mock ads for the Miller Johnson team to review, which provided a glimpse of the creative direction. Once the creative plans were set in stone, we hired a photographer that we knew would absolutely nail the look: Kelly Braman. Our team spent several days out of the office at photo shoots with Kelly and the Miller Johnson team. After weeks of shoots and editing, the final photos were sent and our design team began working their magic.
Design Expertise
With stunning lifestyle photos in hand, our skilled design team began the process of creating more than 30 different individual advertisement pieces, as our extensive ad plan required a variety of sizes. It was an undertaking to ensure all design elements were in place before the campaign launch date. Everyone was thrilled with the final product and it was almost time for the public to see what we had been working on for the last five months.
Another large part of this campaign was assisting with the creation of a campaign landing page. Anyone that clicked on one of our digital ads would be sent to this site, so we had to make sure it was perfect. In the end, the landing page consisted of one main “We Are Here” page and four separate practice-specific pages.
Our digital team worked to create functioning wireframes and ensured that the pages were user-friendly. We also wrote all copy that exists on these landing pages, and were sure to use language that aligned with the Miller Johnson brand and overall campaign.
Integrated Approach
The “We Are Here” campaign utilized design, advertising, and digital services, but in order to make the biggest splash possible, we also focused on public relations initiatives that would complement the campaign. Our public relations team was able to secure several pieces of earned media, including a feature piece with West Michigan Woman titled “Badass Women in Law.”
Seeing the word “badass” in the title was something we were extremely proud of, as it perfectly aligned with the campaign. It was bold, it made a point, and it’s true; these women are total badasses! The piece created a lot of buzz, and the women that were featured let us know that they received a lot of nice comments from friends and colleagues about the article.
Off to the Races
Once the campaign was live and delivering real impressions and engagement, our digital team was hard at work measuring the results and sharing that with the Miller Johnson team. As of June 21, the pay-per-click ads had over 163,000 impressions, with approximately 1,000 website clicks. The publication ads had over 250,000 impressions.
This campaign was a perfect example of the type of work that our team does. We are bold, we keep our heads down until a project is final, and we follow through to ensure our clients are getting the results that they want to see, and that will ultimately impact their bottom line.
If you’re thinking it might be time for your business to make a splash, fill out the form below and we would be more than happy to help unleash your story.
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