Rebranding Mewburn Ellis – the forward-looking IP firm

Brief

Mewburn Ellis couldn’t have chosen a more opportune time to consider their market positioning and brand. The specialist intellectual property firm had built an enviable reputation as one of Europe’s leading providers of IP services, due in no small part to the firm’s unrivaled scientific, legal and commercial knowledge.

Yet the time had come for Mewburn Ellis to take the next step. As other firms across the legal and IP industry grappled with increasing competitive pressures, including technological incursions into service provision and uncertainties over Brexit, Mewburn Ellis seized the opportunity to make a bold statement.

Entering its 150th anniversary year, the firm appointed Maria Hall as Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer. Supported by a new team of five, Hall was tasked with taking Mewburn Ellis to the next level in terms of its value proposition, brand positioning and go-to-market strategy.

Just four months into her new role, Maria Hall appointed Infinite Global to help drive that process. To further demonstrate its ambition, the firm opened its first European office, in Munich, Germany.

Our brief was to identify opportunities for a brand proposition and accompanying identity to reflect the firm’s aspirations to be widely recognised as “a premium, full-service European IP firm with motivated people, offering an exceptional standard of client service; to be a firm our people are proud to be part of.”

Approach

We sought to uncover the core principles at the heart of what made Mewburn Ellis an exceptional IP firm. Working as a close-knit, combined team, we were able to identify the firm’s long track record in IP innovation and helping bring technological invention to market.

Through research and key client interviews, we saw that boldness was in the firm’s DNA. Mewburn Ellis had long been at the forefront of change, anticipating client challenges and opportunities, while operating a renowned attorney training scheme that developed and retained the very best talent in the IP legal space. We also saw the extent to which clients valued the depth of the personal relationships that the Mewburn Ellis team built with them as their trusted advisers.

Working with Maria Hall and her team, we translated these insights into a core proposition and set of brand values, positioning the firm as forward-thinking straight-talkers with integrity and trust at their heart.

Reflecting this in the brand identity meant we could challenge the industry stalwarts of serif typefaces and blue palettes, calling on softer rounded characters in the logo and fresher colour palette of oxblood, blush and pink – distinctive for such a firm.

Outcome

The resulting brand identity is applied across all key touchpoint materials, not least all external and client-facing collateral, including the firm’s new twice-yearly print magazine, folders, business cards and Microsoft Office templates.

The website has also been modernised to take in changes in user needs, and office environments reviewed to create a more distinct visitor experience through signage, coffee table book, pens and facilities brought together. To support staff through this transition period, new brand guidelines and individual handbooks have been created.

Although only very recently launched, the brand has received very positive reaction from staff and clients alike.

Visit the website here.