One branding challenge law firms have is that they tend to say the same thing.

And when that many lookalike competitors convey the same message, it can be hard to stand out.   And, of course, it’s not just law firms.

Below is an unfortunate example of this in the airline industry. Airlines know that their valuable passengers hate feeling cramped. Legroom is important. This is certainly true for the coveted business travelers, who tend to pay more for their tickets.

And when different companies in the same industry advertise in the same publications, it can lead to the situation I saw in a recent Wired magazine. Two companies, Lufthansa and Delta, each promoting “extra legroom” in nearly identical advertisements just a few pages apart:

This was just unfortunate placement, and the publication should have given them a heads up about this conflict, to potentially avoid this juxtaposition. And maybe they did.

For lawyers and law firms that advertise in publications targeting in-house counsel like Corporate Counsel, Inside Counsel, take a look at your ads and see if you’re saying the same thing as your competitors (e.g. you’re skilled, creative, efficient, value-oriented, service-oriented, or global).

If so, try to find a new message.  It’s worth the effort.