From Local Legal Copy Services to Nationally Powered ediscovery Leadership: Kaufer DMC Rebrands TERIS The Challenge Puget Sound Business Journal It all began in Seattle in 1996 with a small office, a single copy machine and one employee. Founded as a paper-based legal copying firm, American Legal Corporation (ALC) steadily grew in its home market and expanded into other areas, 2
including San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Diego, Phoenix and Austin. By 2008, the company had become a leading litigation support vendor in the western United States, with more than 275 employees across six offices. However, ALC faced a marketing and branding dilemma. The company needed to shed its old image as a copying, scanning and tagging vendor, and establish national dominance in the rapidly growing fields of electronic discovery (ediscovery) and computer forensics. ALC also had an identity problem. Its growth brought two additional brand names and offices to the mix - DupLEX Legal Discovery Solutions and Digital Discovery Solutions. ALC executives wanted to expand and target national accounts and corporations, but they had a hard time convincing potential clients that they were actually one large national company with different local offices. Strategy/Solution Acting as a virtual marketing department, Kaufer DMC embarked on a comprehensive marketing and rebranding plan for the company. The primary goals for rebranding included: Position ALC as a more technology-savvy company Unify all brands under a single umbrella to create new business opportunities with national accounts/projects Create a new image for the company that better positions it within each market 3
The new name needed to connect the three brands and allow ALC to grow without limiting the company to future expansion of services. Kaufer DMC wanted to avoid pigeonholing the company into a specific area, so words such as discovery and legal were removed from consideration. Kaufer DMC worked with company executives to create the new TERIS name and a complete rebranding program, including logo, signage, website and all marketing materials.the rebranding was complete in early 2009 just as the economy tanked. Because the marketing budget was extremely limited in this economic climate, Kaufer DMC had to get creative to promote the newly-named TERIS. The agency launched a new corporate blog and developed an extensive social media presence, boosting the new brand on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. In addition to the re-brand, Kaufer DMC managed a total revision and redevelopment of the TERIS website, laying the foundation for later marketing campaigns that would drive inbound business for lead generation and build a larger than life presence nationally. Probably the scariest step for me and for the company was when we decided to rebrand (in 2008). I wasn t really sure how clients and the industry would react, but we felt like it was important to project the kind of company we had evolved into which was a leading technology specialist. In hindsight, it went great it couldn t have gone any better and helped position us for where we are now. - Stefan Wikstrom, TERIS Founder and CEO 5
Probably the scariest step for me and for the company was when we decided to rebrand (in 2008). I wasn t really sure how clients and the industry would react, but we felt like it was important to project the kind of company we had evolved into which was a leading technology specialist. In hindsight, it went great it couldn t have gone any better and helped position us for where we are now. - Stefan Wikstrom, TERIS Founder and CEO
Results In less than six months, Kaufer DMC successfully orchestrated and managed a complete rebranding process for the six-office, $25M litigation support firm. All key principals at TERIS agreed that it was a very successful rebranding campaign. TERIS quickly became a strong brand name in the ediscovery and litigation support industry. Kaufer DMC established a look and feel that was easily and instantly recognized within key markets and emphasized the firm s core technology strengths. This was accomplished with a modest marketing budget and very little proactive marketing programs/ campaigns due to the economic situation at the time and lack of a comprehensive budget. Within six weeks of launch, the new website achieved a top five Google ranking and 20 percent weekly traffic growth. On social media, TERIS provided some of the most shared information and had the most followers of any ediscovery-related Twitter account. Social media was successfully used to create a TERIS everywhere perception. Potential clients and employees alike told TERIS executives they assumed the company was much larger than it really was due primarily to the branding and positioning. The new name helped TERIS become more cohesive and well-known as one nationally powered company. The benefits of this new national reputation included access to resources, stability and structure, and brand recognition that helped TERIS connect with prospective clients throughout the country. 8
In spite of the recession, which doomed many of its competitors, TERIS successfully expanded its business and recorded record revenue in 2009-2010. In the first year after the rebranding, TERIS opened two new field offices, increased revenue more than 15 percent and launched a new national sales program that earned more than $1M that year. Potential investors and partners also noticed a much more polished and professional image of the company. In 2013, the transformation paid off as Inventus LLC acquired the Northwest and California offices of TERIS. Read more about the TERIS rebranding in the Puget Sound Business Journal David Kaufer - Chief Dynamic Officer David@KauferDMC.com KauferDMC.com @KauferDMC KauferDMC 855 933 KDMC