Best in Show
Fredrikson & Byron — Lawyers & the Louvre: Where Law and Creativity Meet
What the Judges said:
Fredrikson & Byron's program "Lawyers at the Louvre" could have won a first place in several award categories: community relations, events or practice development. It was one of the most multi-faceted initiatives we [the judges] had ever seen. Lots of little things, executed in concert, came together to create extraordinary value for the the firm, the attorneys, their clients and the community. Bravo!
Fredrikson & Byron’s objective for its lead sponsorship of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ exhibit, “The Louvre and the Masterpiece,” was to build strong relationships with their clients and community. The firm’s community presence initiative encourages involvement that raises its profile with clients and potential clients, while supporting the organizations that are integral to its community. Upon reviewing options for a 2009 client entertainment effort, the firm signed on as a lead sponsor of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ (MIA) “The Louvre and the Masterpiece” exhibit.
A few of the partnership factors that were considered include: the unique significance of the exhibit, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Louvre collection in the United States, the MIA’s plan to market exhibit regionally which supports the firm’s Midwest strategy, 100,000 anticipated exhibit visitors and industry exclusivity.
Fredrikson & Byron was the only Twin Cities law firm affiliated with a significant arts exhibit in 2009. Fredrikson & Byron maximized the sponsorship investment via integrated marketing campaign designed to raise profile/awareness of Fredrikson with key audiences. The primary outreach was to business community, the firm’s key clients and referral sources.Secondary outreach was to firm personnel, raising awareness of the sponsorship and foster the firm’s role as corporate citizen.
The firm involved its community presence partner, the Whittier School. Fredrikson & Byron promoted the sponsorship with integrated activities including PR, events, mailings. They branded the sponsorship with a logo, Lawyers & the Louvre – Where Law and Creativity Meet, building on the firm’s established tagline, Where Law and Business Meet. The brand campaign focused on “creativity,” one of six fundamental firm core values. This visual identity was carried across all campaign elements including announcements, event themes, public relations, Web site, intranet and mailings. Internally, the firm had a“call for creativity” contest for attorneys and staff.
Summary of Outcomes
Fredrikson & Byron’s achieved numerous results from its lead sponsorship of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ exhibit, “The Louvre and the Masterpiece.” The “A Night in Paris” event doubled from 150 anticipated to 300 attendees. 475 attorneys and clients attended exhibit events, while 247 free tickets reserved during firm’s employee week. 65 Whittier students toured exhibit at firm field trip. Twin Cities Business Creative Lawyers feature reached target business audience (32,617 circ/84,804 readers). MIA’s advertising reach w/firm logo: 6 million (impressions and circulation). The sponsorship Webpages had 5,866 visits (3,441 unique visitors) and 16,143 hits.