Design opens the door. Content earns attention. People win the work.

The stakes have risen lately. Clients increasingly form a first impression through AI, long before any conversation. Two things now matter more: staying recognisable enough not to dissolve into a generic summary, and being visible to the systems that produce those summaries. A recent rebranding at a German commercial law firm points to three lessons. 

First: Design is strategy, not decoration.

Where firms appear interchangeable at first glance, a distinctive visual identity becomes a genuine unique selling point (USP), even more so as AI blurs firms together. A bold, vibrant design that contrasts with the traditional image of legal services signals attitude and the courage to stand out – qualities clients look for in their advisers. When the choice of colour causes internal debate in a rebranding process, it can become the detail that sets the firm apart. 

A 2025 report by Greentarget and Zeughauser Group found the share of in-house counsel who value the visual appeal of content has more than doubled since 2022, from 16% to 39%. The key is to start with positioning, not the logo. 

Second: Content builds credibility before the first contact. 

Decision-makers research long before they ever approach an adviser, and that research is increasingly AI mediated. Forrester's 2026 data show that 94% of business-to-business (B2B) buyers now use AI in their purchasing decisions, and AI answers favour substantiated, widely referenced content over a firm's own pages. Greentarget also found that 80% of in-house counsel consider firm websites a valuable source of information, and that thought leadership ranks second among the sources they consult. 

Firms that consistently publish useful content, from legal updates to events, and a steady social media presence, demonstrate expertise long before any engagement. One genuinely useful update a month beats a content calendar no one reads. 

Third, and most importantly: People belong at the centre. 

Design opens the door and content builds credibility, but trust in professional services is always personal. A "client stories" approach makes this tangible, especially when lawyer and client tell it together: how a challenge was approached and what the collaboration actually felt like. Such stories reveal what brochures cannot: character, commitment, and genuine partnership. A short film made with a client conveys the same thing. That kind of openness cannot be staged. It rests on a real relationship, which is exactly what makes it convincing. 

Investing in design and content is no longer optional for professional services firms. It pays off only when both serve to make the people behind the work visible. Because the strongest brand promise a firm can make is the one its people keep.

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Katrin Leydecker leads Marketing & Communications at FPS. Drawing on experience from both agency and industry leadership roles, she shapes the firm’s brand positioning, digital presence and content strategy, bringing a people centred approach to communications.