We love a good strategy. A detailed roadmap. A quarterly rollout. A color-coded deck that ties it all together. And in legal marketing, strategy is crucial — especially when we’re promoting practices built on precedent, precision, and predictability.
But sometimes, the best ideas don’t start with a plan. They start with a moment.
Recently, I was on a casual call with a colleague at Jaffe — just two people catching up between back-to-back meetings. We were talking through some client updates and brainstorming on a low-key project. Nothing urgent. Nothing groundbreaking.
And then it happened.
A stray comment. A “what if.” A moment of alignment. And suddenly, we were sketching out the early DNA of a much larger opportunity. That idea — born out of banter, not briefing — is now on its way to becoming a full-scale go-to-market campaign with strategic legs and long-term value.
That’s when it hit me: marketing innovation isn’t always a mission; sometimes it’s a moment. A conversation. A connection. A spark. And if you’re not paying attention — or if your team culture doesn’t leave room for those sparks to fly — you could miss your next big idea.
The Myth of Innovation as a Grand Gesture
In the legal industry, we’re trained to think of innovation as something planned and formal — something with budgets and milestones and whiteboard sessions. But innovation doesn’t always announce itself. In fact, the best ideas often arrive when the pressure’s off and the conversation is honest.
That’s especially true in legal marketing, where the most effective campaigns often come from deeply understanding a firm’s culture, client base, or emerging moment in the market. Those insights don’t always surface in a formal brainstorm. They often come when colleagues feel safe enough to think out loud, build on each other’s ideas, and riff without fear of being off-track or off-message.
Moments Matter — If You’re Listening
The question for leaders isn’t “How do I drive innovation?” It’s “Am I making room for it to emerge?”
Are your team members empowered to explore ideas that don’t yet have a home? Are your conversations structured only around deliverables and deadlines? Or do you make space for serendipity — where someone can say, “This might be nothing, but…” and not worry about being wrong?
These moments thrive in firm cultures where trust is the baseline — not just between teammates, but between leadership and staff. When hierarchy is softened and relationships are built on mutual respect rather than rank, people are more willing to share the half-formed ideas. And those are the ones with the most potential — not perfect, but promising. Not polished, but powerful. They just need a little space and support to grow.
It’s in these conversations that true differentiation can emerge. Not just in messaging, but in how we see opportunities, position firms, and connect to the market in ways others can’t — or won’t.
Marketing in the Legal World is Human Work
Let’s be honest — in the legal world, we are often asked to innovate within tight parameters. Compliance, risk, and tradition shape a lot of what we can and can’t do. That’s why the how behind an idea often matters as much as the idea itself.
When innovation bubbles up organically — in a moment of shared thinking — it carries with it a kind of momentum that no campaign brief can replicate. It’s not just a project. It’s a pulse.
That pulse can energize your team. It can reveal insights about your client base that templated surveys never will. And it can be the spark that leads to something larger than you expected — something meaningful.
Create the Conditions, Then Get Out of the Way
If you’re a leader in legal marketing (or any professional services marketing, really), here’s my advice: Don’t just manage your team’s output. Protect their creative oxygen. Encourage the side conversations. Normalize curiosity. Be open to tangents.
You don’t have to engineer every breakthrough. You just have to make sure your team has the freedom — and trust — to stumble into one.
Because innovation isn’t always about launching something new. Sometimes, it’s about noticing something new in a conversation you’ve had a hundred times — and asking, “What if?”
That’s when it happens.
Not a mission. Just a moment.