Hinshaw Wins First Place 'Your Honor' Award From Legal Marketing Association-Midwest for Visual Identity Rebrand

The U.S. law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is pleased to announce that the firm was recently honored with a First Place award in the Legal Marketing Association: Midwest 'Your Honor' Awards, for its 2018 rebranding initiative.

The winning project—which was awarded in the Communications: Brand Enhancement category—involved a comprehensive visual identity initiative, the first in the firm's 85 year history. It was conceptualized and completed in less than six months, relying primarily on a handful of in-house marketing staff. The initiative included a website reskin that resulted in increased website traffic; a redesigned logo; a series of streamlined marketing solutions that produced six-figure cost-savings; and an internal communications campaign featuring gamification designed to engage the entire firm in the effort.  

Designed to showcase some of the best ideas and projects from more than 700 LMA Midwest Region members, the 2018 Your Honor Award program recognized 17 member firms who "illustrated excellence in marketing and business development" in eight different award categories.

In awarding Hinshaw the First Place award, the judges commented on the "great uniform look" of the new brand and praised the Hinshaw team for engaging people at all levels of the firm. One judge remarked, "Kudos for surviving such an accelerated timeframe!" while another said, "Rebranding is a huge undertaking, but this plan was well thought out and successful."

"Anyone who has been involved in these sorts of rebranding efforts can attest to the magnitude of the undertaking. Ours was intensified by the hyper-accelerated five month timeline dictated by the move of the firm's Chicago HQ office. We not only met the deadline but hit a home run - on a budget 50% less than what is typically spent on initiatives of this nature," said Hinshaw Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Michaels.

"While the circumstances and timeline associated with this project were less than optimal, this project demonstrates what a talented and dedicated in-house marketing team combined with a little ingenuity and fortitude can deliver. And oh boy, did we deliver," Michaels added.

Feedback from firm clients and internal firm stakeholders has been very positive. Post launch, the firm's website has also experienced an increase of nearly 11% in web traffic.

The award was accepted by Oliver Thoenen, Hinshaw's Senior Communications Manager, in an online ceremony livestreamed on Stitch and Facebook Live. A recording is available on the LMA Midwest Facebook site.