Head of Rödl & Partner's Baltic marketing Evelyn Andruškevičus is a marketer with extensive experience, who before moving into B2B, was involved in marketing consumer goods to the masses. She comes from a family of marketers - both her mother Ene and her sister Helina are well-known in the industry.
Rödl & Partner was founded by Dr. Bernd Rödl in 1977 as a one-man company in the city of Nuremberg, Germany. Today they are represented by 110 offices in 49 countries as lawyers, tax advisors, management and IT consultants and auditors.
How did you end up in marketing? What was your path?
When I was young and had to decide what to do next, I didn't have a clear plan, but I knew one thing - I have strong communication and organisational skills. I was very active at school and always the one who organised things.
The natural continuation of this was to study international business management at EBS. From there, my interest in marketing emerged. After university, I started working in marketing and business development. My career took me to companies such as Selver and Unilever, where I gained experience from large corporations as well as smaller companies. Later I got into business consulting companies and finally Eesti Energia. So I have gained quite a wide experience in different fields.
It doesn't matter if I'm selling soap or legal services - at the end of the day, the decision maker is always human.
Brands aimed at mass consumers such as Selver and Unilever differ significantly from law firms and B2B companies. How do these experiences relate to each other?
I've always said that it doesn't matter if I'm selling soap or legal services (with some humour, of course) - at the end of the day, the decision maker is always human. Marketing is all about understanding your customer.
Of course, there are differences whether you sell consumer goods or services, but the principles of marketing strategies and methods remain the same. If you understand your target customer, then most of the work follows naturally. There is no "rocket science" here.
Based on your experience, do agencies understand the complexity of B2B marketing and sales?
Creative agencies are often very good at positioning and finding a slogan, but in terms of strategic marketing, they still have room for improvement. B2B marketing requires a much more thoughtful approach and long-term strategy.
If a big grocery retailer says that yogurt is half price today, sales will increase immediately, but for a law firm such campaigns would rather backfire.
In B2B, the sales cycle is longer and often more complex. If a big grocery retailer says that yogurt is half price today, sales will increase immediately, but for a law firm such a campaign would rather work against you and undermine credibility.
What are the main differences you have observed between B2C and B2B marketing?
In B2C marketing, you often sell the benefits and advantages of the product - for example, if you sell Lipton tea, you can clearly point out what makes this tea special. But in B2B it is more difficult to find such unique selling points, because the experts are all competent and the differences between service providers may not be very big.
In B2B marketing, personal relationships and referrals are starting to play a bigger role. In the Baltics, this is especially important, as the market is small and everyone knows everyone.
It seems that law firm marketing can be quite difficult. How do Sorainen, COBALT and Ellex, for example, differ from each other - all are the best in the field?
Right, it's very complicated. All the big law firms are top-notch, the prices are similar and the quality of services is uniformly high. Personal relationships and reputation play a big role here. A recommendation can often be the deciding factor. In the Baltics, the market is small enough that personal contacts and recommendations can determine which law firm the client chooses.
Often, a star consultant in a business consulting company is better known than the company itself. How do you prevent a lawyer from becoming famous and then simply leaving the firm?
The risk is very high, and if you think back 15 years ago, there was no such risk. Today, however, it is quite realistic that a personal brand becomes so strong that when a lawyer leaves, he takes his clients and reputation with him.
For example, at my current global business consultancy, Rödl & Partner, we do not emphasise personal branding. We have decided to focus on branding the company rather than the individual.
Is this approach different from the practices of local consulting firms?
International clients don't really care who the local star lawyer is. If our customer comes from Germany or other foreign countries, they are interested in the brand, not a specific person. The name of the local doesn't say anything to the foreign client. The client trusts Rödl or some other big name, but not this particular lawyer.
In our case, it is rather that certain standards are ensured through the brand and systems. After all, it is important that people do their jobs well, but the success of a company cannot be built on star lawyers. Stability and reliability come from the system and the corporate brand, not from individuals.
If the best differ so little - how do you promote your service anyway?
The modern tools you offer to the client play a big role here. For instance, what platforms and software you use, how do you ensure the best service. It all becomes more and more meaningful for the customer.
So then you start talking about the details, for example that you use Microsoft Dynamics business software or something similar?
That's right. You have to show what your work process looks like and how you make things easier and faster for the customer. For example, if a customer acquires another company, you cannot predict how long it will take and how much the consulting will cost. There are many surprises. It's important to forecast as accurately as possible and offer transparency.
How does the customer journey commence? With someone googling and finding your business?
It often starts with googling if the client has no previous contacts with us. They contact us and request an offer. Nowadays, the offer doesn't only consist of the price, but also all the services the company offers.
So marketing in Rödl & Partner also means designing and building offers.
Definitely. We have a separate team in Germany who creates offers and we tailor them to our markets. It's part of the marketing job, but there's also business development and sales, all departments work together.
Do you also do active sales, knocking on customers' doors?
We have not used such tactics, but some countries do. The majority of our customers are from abroad, but the economic situation is really forcing us to work more with local clients and take a new direction. New opportunities must be found and existing strategies reassessed.
We also have to take into account German conservatism, which has influenced our approach to marketing in the Baltics.
But how important is brand recognition? How do you raise awareness?
We use data-driven marketing. We investigate where our target group spends their time and what kind of media they consume. But we also have to take into account German conservatism, which has influenced our approach to marketing in the Baltics. The Germans are now moving in a more modern direction, and that supports our work as well.
How do you measure the effectiveness?
We measure contacts and website visits. For example, we look at how many contacts we receive from conferences and seminars and how many contact forms are filled out on our website. This is a rather conservative approach, but this is how we do it today.
Op-ed industry pieces are very common in your industry. What's your view here?
We do try to push expert know-how this way but, it is difficult to get published in local media if you are not well known in the market. They wont pick it up.
If Aku Sorainen writes an article, it is more likely to be published than that of a little-known employee. This is a long-term job, and although we are the market leader in Germany, we have to work hard in the Baltics to grow our reputation here.