Thomson Reuters Westlaw Edge

A product launch campaign that raised the bar in legal research

Introducing J.D.s to AI

Thomson Reuters has been the leader in online legal research for decades. The company pulled even further ahead with the addition of advanced artificial intelligence to its flagship Westlaw Edge platform. The new feature, named Quick Check, wasn’t just an upgrade — it advanced legal research to a whole new level. Thomson Reuters just needed a strong campaign to drive awareness and adoption of this new AI-enabled upgrade.

Thomson Reuters engaged SCHERMER to develop a demand-gen program in the U.S. targeting small and mid-sized law firms to drive adoption of Westlaw Edge. The program needed to communicate the benefits of Quick Check and build awareness of the new feature among the target audiences, while evolving the existing look of the successful Westlaw Edge marketing campaign to better differentiate the product from the competition.

A new level of confidence for legal professionals

TR had already launched WestLaw Edge and Quick Check prior to engaging us, but their efforts and campaign just weren’t clicking and their lead goals were in jeopardy. They brought us in to help refresh the brand and relaunch the product. We started by finding new insights from their previous campaign results and existing audience research, interviewing SMEs and internal channel owners, and conducting interviews with both existing buyers and prospects.

From our insights, we developed a dynamic, distinctive and versatile launch campaign promoting “The Westlaw you know, now with an edge” and promising “Legal research will never be the same.”

The campaign drew from the existing look and feel of established Westlaw Edge marketing, but we pushed the identity and creative further; developing a more futuristic visual language unique for TR and in the legal industry. We introduced the powerfully precise shape of the hexagon as a key design element, suggesting both the power of AI, the idea of connecting many points of data into a cohesive legal case, and using the shape to demonstrate the ‘edge’ it provided. Along with photography depicting aspirational legal professionals ready to embrace the future, this visual identity formed the basis of the Westlaw Edge design language moving forward.

Teaming up with Thomson Reuters

Our assignment was to create a breakthrough campaign concept and media flight plan for the launch of Quick Check, then hand off to TR for execution in-house.

With concept and strategy approved, we developed a campaign playbook that was used as a foundation for both us and TR to develop assets, including social and banner ads, videos, infographics, campaign landing page, as well as high-value content such as articles and white papers. We also outlined an overarching connection plan, which included integrated creative, content and channel recommendations to guide their internal teams. Finally, we consulted over the duration of the campaign, making recommendations to enhance messaging, offers, media and performance.The partnership worked seamlessly and showed how SCHERMER works with clients to architect campaign strategy, produce excellent work, and achieve exceptional results – together.

Optimizing our strategy to surpass the goal

Westlaw Edge Quick Check originally launched in March with an aggressive Marketing Qualified Lead goal. Though the product was initially well-received in the marketplace, leads were not projecting to hit the year-end goal. In May, SCHERMER was brought in to create the new campaign strategy outlined above, providing recommendations that included an updated targeting strategy plus content and spend optimization. Our efforts, plus our partnership with TR’s internal team on execution, kicked the campaign into gear and significantly outperformed the year end MQL goal by November.

Not only did we exceed our traffic and lead goals for the campaign effort, but the leads generated from our campaign resulted in real pipeline value and deals won – giving us a boost we needed for a successful year.

Melissa Howe
Director, Campaign Planning

The verdict is in – an unqualified success

The campaign was a huge success; far exceeding their Marketing Qualified Lead goal that was set forth. In fact, within Thomson Reuters Legal, this was their most successful lead generation campaign of the year.

Within a few months of us redirecting the campaign, we helped TR exceed their aggressive traffic goals by 133% and MQL goals by 15% – a huge improvement from where they were headed. These leads delivered 1/6 of their GTM sales for the year – a substantial, and unexpected, portion of their total division sales goal.

Pointing the way to what’s next

The evolution to the campaign, from strategy to execution, gave Westlaw Edge a new way to stand out in the marketplace. And our messaging, channel, and platform optimizations produced impactful results faster than anticipated. Our work with Thomson Reuters had a significant impact on their business and gave them a solid framework to build from moving forward.