High street brands popular for legal advice
WITH the implementation of the “Tesco law” looming, a new report from YouGov into the legal services sector provides positive news for big brands looking to diversify into this sector.
It reveals that consumer willingness to seek legal advice from retailers or high street brands is high; 60 per cent of consumers would consider using consumer brands if they were to provide legal services as Alternative Business Structures (ABSs).
The report sounds a cautionary note for legal services brands in a new era where brand is likely to carry a greater weight than in the past and the likes of Irwin Mitchell, only known by one in 10 as a legal brand, will have to compete with ABSs already established in banking or retail. These ABSs have the ability to channel loyalty data and current user recognition from their respective markets to consolidate their positions in the legal services sector.
In this vein, YouGov’s report ranks existing banking/retailer brands in the context of their consumer appeal vis-à-vis the provision of legal services. For instance, 16 per cent would consider turning to Tesco for the purpose of receiving legal services; one in five consumers would choose banking giant Barclays; while the AA also rates highly with a score of 18 per cent.
Interestingly, within sectors, the biggest correlation between interest in legal services and BrandIndex measures is with attention, so it is not necessarily what people think about a brand that is important in this context but the fact that they have knowledge of the brand.
The chart shows Brandindex attention in the same order as legal services interest for Tesco (16 per cent interest), Sainsburys (10 per cent interest) and Waitrose (six per cent interest) and an identical pattern is seen in the banking sector.
Stephan Shakespeare is chief executive of YouGov.