Philip Bantz, The Daily Record Newswire
For a long time now, the ampersand has served as the go-to symbol for linking a law firm’s name partners, but that time-honored standby is being usurped by what some say is a hipper icon.
“The ampersand is so 20th century, and the plus sign is 21st century,” says Anthony Biller, a patent attorney at Coats + Bennett in Cary, N.C. “It’s also a positive sign, literally. When you look at that you think positive.”
His firm’s founding partners had used the ampersand, but when new blood took over a few years ago they decided a makeover was in order. So they hired a public relations company so cool and cutting edge that it has lines in its name.
It was French/West/Vaughan that first pitched the idea of ditching the “&” for the “+,” says Chris Shigas, who handles the Coats + Bennett account.
“Yes, it’s true that losing the ampersand and using a plus sign is an advertising trend,” he says. “It gives a more contemporary look and feel to the brand. It just looks a little more attention-getting.”
But the plus sign isn’t just aesthetically pleasing, according to Shigas. It also plays nicer with HTML code than the &, meaning that swapping the old symbol for the new can elevate a law firm’s placement and prominence in online search results.
Another marketing firm, the AD Company in Columbia, which has mashed its name into ADCO (another apparent trend these days), convinced the Beaufort, S.C., law firm of Twenge + Twombley to take its icon to the next level.
“Somebody’s name has to go first, but with the plus sign it’s almost like they’re equal,” says ADCO creative director Brian Murrell.
Murrell also points out that firms can do neat branding things with the plus sign, like using it in front of nouns to inspire confidence in potential clients: “+service,” “+experience,” etc.
While pleased with the change, Karl Twenge says the “+” has created a few unexpected and rather awkward situations, like when someone compliments him for placing a cross in the firm’s logo and trumpeting his Christian beliefs.
“There’s no real religious significance,” he says.
Then there’s the occasional ribbing that he and law partner J. Ashley Twombley have to endure:
Twenge + Twombley sittin’ in the tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G …
They’re not those kind of partners. Still, Twenge vows that “we’re plus sign all the way.”
Inevitably, the now-sexy plus sign will eventually suffer the fate of all trends. In fact, reports are already surfacing of clean, simple dots in firm names.
