5 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA professional and carries social value.” Thus far, Hai Run has already created a series of well-received content on topics such as the new Company Law, community management, urban renewal, intellectual property, family wealth, criminal law, and “Hai Run Star Power”. Apart from meticulous content planning, Hai Run has also made full use of the three mainstream short video platforms: WeChat Channels, Bilibili and Douyin, releasing content two to three times a week. “The user attributes, recommendation algorithms and user habits of each platform are different. For example, Douyin sets a higher weighting for completion rate, so we need to make viewers stay longer. On the other hand, the WeChat Channels account prioritises the comprehensive engagement rate, so we need content that can generate comments and likes from viewers.” “To do these well, you need a dedicated team,” emphasises Zhang. RESOURCES AND PERSONALITY The production of short videos necessitates a reallocation of internal resources. The emphasis on personality by short video platforms also requires an awareness of IP creation. How do firms respond to these challenges? Li states that Wumei’s short videos are jointly produced by lawyers and its brand department. Lawyers are responsible for content, whilst the brand department handles video shooting, editing and publishing. Wumei’s WeChat Channels account is named “Family Lawyer Li Xiaofei”, which appears to adopt the creation of Li’s personal IP as its primary strategy. Li reveals that this is the result of continuous refinement of the firm’s short video strategy. “Initially, we wanted to have more lawyers participate in the production of short videos, and designed incentives and arranged a special video topic selection session in our weekly meetings. However, involving too many people resulted in a complicated mechanism and led to other management issues. In addition, we gathered feedback from some of our peers. The suggestion was that to leave a deep impression on the audience, we should not change those who appear in short videos too frequently. After considering various factors, we decided to switch to the current model,” says Li. Zhang similarly notes that the production of short videos requires a high degree of coordination between lawyers and the brand department. Hai Run’s current strategy is to work more closely with young lawyers to help them build up their personal IP. “Young lawyers are more receptive to new things and more willing to participate. They are highly professional, and also have brand communications awareness. Recently, our shooting style has also become more lively. For example, a partner working in overseas mergers and acquisitions filmed content on-site in projects in Africa and the Middle East, breaking away from the traditional ‘lecturing’ style to make the content more vivid and interactive,” says Zhang. According to Zhang, short video production has placed higher demands on the brand department. “They need to understand the practice areas, personality and even the work schedule of key partners within a certain period of time” to facilitate communication with the partners and lead the swift shooting and production of short videos. REMAINING CAUTIOUS Another topic worthy of attention is the unexpected risks that short videos may bring about. Risk prevention and reputation protection are crucial for legal service providers. In response, law firms believe it is important to know “what you can do and what you should not do”. As more and more firms begin to make short videos or contemplate such a move, Li suggests that firms should first clarify their purpose. While firms cannot lag behind the trend of the times, they also should not exaggerate the marketing effectiveness of short videos. “There are hundreds of thousands of lawyers in China. Very few among them can really convert business from short videos and livestreaming. If a lawyer wants to develop business online, he or she must have supporting practice areas, suitable personality traits, a team and even a whole firm behind him or her. Before a lawyer has thought through these issues, I don’t recommend investing too much in short videos.” To Li, short videos are ultimately just one means of marketing, and should be used in conjunction with team personality and other resources. At Wumei, “apart from short videos, our lawyers can also participate in publication writing, the Wumei Family Law Salon and other activities. These are all ways for us to highlight professional capabilities and showcase our brand image.” BIG STORY
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