Raees + Co. Rebrand

Raees + Co, going above and beyond

Posted by Hamza Hajji

The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team

Phil Jackson

Introducing Raees + Co, a legal firm rebrand

Originally named Nezar Raees Associates, this Bahraini law firm has been successfully operating since 2008, providing advisory, documentation and representation services for local and international clients alike.

Despite a growing international clientele and a solid success rate in the commercial legal sector, they were still perceived as an undifferentiated law firm with great knowledge but lack of presence and positioning. This legal firm rebrand was going to be critical to Raees + Co’s next phase of success.

Raees + Co was open to a name change – a key reason for appointing Unisono as partners in developing an international identity as they really believed in the strategic strength of the agency. They new working with us would help them to fully re-position the firm as a thought leader in the industry. A new name was a key component in a legal firm rebrand.

Challenges encountered in the legal firm rebrand

Tasked with developing an international identity to position Raees + Co, we faced several perception issues that became obvious during our trademark ‘Why™ Workshops’ with the client’s leadership.

First and foremost, their image had a lot of room for improvement – we wanted this rebrand to combine international best practice with the essence of Bahraini law.

This was not a unique challenge. A lot of law offices feel cold, claustrophobic and stuck in time. From their visual identities to their office decorations, business cards and everything in between, visiting your lawyer is, more often than not, a less-than-enjoyable experience.

Another challenge was how Raees + Co could improve the image of lawyers in the region – not just the firm’s own associates, but how we could help bring back the prestige associated with the profession.

Our strategic response

The legal firm rebrand process started by discovering everything we could about the brand and what made them different from the competition. In a crowded field like this, finding an edge, a unique factor about the brand, would be key to unlocking their new identity.

From this, we identified the brand’s true purpose: to challenge the status quo and the values they hold sacred: Honour, Intelligence & Boldness. That ‘challenger’ spirit inspired the development of a new brand identity that reflects the confidence and bravado of a brand that is not afraid of taking risks but that, at the same time, conveys their belief in the power of knowledge and constant learning.

Under the new name agreed with the client – Raees + Co – we took the brand from a undistinguishable white and grey, traditional Arabic script logo to an assertive, contemporary and prestigious creative space. The new wordmark logo was developed alongside a full typographic treatment, new colour pallet, patterned graphic element and upgraded photographic style. These elements were applied across the brand’s stationary, office interior design and digital applications, giving the brand not just a ‘facelift’ but a true, strategic and visual transformation.

Results

Through this rebrand, we managed to reposition Raees + Co as one of the leading local firms with international credentials – a powerhouse of expertise and the legal partner of choice.

Their newly-decorated office is the talk of the town, contributing to higher engagement and motivation by all staff and team members, who now have a crystal-clear picture of ‘who’ their company is, what it stands for and its ambitions.

We received glowing feedback from the client’s management team and the perception of a greater level of ambition has been noted by the firm’s clients.

To check out Raees + Co’s new website (also designed by Unisono), click here.

To check out our other branding projects, click here.