Vedder Price is a 250-lawyer Chicago-based firm with offices in New York and DC. A full-service practice, it also had one of the world’s leading equipment finance practices, with particular expertise in the transportation industry, and even more specialized leadership in aviation finance. They had 40 full-time lawyers in this practice, making it one of the world’s largest such practices.
Led by Practice Group Chair Dean Gerber, the group had a strong reputation, but it was a large international industry, and they wanted to solidify their position and expand into new markets with a series of bold industry-specific campaigns.
Every industry has its own overused visual icons. Law has gavels and columns, aviation publications are packed with photos of planes. Maritime shows ships, etc. When everyone does the same thing, nothing gets noticed. We wanted to poke some gentle fun at this tradition while seeking to stand above the crowd.
We created a campaign that worked directly opposite of this tradition, hinting at the industry clichés, while avoiding them entirely. The campaign showed the contrail but not the airplane. The tracks rolling out into the distance, but not the train. The vast ocean, but not the ship. The clean design stood out strongly in the industry publications and immediately improved their awareness.
