When the founders of LegalZoom first spoke with me they said they needed to bring emotion to the cold business of legal documents.
They had just launched a TV campaign that helped them pass the proof-of-life threshold, but it wasn’t building an emotional connection with consumers. Brain Lee, Brian Liu, Ed Hartman, and John Suh. Four of the smartest people you will ever meet. Lawyers. Debaters. Entrepreneurs. Opinionated humans to a man. But what impressed me in our first meeting is that as smart and opinionated as they were, they listened. To each other and everyone else in the room, no matter their station. That was very on-brand for them, because what we ended up helping them see is that they were democratizing legal solutions and making them available to all people regardless of economic status or geography. And legal documents, in particular, do something that is highly emotional. They protect us. A will protects the ones we love. A patent protects an idea. A corporation protects a dream. The campaign that followed helped them take LegalZoom to the next level. 7 years after its creation, one of our spots called Toffee Lady was still their top performing spot. I haven’t followed up on that to see if she has been unseated. But even if she has, that’s a pretty good run. It’s nice to see good guys win, especially when they are bringing legal protection to all people, not just the affluent.
