Eliott & Markus is delighted to announce the arrival of Dalila Hammadi as International Customer Director, with a particular focus on the EMEA region.
Dalila, could you introduce yourself in a few words ?
My name is Dalila Hammadi, and I was born in Morocco, the country I left after my A-levels to pursue my studies in France and England. I’ve lived in all 3 countries, and my last international experience was in London, where I worked for some 15 years in communications, marketing and CSR. I’ve been lucky enough to evolve in a wide variety of contexts, cultures, communities and customs, which today enable me to navigate in several environments and adopt the cultural codes in force. Today, this human and professional experience enables me to work with customers as part of their international development, while maintaining a global approach and local sensitivity.
As a former business development, marketing and communications manager in international law firms, why did you choose to work in a communications agency, and what skills do you now bring to Eliott & Markus clients ?
Having worked for ten years in international law firms, including Allen & Overy, a magic circle firm, and Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, I had the opportunity to work with Tier 1 partners and to develop within marketing, communications and business development teams worldwide. Switching to a communications agency seemed an obvious career move. I can sum up my skills in three main areas.
The first is a strong understanding of law firms, their challenges, their environment, their business and their customers. Working in a consulting or law firm requires resilience, autonomy and the ability to make the right decisions, often on behalf of partners with extremely busy schedules and daily lives.
I’ve also supported law firms in devising international marketing strategies in several markets, thanks to in-depth analyses and clear, relevant communication plans. Working in several jurisdictions and understanding the issues and particularities of each market has enabled me to develop intercultural skills that help me in my day-to-day work to develop international development strategies that obey certain specificities, where it’s essential to adapt marketing content to the type of customer and market.
Finally, my third skill would be customer relationship management. Large law firms are both the intermediary for their regular clients wishing to expand their activities internationally, and also the local contact for foreign clients who want to understand the particularities of a legal system that is often unfamiliar to them, in order to better adapt the form of their economic development to it. With this in mind, it is crucial for law firms to stay close to their clients and personalize their relationships as much as possible. Unfortunately, some law firms overlook this customer relationship for lack of time and adequate resources. Having worked on the development of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) plans, I can only stress the importance of maintaining a close relationship with clients, who often expect their lawyer to also act as a business advisor.
What are your goals at Eliott & Markus ?
Today, I’m proud and delighted to be able to apply my immersive experience in marketing and legal communication to the benefit of Eliott & Markus’ current and future clients. In my opinion, it’s a perfect marriage! My aim is to offer our clients our perfect and unequivocal understanding of law firms, and more generally of professional service firms, by providing them with 360-degree, in-depth support on all aspects of communication.
Legal marketing also aims to improve a law firm’s brand image, and having worked in-house in law firms, I feel it’s essential to get professional support on subjects that a law firm or in-house marketing teams don’t necessarily have the time or resources to tackle, such as branding, offer marketing, content production, the website, digital influence, press relations, SEO etc…
Do you have a mantra or catchphrase you’d like to share with us?
Improving the customer experience and becoming an accomplice in its success is my daily goal.
