Written by Paige Eiseman
Clarksville, TN – Earlier this year, at the National Trial Lawyers Summit – Top 100 in Miami, FL, The Kennedy Law Firm took top honors at the Golden Gavel Awards for Best Social Media Ad. The award was for Kevin Kennedy’s TikTok campaign which has so far garnered his firm 1.6 million followers.
“They had asked me to speak in Miami, in January of this year, on the subject of TikTok,” Kennedy said. “Sarah Sumpter (creator of the campaign) and I had entered some of our Tik Tok videos in the social media category. They pick 100 people randomly, show them the ads and ask them which lawyer they would hire. We won. It’s unbelievable.”
Sumpter had suggested a TikTok campaign to Kennedy after being inspired on their trip to the Golden Gavel Awards the year prior. “I saw some videos and thought to myself, if they can do it, Kevin can do it so much better,” Sumpter said. “I thought he would be amazing at it. Soon after we got back from Miami we started making our own Tik Tok videos, and in less than a year we were up to 1,000,000 followers.”
Kennedy admits he didn’t know much about TikTok prior to creating this campaign. “I still don’t know a lot about it,” Kennedy said. “We are getting asked to speak at a lot of events now, but during my career one thing I can take away is, you spend your whole life preparing for a moment. I believe all the things I’ve done over the years, television, radio, it all has prepared me for this opportunity.”
Kennedy says there is no book, no script, nothing. “We go in cold, with Sarah’s cell phone, and a ring light that she bought at Walmart. We’re getting recognized by lawyers all across the nation, and the college people like us. We started this campaign in February, by May the crowd was all over us, like when we went to the Kentucky Derby. We realized college-aged people from all over the nation were connecting with this campaign.”
Kennedy and Sumpter then began wondering who comprises their audience. “We realized that every home in America probably has someone in it that is watching TikTok,” Kennedy said. “We went to the Mark Lanier Trial Academy, Master Academy, surprisingly all the lawyers were coming up and asking to have their pictures taken with me.”
Sumpter said some of their friends from Las Vegas were recently in Nashville. “They wanted to visit us, to see how we made our TikToks. They run campaigns for other firms. When they saw how we did it, they were amazed. Usually people are using a lot of lighting and equipment and spend thousands of dollars. We’re literally using a ring light and a cell phone.”
Kennedy said Sarah has a natural gift. “She knows what catches people’s attention. We hit on a magic formula of trying to teach, and trying to entertain. We found that balance. Now, people say they can’t figure out why we’re so popular.”
Luckily, Kennedy is open to new ideas, and trying new things.
“I went to him with the idea, and he said, let’s do it,” Sumpter said. “He’s just crazy enough to find entertaining. A YouTube video won the award the year before. It was entertaining and informative. The guy was dressed like Santa Claus, and acting a little goofy. I thought there is no one more entertaining, educational, and (playfully) goofy than Kevin.
“The first video, I think, was about the O.J. Simpson trial. We talked about lots of different subjects, and we had to really research the laws. We’re in Tennessee, but this thing goes all over the world, all across the nation. Every state has different laws. It has been a learning experience.”
Kennedy questioned Sumpter on the word ‘goofy’, and with a smile, added, “We know one topic that’s hot is, how to deal with the police, another is, dealing with schools. I feel like these videos are useful tools for even the best lawyers. We went to Steeple Chase and lawyers from Boston came up to me. I was at Harvard for my son’s graduation and all the students were calling out, ‘Kev’.”
Kennedy’s son-in-law suggested they get a catch phrase.
“Kev’s gotcha covered started when I captioned one of the TikToks,” Sumpter said. “He really liked it, so we took that and ran with it. We usually video in the office, sometimes we shoot outside. We like to keep it at 30 seconds or so.”
Sumpter says a lot of this has been seeing what’s working for others, and then giving it their own touch.
“We’re constantly thinking about what’s next,” Kennedy said. “We’re like country music singers, always saying, where’s the next hit. We have one clip at 7 million views, another at 12 million views. Combined, we have more than 360 million views.
Now, everybody wants to give advice. We hear a lot of ideas, but we mostly do our own thing. Lots of people are trying to imitate, but they can’t duplicate. It’s kind of funny.”
Sumpter seems to have a real understanding of the technical side of Tik Tok. “It’s different than other social media platforms,” Sumpter said. “The algorithms on other platforms stay pretty consistent, but Tik Tok changes all the time. Study as much as you want, it will probably be different next month.
We put out new videos five days a week, you have to be consistent with new content. Once you produce at a certain level, you have to maintain that. If you back down, it will really impact your views. If we suddenly decreased our output, I don’t think the algorithm would sustain our numbers.”
Now, as the pair travels to Miami, Houston or Las Vegas, elite lawyers come up and say that they. or their kids, are big fans, and ask for pictures. “Jose Baez, a very famous lawyer, said Kev, ‘you break all the conventional thinking. You wear loud colors, and diamond rings, but everybody loves you.’” Kennedy said. “I love having the opportunity to speak with Mr. Baez or Mike Tyson, whom I had the chance to meet last year.”
Sumpter said they don’t really target a specific audience. They do their thing and America just seems to gravitate to it, young and old. “The research is the biggest time component of the TikToks,” Sumpter said. “Sometimes the law is complex. Most people don’t really understand it. We have to read it, make sure we understand it, then break it down and present it in a way that makes it easy for everyone to understand.
“The analytics are skewed, we have middle school kids from Switzerland, college students from everywhere, people from the UK and Australia.”
Kennedy said, “The autograph thing is a little strange, but, no doubt, this has helped our business. We get calls from all over the nation. Personal injury is a big part of our business, serious injuries, car wrecks, big truck accidents, things like that. Now, that network of lawyers is very interested in having a relationship with our office.
“I absolutely think we will inspire a generation of lawyers, other leaders as well. The truth is, you’re going to shine outside the court room before you’ll ever shine inside the courtroom. The question is, what will be your legacy. The courtroom is part of our life, but can we really help others. We are sharing our experience, which is extremely valuable.”
Kennedy thinks the reason their message is so captivating is that its positive and never inappropriate. “Kids can listen to our message,” Kennedy said. “Lawyers do say to me, ‘what about the Jesus sign outside your office, but when they fly in to visit, they want to get their picture made at the front door.”
Kennedy makes it no secret that he is a devout Christian. He credits God for all his success. “All the money we ever make on Tik Tok, we donate for the cause of Christ,” Kennedy said. “We’ve never taken a cent. If it continues on, then praise the Lord.
“I said when I got to 1,000,000 followers I’d share the plan of salvation with them. We have a gigantic following now. Pursuing careers is important, and education is wonderful, but, all the comments we have received have given me a glimpse into America. When it’s all said and done, what really matters is sharing God’s message.”
“Tik Tok helps put you in reflection mode,” Kennedy said. “It makes me ask. do I really make a difference in my community. The nation looks at our intern program and says, wow. It is profound in retrospect. Man is only given so many hours, and so many days. We don’t know how many. We’re living for the moment. This has exceeded our dreams. We are in a ‘wow’ moment. Rock stars, movie stars, and politicians have these moments. Right now, Sarah and I are living our ‘wow’ moment.”
Be sure to check out KennedyLawFirm on TikTok
