Brand architecture provides the marketing decisions. Brand Architecture is the pictorial depiction of each relationship within and across the family of brands.
Brand architecture is the logical, strategic and relational structure for your brands or put another way, it is the entity’s “family tree” of brands, sub-brands and named products. Brand architecture is the structure of brands and sub-brands within an organizational entity. It defines the hierarchy, relationships, and differentiation among brands in a portfolio. The goal of brand architecture is to get to the ideal portfolio organization that best supports the business strategy and brand goals. A good brand architecture helps streamline how the company’s portfolio of brands are named (co-branded, endorsed, etc.) and identified (logo, typography, etc.). It provides a roadmap for future acquisition naming. Most importantly, it is a communication tool that helps shape internal and external stakeholders’ understanding of what a firm does and how they interact with its brands. Two shorthand terms are often used to describe how an organization manages
its brand architecture:
1. “Branded house” implies that most or all products and services provided by that organization primarily bear the organization’s brand name. FedEx, Google, Coca-Cola and Virgin for example.
2. “House of brands” implies that the organization’s products and services bear a wide variety of brand names as opposed to the organization’s brand name. The Kraft Heinz Company, General Motors, Pepsico and Procter & Gamble for example.
The purpose of brand architecture :
to addresses each of the following:
What the overarching branding approach is – master brand, brand/sub-brand, endorsed brand, stand alone brands, including or some combination of these Hybrid
How many levels of branding should exist
What types of brands exist at each level
How brands at different levels relate to each other, if at all
Decision rules for creating new brands
Which brands’ identities are dominant and which ones are recessive
What types of names the organization uses – coined, associative descriptive or generic descriptors – and in which circumstances (usually controlled by decision rules)
Which brands are features in each and every media, vehicle, situation and circumstance (e.g. business cards, stationery, product catalogs, website, shipping boxes, vehicle signage, employee uniforms, building signage, etc.)
Here are the reasons a company might want to maintain different brands or sub-brands:
If there are channel conflict issues, especially if key customers who resell to the end consumer want to offer something different from competitors.
If the same (or very similar) products are sold at different price points – separate brands or sub-brands create more distance between the offerings.
If one set of products are upscale or premium, while the other are standard or value products.
If one brand appeals to a very different market segment with different needs from the other brand (making the messaging different).
Tip:
There are no absolute rules that apply in all brand architecture situations, however here are some simple rules of thumb
• The simpler the system the better • Ideally, there are no more than two levels of hierarchy • The system should be flexible enough to address all current and anticipated branding situations • The dominant brand should be the one you most intend to build over time • Sub-brands should be created sparingly, however they can be built to make the main or parent brand more relevant to new customer segments • When an existing brand can be used, new brands should not be created • Careful thought should be put into at what level taglines are used • Many organizations have evolved to brand/sub-brand systems with some provision for flexibility and variation • More and more organizations are trying to build and leverage their corporate, parent or organization brands as a way to save money when marketing products and services • Only brands that (a) are highly differentiated, (b) will be maintained for at least several years and (c) will be supported by significant marketing resources over time should have coined names • Brand architecture should be designed with external audiences in mind. It should not be designed to reflect legal entities or internal organization structure. • Sub-brands should be developed to meet the needs of different market segments. This requires a deep understanding of those segments.
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