Brand Architecture

Brand architecture provides the external face of a business and

supports its overall strategy.
Brand architecture helps companies answer important questions:

What to call new products?

What are their relative weights and relationships?

How much visibility to give to the corporate name?

Should there be a different name for the company and the

commercial brand?

Should the same architecture apply around the world?

Where much of an organizations brand building efforts once focused

on acquiring, launching or aggressively extending brands todays
focus is on trying to get the most from exiting brands through better
organizing and managing brands and brand inter-relationships within
the existing portfolio.
- Rob Osler, The Type-Role-Purpose Brand Taxonomy, Brand
Management, July 2007
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Brand Architecture Defned

What is Brand Architecture?

 Brand architecture establishes the

optimal interrelationships of brands
within a single company.
Architecture also describes the role of
each brand in the corporate portfolio
and the linkages between brands.
Driver
(Master)

Drives purchase decision and defnes

user experience. Most represents the
differentiation inherent to the offer.

Co-driver
(Partners)

Contributes equally to brand equity in

a multi-brand offer.

Endorser

Provides approval, credibility or

guarantee to a range of products, but
is usually not the driver.

SubBrand
Ingredien
t

Equity is driven by another brand,

usually the driver.
Materials, components or parts that
are contained within other branded
products.
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Brand architecture may or

may not line up with
internal organization
structures.

Corporate
Corporate

Business
Business
Unit
Unit

Products
Products

Products
Products

Business
Business
Unit
Unit

Brand Architecture Defned

Brand Architecture Specifies Portfolio

Relationships

 Brand Architecture is part of corporate strategy. It should be

established prior to creating a brand strategy
Strategic Marketing Framework
Benefits of Optimizing Brand Architecture

Allows for fewer stronger brands

with less overlap

Minimizes waste and marketing

inefficiency

Builds credibility for leveraging

the brand into new
opportunities for growth

I. Corporate Objectives &

Brand Architecture

Support business strategy by

providing a face to the
business

II. Brand Strategy

Identity & Positioning
III. Go-to-Market Strategy
Value Proposition
Messaging & Offer Design

Customer Experience

Enables equity to flow through

the portfolio

IV. Marketing Execution & Metrics

Brand Architecture Defned

Where Architecture Fits

 Brand architecture is built to last. It should be revisited when

companies change strategic direction or the business has
outgrown its existing brand structure.
Triggers for revisiting include:

Sizable business unit is acquired or sold

Lack of clarity about role of master brands relative to subbrands
unclear where to build equity

Corporate brand and product brands have the same name

Brands are losing relevance with consumers
Too few brands in the portfolio - brands
have been stretched beyond their
credibility and effectiveness

Too many brands in the portfolio programs, sponsorships and products

competing for attention and investment
dollars
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Brand Architecture Defned

Reasons for Revisiting Architecture

 Recognized Kelloggs
master brand was
underleveraged

Acquired multiple new

master brands Keebler,
Kashi, Morningstar,
potentially Pringles,
needed to elevate
Kelloggs corporate brand
above its cereal master
brand
Wanted to leverage
investment in 2012
Olympics to beneft all
brands

Kelloggs is a truly iconic brand We felt that

having a stronger brand, driving a stronger point of
view, a more powerful identity and have at the
center an umbrella to talk about our portfolio more
holistically, to talk about the power of breakfast, to
talk about the value of cerealit sort of became a
much bigger platform to capture our thoughts
about how we wanted to build a bigger relationship
with
them.
If you
look at our portfolio we have a number of
masterbrands: and we had to start separating out
the Kelloggs brand from the Kellogg company
just as we did effectively a brand refresh of the
Kellogg company, and what it stood for provided a
north star for the aggregate of the master brands
in the company, we then needed to be very clear
about what Kelloggs the brand stood for and
provide the north star for all the sub-brands that
kind
of are
sat underneath
it.as the Olympics, when
There
occasions such
you want to encompass a certain number of those
sub-brands and where the master brand approach
provides an effective way of doing that. You would
need it to ladder up to a common identity system.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2012/05/10/kellogg
s-embarks-on-major-brand-overhaul/
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Brand Architecture Defned

Example: Kelloggs Architecture Changes

Drivers

 Branded elements can be effective for distinguishing and

energizing a brand and may even be trademarked, but live
outside the architecture. Keeping them in their rightful place
requires clarity around their strategic intent.

Enhance uniqueness and memorability.

Are potentially own-able and can be monetized via licensing and cobranding arrangements.
Take care they do not overshadow the brand
Characters
Celebrities
Ingredients build
Sponsorships
create
lend meaning
build affinity
credibility
likeability

Brand Architecture Defned

Brand Elements Are Not Part of the

Architecture

Branded House (Monolithic)

Single master brand where everything is unifed

One name one visual system
Features/benefts of product or service are less
important than brand promise
Client trusts the brand
Brand extensions built by descriptors

Branded House (Monolithic)

Branded House (Monolithic)

Endorsed

Marketing synergy between product and service

name and the parent
Product and service has a clear market presence;
benefts from parent association
Parent endorses the product/service

Endorsed

House of Brands

Found in FMCG companies

Separate corporate identity from brands Unilever,
Kelloggs
Brands have names, lifecycles, personalities of their
own
Often compete with each other

House of Brands

Unilever

Unilever

Hybrids

Hybrid

Combination of all three House of Brands, branded

house and endorsed
Occur through M&As
Preserve the goodwill associated with the
acquisition

Telstra

 House of Brands advantages

Branded House advantages

Builds individual strong brands for

category dominance
Limits risk by containing brand
reputations (good for high risk
industries)

Maximizes marketing spending

efficiency
Maximizes awareness among all
stakeholders (i.e., investors,
employees)

Solutions Spectrum

Hybrid Solution

Independent brands,
each maximizing its
impact on the market.

Branded
House

House of
Brands

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Single parent brand

spans a set of
offerings.

Brand Architecture Solutions

Brand Architecture Solutions Spectrum

 Most companies build their businesses through a mix of architecture

solutions.

Hybrid Solution

Independent brands,
each maximizing its
impact on the market.

Branded
House

House of
Brands

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Single parent brand

spans a set of
offerings.

Brand Architecture Solutions

Hybrid Architecture Solutions Dominate

 Within the spectrum, the number of branding levels determines the

architecture type. (Note: Fewer branding levels is best, aim for no
more than three.)

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Brand Architecture Solutions

Six Main Architecture Types

 Questions to consider:

Do the brands address the same or different customer segments?

How important is it to represent the brand the same way in different
geographies?
Are there synergies that can be leveraged between different brand or
business units?
Hybrid Solution

Independent brands,
each maximizing its
impact on the market.

Branded
House

House of
Brands

Target single or
few segments
Reinforce a
global
organization
mindset
Many synergies
to be leveraged

Target multiple
segments
Address
individual
geographies
Few synergies to
be leveraged
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Single parent brand

spans a set of
offerings.

Brand Architecture Solutions

Determining the Optimal Architecture

 Decisions about naming should be based on target customer

equity.

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Brand Architecture Benefts

Brand Architecture Directs Naming

Decisions

 Consistency - Architectures with a single branding level require more internal

coordination than multiple branding levels.
Brand committee or council across business units, silos or geographies used
to ensure consistency
Some organizations establish a centralized marketing structure or internal
service unit to avoid compliance issues inherent in committees
Innovation and Investment Portfolio brands compete for resources
A brands strategic purpose in the portfolio should determine which of the latest
features and investments are made in each brand
Strategic
Purpose

Description

Strategic

Signifcant contributor to companys future sales or market position. Has potential

for positive impact on overall perception of the corporation.

Distinguisher

Enhances the differentiation of another brand. Also referred to as branded

energizer, differentiator, or silver bullet.

Cash Cow

Money making brand that does not represent future signifcant growth.

Corporate

Low visibility to customers, but important to corporate constituents such as

regulatory bodies, investors, employees, trade groups, partners.

Fighter/Flanker

Response to competitive threat. Protects share of other brands in the portfolio.

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Brand Architecture Implications

Architecture Decisions Have Business

Implications

 Not all portfolio brands are equally important to the business.

Clarity of strategic purpose helps companies understand where
to invest resources for maximum impact.
Strategic
brands
represent
future growth

Cash Cows
generate
revenue for
other
investments

Distinguisher
brands
provide
added
interest

NA
(J. Crew)

(Microsoft)

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Fighters/Flank
ers protect
other
category
brands

Brand Architecture Implications

Strategic Purpose Should Drive

Investment Decisions

 Effective brand architecture directly impacts the market value of

a business, so its worth taking the time to get it right.
The frst step in aligning brand architecture with business
strategy involves a strategic analysis. This analysis forms the
basis for developing and evaluating architecture alternatives.
Brand Architecture Development Process
Strategic
Business
Analysis
How closely
aligned are the
brand and
business
strategies?

Brand
Architecture
Mapping

Alternatives
Development

How aligned are

external and
internal perceptions
of brands and their
roles?

What are the

various ways the
portfolio could be
configured going
forward?

Evaluation of
Alternatives

Which
architecture
alternative best
fits the short and
long-term
business and
[architecture] should not be seen as a formal design problem but
rather
a
brand
objectives?
matter of deciding on the value flows to be created between the different parts
and products of a company. As such it affects the value of the company.
Jean-Noel Kapferer, The New Strategic Brand Management, 2012
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Brand Architecture Process

Getting Started

Grow Brands
Carefully

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