What do we mean by brand architecture?
If you’ve ever worked with a marketing strategist or brand strategist, you’ve probably heard them talk about brand architecture at some point – most likely the difference between a branded house and a house of brands – the two most common forms of brand architecture.
In simple terms, it’s a strategic framework, organising brands, products, and services within a company.
It helps your audience to understand your offer by defining the relationships between the various services or products you offer.
Read my beginner’s guide to different types of brand architecture:
- What is a branded house?
A branded house (also known as a monolithic brand) is a framework where a single master brand encompasses all your products and services.
Think Google – you’ve got Google Chrome, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Translate and dozens of other digital services, as well as Google products; Google Chromebook etc.
Virgin is another famous example. With Virgin, the parent brand has covered a whole range of seemingly unrelated products and services. From the original Virgin Records, to Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Trains, Virgin Monday, Virgin Mobile and many more. And do you remember Virgin Cola? Although the range of Virgin products and services covers a wide range of different sectors – from travel to communications, entertainment to soft drinks, every brand was clearly identifiable with the parent brand, Virgin.
So within a branded house architecture, everything is linked closely linked to the parent brand.
The advantages of this are that each sub brand benefits from the parent brand’s reputation and equity. Your audiences are able to easily recognise a consistent brand image across all of your products and services, and it can be more cost-effective in terms of your marketing activity.
The disadvantage is that you risk diluting your brand if you diversify across too many sectors, and there is potential damage to the reputation of all your offerings if something happens to damage and erode trust in the master brand. It can also happen the other way around – a problem with one of your sub-brands can damage the master brand.
- What is a house of brands?
A house of brands (also known as pluralistic brand architecture) is a structure where each brand has its own identify, and operates independently of the others, and, often, in the mind of the consumer, from the master brand.
The house of brands is commonly used with products, and is particularly prevalent in consumer products like food and drink, or cosmetics.
Procter & Gamble (P&G) is a good example. It owns multiple brands – some which appear to compete with each other on the shelves, with a focus on healthcare, beauty, family care and home care.
Popular shampoo brands Head & Shoulders and Pantene are both P&G brands. Oral-B and Crest dental brands are both owned by P&G, as are both Braun and Gillette. On the product packaging, reference to the P&G brand will appear only on the back – the hero brand, the brand that consumers identify with – is the product.
The house of brands has often built up its brand portfolio by buying up smaller product brands (frequently those that were competing with one or other of its portfolio).
The advantages of the house of brands structure include the ability to maintain clear differentiation between similar product ranges, with minimal risk of damage to other brands if one suffers a crisis.
On the other hand, each brand requires its own marketing strategy, resulting in higher marketing costs, and potential internal competition. Problems can also arise if the parent brand suffers damage to its reputation, with consumers deciding to abandon any product or service perceived to be part of its range.
Are there other types of brand architecture?
Yes. Some brands use a hybrid approach with a mixture of master brand products and independent brand names (Coca Cola, for example, which also owns brands like Fanta and Innocent Drinks).
Others use an endorsed brand strategy in order to increase brand reach. This is a strategy often used by luxury brands who want to expand their appeal into a lower price point, without damaging their brand equity. Polo by Ralph Lauren, for example.
Which brand architecture is right for my professional services brand?
For many SMEs, the question doesn’t arise at first. As you build your business, though, and your commitment to innovation results in a growing portfolio of services, and more complex audience segments, you are likely to reach a point where the making a strategic decision about your brand architecture becomes necessary.
Which approach is most appropriate will depend on your business objectives, your target audience(s), your market positioning and the brand equity you’ve already built up.
Does the strength in your business arise from your master brand (probably your company name if you are in the early stages) or from a particular service (have you developed a particularly innovative and high-performing technology or service with its own brand name?)
Ask The Marketing Associates
As part of a brand review, we’ll look at your brand architecture to recommend the most appropriate direction.
We’ll assess your brand portfolio, evaluating your existing services to understand their market position, perceptions, and performance.
Then we’ll clearly define the roles of each brand to determine how they relate to each other and your overall business strategy.
We’ll ensure that your brand architecture aligns with your broader business strategy to support your goals.
Then we’ll develop naming conventions that reflect the brand architecture; guidelines for naming new services, products or sub-brands in a way that maintains coherence and consistency.
Once this is established, we’ll implement the brand architecture across all touchpoints. This includes ensuring that all your internal stakeholders (not only your marketing team) understand the brand relationships. Consistency is essential for maintaining brand integrity.
Call us on 01233 720379 or book an appointment here to have a discussion.
At The Marketing Associates, we specialise in strategic freelance marketing support for professional service practices, providing excellent quality advice on your marketing strategy to develop and grow your business on a retained basis.