BRAND

BRAND
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE
MODELS
MODELS
 OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
Having a portfolio of products can cause a number of
headaches in terms of how you look at the branding. We go
through the three most popular brand architectures.

Enjoy,
Julian Cole

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 CREATED BY

DEBOPRIYO BHATTACHERJEE JULIAN COLE DAVIS BALLARD

is a hands-on strategic is a strategy consultant is a LA-based freelance
planner with 16 years’ who works with brands and strategist who moonlights
experience of unlocking agencies to create world as a music man at
growth for brands across class integrated Rainbow Jeremy FM and
India and Malaysia. campaigns. Parang Recordings.
A clear, intuitive brand architecture is the best way to guard against
chaos and unpredictability.

Brian Lischer Ignyte Brands

 The principles of brand architecture is similar to using a surname

a. If carrying the surname opens more doors, do it

b. If the surname is limiting, drop it and make a fresh start

c. If you are unknown, then choose a name that can grow into a
powerful surname in the future

Akash Sahu, CMO - Thirsty Fox Cider

WHY BRAND ARCHITECTURE MODELS?

To structure, organise and clearly communicate a

brand and its portfolio of offerings

To create overall equity

 “A brand architecture is the happy marriage between your brand
strategy and your product portfolio... The truth is, you never want to
expose your customers to the complexity of your business, organization
or portfolio.”

Amy Barzdukas CMO & EVP at Poly

AN EFFECTIVE BRAND ARCHITECTURE WILL
1. Provide a logical framework to house existing products, and
accommodate future products

2. Provide a clear means of navigation for people

3. Leverage Master Brand assets - reinforcing individual products within

the portfolio

4. Reinforce the Master Brand - without diluting the brand assets

5. Create economies of scale - NPD benefits from familiarity of parent

brand and in turn adds back a halo effect on the parent
 “The spectrum begins far left with a single 'branded house' in which a
company such as McKinsey creates a single brand for all its operations.
It concludes, far right, with a 'house of brands' in which a company, such
as Procter & Gamble, opts for a holding company comprising a series of
apparently unconnected brands.”

Mark Ritson
Founder - Mini MBA
Ex-associate professor of marketing, Melbourne Business School Brand
consultant, and Marketing Week columnist
 ARQUITECTURA DE MARCA

Marca

Marca Marca

Monolítica Endosada Multimarca

Same Related Mother Mother Mother Strong Linked Shadow No

Identity Identity Brand Brand Brand Endorsement Name Connection Connection
> = <
Product Product Product
Brand Brand Brand

Weakening presence of mother brand

 BRAND ARCHITECTURE CONTINUUM

Brand

Master Brand

Same Related
Identity Identity

Weakening presence of mother brand

 SAME IDENTITY

BMW X1, X2, X3 ...

BMW 1, 2, 3 … Series
“For instance, if you’re buying an Audi A1 at around $25,000 compared to
an R8, which sets you back $250,000, you’re still attracted to the brand
because you know it is underpinned by Audi. You know the technology
that has gone behind that $250,000 car can still filter down to the
bottom end of the market.”

Anthony Moulton
Founder & Managing Director, Brand & Co
RELATED IDENTITY
“We knew very little about marketing or branding when we started Virgin
Records, back in 1972. We simply formed the business around our
personal values, and went from there. Virgin’s success can be attributed
to a lot of different things, however this was the best decision we ever
made. The defining factor that has kept us in business, and growing, for
more than 40 years has been the strength and reputation of the brand.”

Sir Richard Branson

 “Whereas the modern brand is both an imitation and representation of
the real (product, service or organisation), the postmodern brand is
exactly the opposite in the sense that it influences, informs and dictates
the (organisation’s) approach to products, service and customers. The
implied rationale is that the brand becomes the object of desire: the one
which is imitated, and not the product or service. The postmodern
brand’s job is to position the product/service. The product/service has to
remain true to that positioning.

To cite an example, consider how effortlessly vastly disparate products

and services converge in master brands like Virgin (an airline, spa
business, balloon flights, banking, etc), enabling horizontal extension
that otherwise, without the branded house architecture, would have
been considered schizophrenic in modern marketing terms.”

Christo Van der Westhuizen Managing Director at BRAND et al

MASTER BRAND MODEL
1. One brand that defines all products and services. Corporate dominant, no
individual product brand

2. Strong, singular master brand philosophy binds the entire portfolio. People are
buying into the image and values/ philosophy of the parent brand, using product
brands to navigate portfolio according to needs

3. Master brand is at the core of all offerings, the point of reference for the entire
portfolio. Also called monolithic brand model, as a single brand name is used
across all offerings

4. Provides instant credibility & understanding for new product launches. As such can
prove a faster launch pad to sales. But not necessarily a guarantor of NPD success
- new categories must fit with parent brand values and parent brand must have
something relevant to leverage
 “With masterbrand advertising, you’re getting more economy of scale.
The challenge is you’re going to be less product specific, less audience
specific and less market specific. The flip side of that is you can create
larger, broader campaigns that have potentially more impact because
they’re speaking about bigger ideas and more general aspirational
thoughts.”

Brett Rolfe
Director of Innovation at Cranbrook School
BRAND ARCHITECTURE CONTINUUM

Brand

Hybrid

Mother Mother Mother Strong Linked

Brand Brand Brand Endorsement Name
> = <
Product Product Product
Brand Brand Brand

Weakening presence of mother brand

MOTHER BRAND (MB) VIS A VIS PRODUCT BRAND (PB)

MB>PB MB=PB

PB>MB
 HYBRID BRAND MODEL
MOTHER BRAND VIS A VIS PRODUCT BRAND

1. Mix of mother and product branding: Product brand (PB) is endorsed by

mother brand (MB), with varied intensity:

a. Strong endorsement - MB> PB e.g. MTV Rocks, Johnson’s baby soap

b. Equal endorsement – MB = PB e.g. Sony Playstation, Gillette Mach 3

c. Weaker endorsement – PB>MB e.g. Kelloggs Chocos, Nestle Kitkat

2. Can provide latitude to experiment with NPD/ new categories- lower risk
to Master brand in the event of failure
STRONG ENDORSEMENT
LINKED NAME

McMuffin
McNuggets
McSalad
Big Mac
Chicken McGrill
With digital products, the endorsed brand usually provides a good initial
fit, and then an opportunity to shift to separate branding.

Alibaba has leveraged the success of its corporate brand to effectively

create a number of strong sub-brands including AliExpress, AliCloud,
Alimama, AliHealth and many more. When it makes sense for Alibaba to
distance a business from one of its core brands, it doesn’t hesitate to
create a separate sub-brand as it did when it changed Alitrip to Fliggy in
2016.

Jay Milliken
Senior partner and Asia regional lead at Prophet
 HYBRID BRAND MODEL
STRONG ENDORSEMENT & LINKED NAME

1. Maximises distance between mother brand and product brands. Useful

if large ‘stretch’ needed with mother brand

2. Connection may be needed as a symbol of stability and reassurance of

quality and credibility Or sometimes the result of acquisition policy – e.g.
Nestle

3. For ‘Linked name’ endorsement the strength of the connection to the

mother brand can be dialled up or down depending upon executional
factors (packaging cues) but also in the way the product brand name is
executed

4. But caution: this can become a largely self serving exercise people may
not recognise or be aware of the linkage
BRAND ARCHITECTURE CONTINUUM

Brand

House of Brands

Shadow No
Connection Connection

Weakening presence of mother brand

 STRONG CONNECTION

BRAND MOTHER
SHADOW / DORMANT ENDORSEMENT
BRAND
 “Standalone brands have their own equity and address
specific consumer groups in specific segments. Dove
addresses the more premium audience while Lux appeals
to the beauty seekers at a level below and they don’t
create any conflict..”

Arup R Pal
Head - Marketing, Communication & CSR Pacific Inter-link
Sdn Bhd
NO CONNECTION
“One of the advantages of a house of brands is that, as a
result of consumer ignorance, you can strategically
contradict yourself with relative impunity. How else would
it be possible for a firm such as Masterfoods to make one
of the leading brands of chocolate bar (Mars) and one of
the bestselling dog food brands (Pedigree Chum)?”

Mark Ritson
Founder - Mini MBA
HOUSE OF BRANDS MODEL
1. Manufacturer brand: Product dominant branding

2. More effort in building individual product brand equity

3. Allows maximum latitude for portfolio stretch, however with limited relationship
between the family this may have limited halo effect on the master brand. But at
times this may be desirable in managing risk to master brand for NPD

4. At times the role of the parent brand may be unclear, may appear more inward
looking/ shareholder reassurance than serving a valid role for consumers.

5. Maybe the result of an opportunist acquisition strategy

6. Can result in diverse unfocused portfolio strategy

7. Can result in unwieldy and unclear portfolios, no clear relationship between

brands, or at worst a contradictory relationship for brands with opposing values
 A true brand is a skein of truths; a brand architecture, if
sketched out carefully, helps a brand look inside out and
stay committed to its north star.

Monoj Chakraborty, Head of international markets

business General Mills, AMEA
END