BLOGS & THOUGHTS

As sales grow, there are strategies that companies must implement to support branding, one of which is brand architecture. One aspect in the world of branding can make a company's brand look fresh and organized. If the company does not adopt this strategy as soon as the business grows, the brand identity may start to emerge and not match the company profile.

Brand Architecture 

Brand Architecture shows us how the sub-brands of a larger whole are organized, and how they all relate to each other. It can help a marketer see how to keep parts of a brand separate when needed, and also how to allow them to work together to boost one another in the marketplace.

No matter how many products or services you offer, think about how your target audience will recognize each of them. Brand architecture helps you define what that relationship is, and helps your brand stay organized internally. As business grows, brands will attract different audiences through diversified product lines or company acquisitions. Brand architecture can be used in this situation as a system that ensures that each brand message is addressed to the right audience.

Types of Brand Architecture

The Branded House
In the branded house, a parent brand—typically one with some clout—runs the show. All of the sub-brands are subordinate to the parent brand, and they usually will share a name with a qualifier to explain exactly what that sub-brand does. Branded house examples:

- FedEx — FedEx Services, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, etc.
- Google — Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, etc.
- Apple — iPhone, iMac, iPad, Macbook, etc.

The House of Brands
The house of brands is basically the opposite of the branded house. There’s a parent brand, but it’s not reflected in the sub-brands in an obvious or blatant way. In fact, often the parent brand is in the background, overshadowed by one or more of its sub-brands. You’ll see this brand architecture model more in situations where a holding company buys up subsidiaries—to most consumers, the parent is irrelevant compared to the individual products that it distributes. House of brands examples:

- Procter & Gamble (Oral-B, Pantene, Pampers, Olay)
- PepsiCo (Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Aquafina, and more)
- Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill)

The Endorsed Brand
An endorsed brand sort of meets in the middle of the other two brand architecture models. A parent brand does form an umbrella over a host of other related brands, and the related brands aren’t necessarily going to share a name with that parent like in the branded house. But in the endorsed brand model, the parent brand plays a much bigger role in the children’s lives than in the house of brands.

Endorsed brand examples:

- Marriot ( JW Marriott, Residence Inn Marriott, ExecuStay Marriott, etc)
- Nescafe by Nestle
- Sony Playstation

Hybrid Brands
A hybrid brand combines two or more branding structures and often occurs when companies acquire new brands and want to preserve the integrity of those brands. While the master brand may apply some of its brand architecture, it may preserve acquisitions’ fonts, colors, product names, or other branded qualities. Hybrid brand examples:
- Instagram & Whatsapp  (acquired by Facebook)
- Waze (acquired by Google in 2013)

Why is Brand Architecture Important?

Brand architecture helps you discover your brand identity, development & design, and increases flexibility for future product or service expansions. From a messaging and communication point of view, an organized brand architecture can help you reach the target market for any product or service you offer.

Brand architecture helps you work more efficiently, identify opportunities for growth and cross-promotion, and ensures your messaging is consistent as you grow. But before you can take a deep dive into your branding, you have to get organized.

Kreatiklan's team can guide you to the right steps in your branding activities to achieve the results you want with your customers. Consider yourself to get the right branding strategy by contacting us info@kreatiklan.com or simply hit (+62) 87-780-561-569.