A strategic framework known as “Brand Architecture” arranges all of your products and services and decides how to brand—or not brand—them both visually and linguistically.
Like branding itself, brand architecture is a word that many small to medium enterprises find unclear. Similar to branding, most people are also unsure of if or when they should bother about it.
To be honest, most companies develop their brand architecture after they have shown some early success and consistent earnings. However, in certain circumstances, early-stage organizations define it from the beginning since it helped them maintain focus on the goal.
Definition of Brand Architecture
What precisely is brand architecture? A business could own multiple brands. The relationship and interactions between an organization’s brands are referred to as its “brand architecture.” The structure of brands inside a firm or their relationships with one another can be referred to as brand architecture in its broadest definition. It is also known as the way that a company’s brands stand out from one another.\
Examining the structure of a larger brand’s sub-sections can help marketers understand the overall picture. This is known as brand architecture. It assists them in making sure that no sub-brand communicates in a way that contradicts the main brand message. It also aids in their analysis of how the sub-brands can raise the overall value.
Why Would You Require It?
Small firms that launched themselves frequently wait until they have developed past their original brand and are prepared to enter new markets before realizing the importance of a Brand Architecture.
This frequently acts as the spark because their existing brand is ineffective and does not promote the growth. They might have the structure and resources to grow the brand without weakening, fragmenting, or disjointed it if they have first thought through their Brand Architecture.
In the same way that an architect helps build a clear foundation for a house, brand architects assist brands in making future plans. They make sure that everything looks well-organized and that the layout of your home makes sense.
The building specifications, which include dimensions, materials, layouts, and installation techniques, are defined in part by the architect. They take into account the demands and preferences of their clients today as well as future plans for potential extensions or modifications to an existing property.
Let us say, for instance, that you are building a house and know you might want to put a bathroom in a certain spot later on but do not now have the resources to do so. By informing the architect of this want, they can incorporate it into the design of your home, ensuring that the plumbing is arranged in a way that will make adding on later on comparatively simple.
However, what would happen if you did not let the architect know about this right away?
One of two things might happen: either the bathroom installation will not go as planned, or the cost of installing plumbing and other necessary features will go up.
Additionally, brand architecture makes sure that your company’s brands are arranged meaningfully, avoiding confusion and the mixing of marketing messages.
It can also be compared to a seating plan, where the positions of each guest are determined logically, taking into consideration their individual personalities and preventing any unwelcome drama.
After talking about what it is and why you need it, let us talk about four general brand architectural frameworks or rules that you can use as a guide to create your own.
Frameworks or Models for Brand Architecture:
- Endorsed Brand Architecture
- Freestanding Brand Architecture
- Monolithic Brand Architecture
- Hybrid Brand Architecture
- Monolithic
For small- to medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs, this is the most popular way to use a brand.
It is a branding system that frequently works in tandem with products and employs a primary or “Masterbrand” across all divisions and activities. Monolithic brands do not have subbrands, but they might identify a division or business vertical with terms that fall under the Masterbrand.
One of the best examples of brand architecture is FedEx. A monolithic brand architecture is used. Although everything is branded as FedEx, the Masterbrand has descriptors that indicate the various solutions offered by the FedEx brand.
- Endorsed
A Masterbrand and a number of subbrands that are “endorsed” by the Masterbrand name are included in the Endorsed kind of Brand Architecture. In this case, each brand may incorporate certain visual components of the Masterbrand itself while maintaining a distinctive appearance and feel. Through this application, the endorsed brand can build its own identity and capitalize on credibility.
Virgin is a great illustration of an endorsed brand structure that makes use of the Virgin name while also enabling the endorsed brand to function on its own.
- Freestanding
A Masterbrand functions as a “holding business” or the “parent brand” in the Freestanding Brand Architecture, but it has no control over the branding or aesthetics of the subbrands. This is called a “House of Brands” at times. This strategy is commonly employed in product-driven or business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing approaches. Every brand has its own distinct identity and is often managed independently.
A great illustration of the Freestanding Brand Architecture approach is Proctor & Gamble. Instead of purchasing Proctor & Gamble items directly, consumers are purchasing independently branded goods with distinct brand identities. It is possible that most consumers are unaware that the parent brand owns certain brands.
- Hybrid
A masterbrand functions as the “parent brand” in the hybrid brand architecture, but it does not control the branding or aesthetics of the sub-brands. It is comparable to the Freestanding Brand Architecture model or design in this sense.
Nonetheless, in certain instances, the Masterbrand’s identity and aesthetic are employed to bolster trust, drawing it closer to the Endorsed Brand Architecture model.
The word “Hybrid” is used because a corporation uses both Brand Architecture styles.
The Coca-Cola Company is among the best instances of brand architecture that exemplifies the Hybrid model. While certain businesses, especially those bought by the Coca-Cola Company, still have their own logo, they also maintain several brands that use the Coca-Cola brand’s branding. While more recent goods would profit from the parent company’s halo effect, it would make sense for an established brand to require the “endorsement” of the Coca-Cola brand.
A brand strategist can help you strategically examine your current brand structure and your future goals in order to help you create a brand architecture and subbrands (if appropriate) that will support you for years to come. Developing a brand architecture can seem like an overwhelming task.
