Brand Architecture Toolkit: Designing the Portfolio for Success

July 2017

What is Brand Architecture?

Brand architecture expresses the hierarchy, linkages, and roles of brands within

the portfolio. It provides rules for naming assets in the brand portfolio and

specifies the relationships among them.

Brand StrategyStrategyBrand

ArchitectureArchitecture Brand ExpressionExpression

Audit/Discovery

Brand Vision & Narrative

Audience-specific Positionings

Message Map

Brand Expression Guidelines

Creative Brief

Experience Design

Communication Planning & Execution

Portfolio Structure

Naming Ground Rules& Conventions

Brand Value Assessment

Brand Health Assessment

Tracking

Brand ActivationActivationBrand

MeasurementMeasurement

Brand Architecture Development Process

Naming Rules

• What are the decision rules

regarding creation of new

brands?

• What are the criteria for keeping

or retiring existing and newly

acquired brand names?

Business Analysis• What brands are in the

portfolio?

• How closely aligned are the

brand and business

strategies?

• Where are the gaps and

overlaps?

Portfolio Structure &

Priorities• What is the purpose of

each brand?

• Which brands have equity?

• Which are important

sources of future growth?

• Which brands should be

prioritized for investment?

Key Questions Addressed by Stage

Developing a robust architecture that optimizes the brand portfolio and aligns with

business goals is a three-stage process.

Portfolio Structure Goals

• Bring focus and discipline to

future branding decisions

• Force greater collaboration

among teams

• Optimize brand development

and management costs

Efficiency

• Improve stakeholder

understanding of the

organization’s products and

services

• Clarify the impact that the

organization has

• Maximize relevance and

differentiation

Clarity

• Illuminate the organization’s

strategic commitment and

scope of services

• Unite products and services

into cohesive groups in support

of the organization’s objectives

Vision

The overall goal of portfolio design is to enable optimal decisions for driving

brand and business value and growth.

Takes an Outside-In Point of View

Brands are offerings that drive revenue or engage with customers to drive

revenue. They are business units or programs. That is why the optimal

structure may not line up neatly with internal organizational charts!

Corporate

Business

Unit

Business

Unit

Products Products

Brand Architecture Is

Externally Facing

Masterbrand

A

Brand BEndorsed by A

Sub-

Brand D

Sub-

Brand C

Ingredient or Feature

Organizational Structure is

Internally Facing

Brand Type Defines Architecture

1.6

Each portfolio brand asset is classified by type to clarify how it links it to

others. Understanding each brand’s type simplifies decisions about brand

expression

Corporate

Brand

Company name and legal entity. Often used as endorser but

may not be customer facing at all. Important to regulatory

bodies, investors, employees, trade groups, partners.

Master Brand

(Driver)

Drives purchase decision and defines user experience. Most

strongly represents the differentiation inherent to the offer.

Endorser

Brand

Provides approval, credibility or guarantee to a range of

products, but is usually not the driver.

Sub-Brand Derives equity from another brand, usually the Master.

Ingredient

Brand

Features, materials, components or parts that are contained

within other branded products. Not an equity driver, often an

equity energizer.

Endorser

Brand

Sub-

Brand

Master

Brand

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Ingredient

Brand

Types of Brands Example

“Sony” has multiple uses in its portfolio. Some Sony offerings stand alone.

Brand Type Determined by Business Need

Corporate Brand

Sub-BrandMaster Brands Stand-Alone Brands

Master Brand:

Allows equity to be shared

among brand assets when used

in either driver or endorser role.

Sub-Brand:

Leverages the strength of the

master brand while helping to

separate and organize the

offerings.

Stand-Alone Brand:

Separates offerings, creates

new sources of equity or

targets new audiences.

Linked Brands

Stand-Alone Brands

Not all portfolio brands are equally important, yet all compete for resources. Portfolio roles help guide decisions about innovation and investment.

Strategic

Purpose

Role Investment

Priority

Strategic Brand Significant contributor to company’s

future sales, perceptions or market

position.

Very High

Distinguisher

Brand

Enhances the differentiation of

another brand. Also referred to as

‘branded energizer’ or silver bullet.

High

Cash Cow Money making brand that does not

represent future significant growth.

Medium-Low

Fighter/Flanker

Brand

Addresses competitive threat by

protecting the share of other brands

in the portfolio.

Medium

Portfolio Role Informs Investment Priority

Brand Architecture Solution Types

Architecture solutions range from House of Brands to Branded House, with many

permutations. Each solution has pros and cons, and few companies have a “pure”

solution. Most are some type of hybrid.

House of Brands Hybrid Branded House

Cons

Builds equity in strong stand-

alone brands across a wide

range of categories. Limits

risk to overall reputation.

Requires significant

marketing investment

Results in strong master brand.

Maximizes spending efficiency

Can be difficult to extend beyond

the expertise of the master brand.

Leverages strong master brand

while allowing flexibility.

Requires planning to avoid

confusing customers or diluting

the master brand.

Pros

Linked Brands

Stand-Alone Brands

Guiding Principles.:

Fulfill customer needs (and

generate revenue) while

minimizing brand development

and management costs.

Cover the market and target

customer segments with the

fewest brands possible.

Make it easy for customers to

find the solution they seek by

ensuring “daylight” between

brand offerings.

Right

Number

Efficiency

Clear

Separation

Brand Architecture Solutions

Evaluating Architecture Options

Multiple criteria factor into evaluating brand architecture. Having more answers to

the left in the assessment tool below suggests a House of Brands approach may

be best.

Organization

Product/service brand equity

Marketing spend

Corporate brand equity

Competition

Competitive set

Stakeholders

Number

Customer needs

Cross-selling opportunities

Strong equity

Supports multiple brands

Low/negative equity

Fragmented

Many

Diverse

Low

Low/no equity

Supports few brands

Strong equity

Consolidated

Fewer

Singular

High

Branded HouseHouse of Brands

Architecture Assessment Framework

Signs of Trouble

▪ Architecture is company centric rather

than customer centric

▪ Recent merger or acquisition

▪ Too many brands and offerings are

competing for attention and investment

dollars

▪ The corporate brand and product brands

have the same name, hard to distinguish

▪ Brands are losing relevance with

customers

▪ Brand meaning has been diluted or

stretched beyond credibility and

effectiveness

Pruning the Portfolio

Many corporations generate 80% to 90% of their profits from fewer

than 20% of the brands they sell, while they lose money or barely

break even on many of the other brands in their portfolios.

Segment Approach Portfolio Approach

• Keep only those brands

that conform to certain

broad parameters

• Top down

• Sweeping reductions

• Identify the brands needed to

cater to all the consumer

segments in each market

• Bottom up

• Right size by category

The trend is toward fewer brands supported by the master brand. There are two general approaches to pruning.

Naming Rules & Conventions

The strength of the brand’s equity with its target customers informs decisions about naming.

Case Study: Architecture Design

• An inside-out view of the world: Focused on 13

chartered entities, are named for geography, but

not always indicative of where courses take place

• Too complex: 358 courses, and multiple,

specialized partnerships and programs for various

student populations

• Confusing: Similar courses with different names

• No Prioritization: Many initiatives vying for

resources

Outward Bound 2013: Key Architecture Issues

Key Architecture Issue: Not Customer-Centric

Outward Bound’s schools-based structure was confusing to parents and made

it hard to navigate the offerings, and leading them to give up too soon.

Activities were missing from

the high level Course Finder

Relying on search for navigation was

a missed opportunity to tell our story.

Some programs were

populations served,

others were not

Some schools were

locations, others were

not

Other Issues: No Naming Guidelines or Ground rules

17

Course features that are key

to the purchase decision

were buried, such as special

populations, certifications.

The organization lacked rules for naming of offerings, making it difficult for

parents to compare and evaluate them.

Course names did not follow any convention,

making it hard to distinguish programs, age

groups, populations, activities

Outward Bound Architecture Solution

Student age takes

priority over program

type

Parents usually search for

specific dates, so we made

this part of the architecture

More intuitive search tools

The recommendations prioritized student age, destination and travel dates, as

seen on the revised homepage.

1.19

Portfolio Structure: Key Takeaways

• Architecture aligns business and brand goals by defining

clear roles, relationships and investment priorities among

portfolio brands.

• A coherent brand architecture makes marketing more

efficient and effective by ensuring customers and other

stakeholders understand what the business can do for

them.

• House of Brands and Branded House are just two of

many possible architecture solutions. Most companies

used a hybrid approach.

• Brand architecture should be revisited to ensure

business needs are being addressed and that the brand

structure supports the business strategy.

Looking Ahead

.

Brand StrategyStrategy

Audit/Discovery

Brand Vision & Narrative

Audience-specific Positionings

Message Map

Brand Expression Guidelines

Creative Brief

Experience Design

Communication Planning & Execution

Portfolio Structure

Naming Ground Rules& Conventions

Brand Value Assessment

Brand Health Assessment

Tracking

Brand Development Process: Key Deliverables by Stage

Brand StrategyStrategy Brand ExpressionExpression Brand ActivationActivationBrand

MeasurementMeasurement

About Us

✓ Partners in insights-based brand

strategy consulting firm, Brand

Amplitude

✓ Work with range of B2B and B2C

clients to strengthen and develop

their brand assets

✓ Teach MBA and undergraduate

courses in Brand Strategy at

leading Business Schools and

develop and conduct marketing

training curricula for leading US

corporations Judy Hopelain

@judyhopelain

judy@brandamplitude.com

Carol Phillips

@carol_phillips

carol@brandamplitude.com

Contact Us