Brand Architecture

Brand Architecture

• The branding strategy of the firm which

tells marketers which brand names,
logos, symbols apply to which new and
existing products.

• Umbrella, family or corporate branding

(branded house)

• Individual brands (house of brands)

 Brand Architecture – A Sample

Soap Face Hand Moisturiser Shampoo Deodorant

wash wash
Dove Y Y Y Y Y
Lifebuoy Y Y
Rexona Y Y
Pears Y Y Y
 The Role of Architecture

• Clarify - brand awareness

– Improve customer understanding and
communicate similarity and differences
between individual products

• Motivate - brand image

– Maximise transfer of equity to/from the
brand to individual products to improve
trial and repeat purchase
 Brand Product Matrix
Products

1 2 3 …..n

B
Brands Brand Product
C Relationship (brand line)
….

Product Brand Relationship

(product line)
 Terms
• Product line
– Set of products with similar function

• Brand Mix
– Set of all brands offered by a company
Brand Line

– Products within a brand (original + extensions)

– One row in the product matrix
– Says the number and nature of products in that
brand
– Brand line judged on the basis of
• How effectively the original brand transfers its brand
equity to other products in the brand line
• How much each product in the brand line contributes to
the brand’s equity
 Brand line / Product line – A
Sample

Soap Face Hand Moisturiser Shampoo Deodorant

wash wash
Dove Y Y Y Y Y
Lifebuoy Y Y
Rexona Y Y
Pears Y Y Y
 Brand Portfolio

– Brand portfolio is a set of all brands in a product

category – this can be targeted at various
segments
 Brand Extension
• Brand extension is when a company
uses one of its established brand names
on a new product or new product category

• Brand extension can help a company

reach new demographics, expand its
customer base, increase sales, and boost
overall profit margins.
Brand Extension
 Brand Consolidation
Usually happens during mergers and acquisitions.
Merging companies will decide which brand brands to
retain and which ones to eliminate among the brands
owned by the merging companies.

Advantages:
• Easier to manage brand portfolio
• Reduce duplicity and cannibalism
• Reduce complexity for the benefit of retailers
• Best choices for consumers
 Brand Consolidation example
• Colgate-Palmolive demonstrated what can be achieved when, in the
early 1990s, it consolidated its global brand portfolio, cutting the types
and sizes of its toothpastes, detergents, and other items by a quarter.

• The company saved almost $20 million a year, while strengthening its
market positions.

• Similarly, Procter & Gamble eliminated almost a quarter of the

varieties of its brands between 1991 and 1994.

• In the United States, P&G’s product roster is about a third shorter than
it was at the beginning of the decade.

• In hair care alone, the number of items has been almost halved, while
share has grown.
 Brand Hierarchy

Brand hierarchy is a graphical way of portraying a

firm’s branding strategy by displaying the
number and nature of common and distinctive
brand elements across the firm’s products.
Foundation
to create
brand
hierarchy
 Designing hierarchy and
strategy
Strategy involves decisions and principles relating to:

• Number of levels of hierarchy

• Desired brand awareness and image at each level -
relevance and differentiation
• Brand element combinations - prominence
• Brand element linkages - commonality
 Designing hierarchy and
strategy
1. Corporate dominance - Xerox name on all
products ; Federal Express

2. Brand dominance - Philip Morris makes no

connection with Marlboro; Jaguar – Tata Motors

3. Equal dominance - Hyundai Santro