Brand strategies

Brand Strategies and Brand Architecture

What are different brand architecture strategies?

Brand Architecture is the structure of brands within an organizational entity. It is the integrated process of brand building through establishing brand relationships among branding options in the competitive market. It defines the number and roles a company uses for its range of products and the target groups or target markets it serves.
The key to brand strategy is a companys brand architecture, which sets the foundation for all the other components of the brand. There are five brand architecture strategies representing ideal types of brand architecture: Corporate brand, Endorsed Brands (P- Branding, T-Branding, PT- branding) subbranding and branded house. ( See Figure 1)

In Figure 2 you can see what kind of brand Architecture to chose for a successful integration of a product in the existing market. For launching a new product you can chose between (2) New Brand (3)Standalone, (4) New Brand endorsed and Line Extension. If you want to refer to the existing and successful brand it is called (1) Corporate Brand under the name that defines the company.

 

 Brand Architecture Models in relation to the status of th product (existing/new)

Examples for a Branding Spectrum 

 

Five step Process for a Brand Architecture:

1. Start by listing each of your product/ service features
2. Focus on the benefits
3. Review each feature and benefit individually, determine its level of importance to the market: put them into 3 categories: Expected/ Adds value/ will buy
4. Rank the features and benefits
5. Determine the importance of the features and benefits

The purpose of Brand Architecture:

• What the overarching branding approach is – master brand, brand/sub-brand, endorsed brand, stand alone brands, including  or some combination of these
• How many levels of branding
• What types of brands exist at each level
• How brands at different levels relate to each other
• Decision rules for creating new brands
• Which brands’ identities are dominant/ recessive
• What types of names the organization uses
• Which brands are features in each and every media, vehicle, situation and circumstance

When and why to use different brand architecture models? 

There are 3 different types of brand  architecture concerning the 3key levels of branding.


1. Corporate Brand, umbrella brand, family brand 

Umbrella brands or Corporate Brands are brand names that are utilized by a range of different but related products. Sometimes referred to as family branding.An umbrella branding strategy, is a marketing practice that involves marketing many related products under a single brand name. As a result it involves creating huge brand equity for a single brand. This kind of branding is mainly used for FMCG products (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods).
Basic idea: The company has a line of very similar products and any product that carries the brand name is produced by the same quality standards.

Using a company brand means that you want to refer to the existing strong brand, especially those new to the market.
Examples: Kraft, Coca Cola, Kellogg's, MARS, Unilever (...)



2. Endorsed brands/ sub-brands

These Brandnames always include a family brand/ umbrella brand/ corporate brand or an individual product brand. The consumer should refer the product to the sub-brand and so mybe have a connection to a product which the consumer may know and already trust. For Sub-branding there are some factors common to all the brands in term of: Messaging; Color palette; Typography; Photography; Structure and Style

Examples: Nestle KitKat, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Sony Playstation, Polo by Polo Ralph Lauren



 

 3. Individual product brand


Individual brand product means each product has its own brand, different from every other product in the same product family or from the same firm. Those brand names are newly created and usually not related to any existing names. Reasons therefore are giving the brand an individual character and a unique brand identity, image and positioning. Also, if one brand fails in the market or is perceived to be of low quality, it does not have a ripple effect on the other product categories.

Sources:

 http://www.marketingmo.com/strategic-planning/how-to-develop-your-brand-architecture/
https://www.google.fi/search?q=umbrella+brand+nivea&source=lnms&tbm=isch&https://www.google.fi/search?q=subbrands&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi549jvyKTLAhUDDZoKHe_aBG4Q_AUIBygB&biw=1280&bih=611#imgrc=tKdVAaxjdzg7_M%3Asa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjPrKrswqTLAhVoDJoKHU0tDLoQ_AUIBygB&biw=618&bih=578#imgrc=fGkYgjHEMZVluM%3A
http://de.slideshare.net/nitishpande5/umbrella-branding
 https://www.google.fi/search?q=polo+by+polo+ralph+lauren&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6jcXOyKTLAhXCKJoKHcxSCzAQ_AUIBygB&biw=1280&bih=611#tbm=isch&q=polo+by+polo+ralph+lauren+brand&imgrc=C774js7PDoIyfM%3A
 https://www.google.fi/search?q=sub+brand+nestle+kitkat&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKo_GDyKTLAhWoK5oKHeu2CHMQ_AUIBygB&biw=1280&bih=611#tbm=isch&q=nestle+kitkat+brand&imgrc=cA7PnVmfkHN3fM%3A