Brand Architecture

" As the pace of business quickens and the number of brands multiplies, it is customer, not companies, who decide which brands live and which brands die"
                                                                                        - Marty Neumeier (2007), Zag, Peachpit Press


1. Brand Extensions
 According to Serena Gossain (2011), brands are expanding gradually over the years of existence by creating Subbrands, Masterbrands, Superbrands, Megabrands and other brand extensions.

Sub Brand / Brand Siblings - a new subsidiary brand of a Parent Brand or a Corporate Brand in the brand system (For example Sony Playstation, or Taurus for Ford, or Accord for Honda)

Master Brand - historically used to be the dominant brand in the hierarchy and the only brand in the system. It is a specified overarching brand that attempts to create a strong association between company's products and the main brand image. (For example: Intel, which produces the following products Pentium, Centrino and Core Duo)

Parent Brand / Umbrella Brand / Family Brand - is a brand that is expanded into more than one category (For example Honda, Ford, or P&G)

Corporate Brand - always bearing the company name and is the highest in the hierarchy (For example: Ford, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Virgin, Kingfisher-a beer and an airline, Mitsubishi-a car, a bank, and a canned fish, etc.)



2. There are three main Brand Architecture Types:

• Monolithic / Stand alone brand - the single business identity. The organisation uses single name and visual system throughout (For example: Chanel, HSBC, Yamaha, Virgin, BMW, Harrods)

 

• Endorsed  - the multiple business identity. The organisation owns a variety of brands, each of which is endorsed by the group name or visual style (For example: Nestle, Banco Santander, Marriott)

• Branded / Free Standing Brand - the brand-based identity. The organisation owns a number of brands or companies that are unrelated to each other as well as to corporation. The organisation stays "invisible"to the consumer (For example: P&G, RBS, General Motors, LVMH, Pfizer)

3. House of Brands vs Branded House

	House of Brands	Branded House
Pros	+ Distinctive positioning for each brand + Dominating niche markets	+ Minimal investment in new entries + Brand leveraging by parenting brand
Contras	-Absence of economies of scale - Absence of brand leveraging for new entries	-Harder to target specific audiences - Bigger risk involved in case of failure of the main brand

Exercise:
Define a type of brand architecture for the following brands: Cadbury, Regents School, Fiat.

Cadbury - Branded House/Endorsed - many products reinforced by a parenting brand name
Regent's School - Stand alone brand - though various products are produced they are all under the same brand name, logo and identity
Fiat - House of Brands - as it holds the biggest stake in Ferrari (90%) and Chrysler (54%), it is considered to own the companies, however, these brands portray absolutely different images and do not intersect in the minds of consumers.  

Reference:
Ollins, W (2008) The Brand Handbook. pp.44-53. London: Thames & Hudson

Investopedia ULC (2011) "Masterbrand" [online] Available URL: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/masterbrand.asp#axzz1ffKvjQqj, Accessed on 8.11.2011

Riches, E (2009) "Comparison Test: 2010 Ford Taurus vs 2009 Honda Accord". Edmunds Inc. [online] Available URL: http://www.insideline.com/honda/accord/2009/comparison-test-2010-ford-taurus-vs-2009-honda-accord.html, Accessed on 8.11.2011