PBL Trigger 3

Brand architecture and brand strategy

Questions:

1. Compare the brand strategies and architectures of different companies. How and why are they different?

2. What brand architecture models do companies you know use?

3. Which brand architectures are good for different products and services?

4. Analyse the brand strategy and architecture of a chosen company.

Introduction: Define brand architecture and brand strategy

Brand architecture: 

The brand architecture is a system which allows the organization of brands, products and services in order to help an audience access and relate to a brand. The architecture should define the hierarchies within an organisation.

This is the structure within an organizational entity. It is in the way in which the brands within a company's portfolio are related to, and differentiated from another. Brand architecture is also an important Brand strategy tool that studies and defines the relationship of parent brand with its children brands.

In other words, it's "How the corporate brand and sub-brands are related and supported each other?"

Brand strategy:

This is the long-term marketing support for a brand, based on the definition of the characteristics of the target consumers. It includes understanding of their preferences, and expectations from the brand.

A brand strategy is a plan used by a company to create a particular image of itself in the minds of the consumers.

The brand strategy defines positioning, differentiation, competitive advantage. That's illustrate who you are and what you do.

Components of a brand strategy:

What does your product or service do?

Who is your product's target audience?

What is your brand's image?

How do you wan your brand to make people feel?

Where and when are people likely encounter your brand?

Why should people choose your brand over a competitor?

- What kind of brand structures are there?

Monolithic:

For this one, there is just one single brand where everything is the same: just one name.

Endorsed/branded house:

There is the parent brand which is closely always associated with the "child" brand. The names of the sub-brands are attached to its parent brand. 

So, there will have similarity with the logo, packaging, communication etc.

There is a marketing synergy between product and service.

House of brand/Free standing:

The parent brand just manage the various sub-brands which are unique brand.

There is a separate corporate identity from brands so brands have names and proper personality.

Hybrid architecture:

This is a mix between all the architectures. In this case, the company takes benefits of all the others models to make its proper architecture of its brand. All type of relationship can coexist. 

- What is the role of a parent brand in a company's portfolio?

A parent company is a company that controls other, smaller businesses. The parent company has significant ownership over a subsidiary or group of subsidiaries.

The parent brand is the identity of the company's portfolio. So this parent brand as an identity have different role:

- Inspires confiance

- Provides ROI

- Avoids misrepresentation

- Create brand awareness

1. Compare the brand strategies and architectures of different companies. How and why are they different?

Coca-cola brand strategy:

All coke trademarks brands will be united in one global creative campaign. They want to extend the equity with this strategy. They want one design only for all there products.

Coca-cola brand architecture:

Coca Cola brand has an hybrid architecture. They have their proper "brand" with the "bottle of Coca-Cola" but they also have different other drink in sub-brands: Fanta, for example, is the well-know brand which belongs to Coca-cola.

P&G brand strategy:

P&G brand architecture:

House of brand. They don't have their proper brand but just sub-brand. For example: Oral B, Braun...

2. What brand architecture models do companies you know use?

Company Amazon and Volkswagen : Hybrid architecture

P&G company: House of brand, free standing company

FedEx company: Monolithic company

- Do they have any examples of significant progress in the brand architecture throughout the years?

Example of evolution of brand: "From many to one brand"

- Example of Coca Cola: "One brand" marketing strategy in 2015

They wanted all they brands to have a single unified positioning. 

- Example of SAP brands: they would have a corporate brand endorsement

3. Which brand architectures are good for different products and services?

For house of brands: 

- Focus on specific markets

- When you want to focus on a specific product or market

For endorsed brands/sub-brands:

- Faster market penetration

- Quality

- Highly visible parent brand

- Credibility

- Convenient when you want to extend your main brand to new targe audiences or when attempting to enrich the master brand with new associations.

- Also a good strategy when you have limited marketing budget

- Effective when reputation risk related to different products is low

For branded house:

- Increase brand equity

- When the products are in the same category or offer a similar set of benefits

- Brand clarity

"The brand architecture will depend of numerous factors: audience diversity, brand elasticity, competitive context, brand equities, geographic need, ownership, sources of growth, purchase criteria, brand performance, brand role, channels, company specific issues..."

Source: http://lisamerriam.com/brand-architecture-strategic-considerations/

4. Analyse the brand strategy and architecture of a chosen company.

Brand architecture of Unilever: House of brand

- Many varied products

- Marketed under separate brands, own identities

Brand strategy of Unilever: 

Unilever has a brand strategy "product". The brand affect to a product an exclusive name and an exclusive positionnement. In this way, the brand can have a complete range of product on shops.

They also have a strategy of "Brand focus": a portfolio of approximately 40 "Mega brands" called "Core brands". These brands are: Knorr, Lipton, Skip, Magnum... These brands produce a lot of profit for the Unilever brand.

- In what way have they harmonized their portfolio with different brands or in different countries?

In Unilever, we can distinguish 3 brands categories:

- International brands like Lipton, Dove, Magnum...

- Brand with international positioning: the same product will have a different brand according to the country where the product is

- Local brand

SOURCES:

http://www.gravitygroup.com/blog/what-is-brand-architecture/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_architecture

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-strategy.html

http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-brand-strategy-definition-examples-development.html

https://yellowfishes.com/blog/types-of-brand-architecture

https://brandstruck.co/blog-post/brand-architecture-part-1-difference-branded-house-house-brands/

http://blandine.mazurier.free.fr/fonctionnelle.htm

http://www.brandquarterly.com/brand-evolution-many-one

http://equibrandconsulting.com/services/brand-consultant/brand-architecture/examples

http://www.agencyinc.co.uk/corporate-branding-important-business/

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/taste-the-feeling-launch