Brand architecture is the structure of brands within a company and how they relate to each other. It defines hierarchies and how sub-brands support or detract from corporate brands. Brand architecture should be fluid to leverage maximum value as markets change rapidly. There are different types of architectures including monolithic, endorsed, and branded. Developing an effective brand architecture is a process that involves auditing brands, defining brand essences, considering strategic fit, and engaging designers to create visual expressions. An important role is the brand architect, who bridges strategy and expression by providing innovative brand solutions.

1. BRAND ARCHITECTURE
 What is Brand Architecture?
Brand Architecture is the structure of brands within and organisational identity.
It is the way in which the brands in a company portfolio are related to – or differentiated from –
one another. The architecture should define the hierarchies within an organisation: how the
‘parent’ or corporate brand works in synergy with the sub-brands; how they support or detract
from one another; how the sub-brands reflect or strengthen the strategic objectives of the
corporate brand to which they belong
Brand architecture has long been regarded as a static fixture, clearly categorised, with fairly low
priority given to proactive management despite the fact that the brand architecture of most
organisations is always a legacy of past and present, and can often provide an opportunity for
significant value creation if managed properly. In addition to this, organisations today navigate
far greater complexity in rapidly changing markets; because of this, brand architecture should be
fluid and reactive in order to continually leverage maximum value.
 Types of Brand Architecture:
Monolithic
Single master brand which everything is unified
One name – one visual system
Features/benefits of product or service are less important than brand promise
Client trusts the brand
Brand extensions built by descriptors
Endorsed
Marketing synergy between product and service name and the parent
Product and service has a clear market presence; benefits from parent association
Parent endorses the product/service

2. Branded
Found in FMCG companies
Separate corporate identity from brands
Brands have names, lifecycles, personalities of their own
Often compete with each other
Hybrid
Combination of all three – monolithic, branded and endorsed
Occur through M&As
Preserve the goodwill associated with the acquisition
 Which Architecture matches your desired attributes?
Factors to be Considered:
- Reflects business strategy
- Simple structure
- Designed around client needs
- Flexible
- Consistent with values
- Reflects brand value synergies
 The process to develop your brand strategy and architecture
Developing the brand:
What are we? What are our competitive strengths? What are our deep capabilities that are
sustainable? What founding characteristics need to endure? What are we proud of and
proud to be?
What do we do? What are our key services? What future services will we offer?
How do we do it? What skills, approach do we have? How do we work these to our
competitive advantage?

3. Who are we? What’s our personality, our values? What has made us who we are today? What
do we do or need to do to deliver?
Why do we do it? What’s our cause, purpose, mission? What do you like about coming to this
place?
FOCUS  CREATE  ENGAGE  SUSTAIN
Brand Strategy and Group Brand Design Enthusiastic and
Brand Audit and
Service Brand and Service Brand Committed
Discovery
Strategies Design Leadership
Create a Project, Implementation of
Brand architecture
elevate as Mission Brand Essence. new identity –
and Market offerings
critical. internal and external
Development of
Stakeholder Systems and
visual expression,
Brand audit of key consensus on processes
across core
collateral. brand architecture, for maintaining
applications
values, brand essence. standards
and communications
Review and assess
values, brand essence,
Brand brief. Test/feedback
and competitive
strengths.
Guidelines and
standards
Making this happen – focus
Determine project name –Communicate. Establish communication channel for awareness,
involvement and accountability
Undertake brand audit – gather and assess collateral
Develop brand essence – workshop and get consensus
Consider architecture direction – leadership to determine in light of strategy
Engage a designer – experienced, capacity and quick understanding
Determine collateral – business critical; a unique & defining application

4.  The Brand Architect
Bridge between Strategy and Expression–
New opportunities for brand expression have created a demand for a new breed of
creativeconsultant who is not limited by role definitions. These creative consultants, called
brandarchitects, cross the boundaries of traditional disciplines to provide innovative and
cohesivebrand solutions in a variety of mediums.
Business leaders are accustomed to relying on specialists to further theirbusiness plans. MBAs,
CPAs, marketers and advertising agencies have beenregular fixtures in the development of
products and services. But our worldhas changed. Competition is fierce. There are too many
brands and brandmessages out there. Market dynamics are often too volatile for even the
mostvisionary business plan. Even having a great product is no longer a guaranteeof consumer
awareness and increased market share. The new wild card is brand recognition.
 Brand Architecture – succeeding in the marketplace even with complex
portfolios
Typically, problems such as those described above are rendered more complex by the fact that
they usually occur at one and the same time. The relationship between the group and the
product brands often needs to be redefined while simultaneously restoring order to a system of
parallel or competing brands. Whatever the case, decisions will need to consider the following
aspects: what product range needs to be joined with which corporate activity so that they can
mutually reinforce one another in the marketplace? Which activities need to be clearly separated
in order to achieve maximum impact?
Joining and separating – usually both are needed to create a sustainable structure for complex
company portfolios. The Brand Architecture method allows these highly sensitive issues to be
moved from the superficial branding level (name, logo, colors) to a much deeper level. All the
strategic and operational implications of brand-related decisions are analyzed and presented in
a way that makes it clear to management the consequences or undesirable effects their decisions
will produce.
In complex multi-brand systems, the market power of the individual brands and synergy effects
are structurally opposing forces. With the instruments provided by the Brand Architecture,
these two parameters can be optimized even in difficult cases (e.g. mergers and acquisitions). To
achieve this, the process of joining and separating brands must be carried out consistently
throughout the entire value-added chain –from R & D to production, from marketing to sales,
and even to distribution channels.

5. In those areas where individual brands are to operate independently, they are allowed to lead
their separate existences. The group brand, on the other hand, will be used in those cases where
it is felt that it can create a stronger impact.
The Brand Architecture method can also be used to determine whether, in a multibrand system,
a joint sales force will create a greater benefit – or whether the impact will be stronger if the
brands are handled by separate sales forces. Here it is important to carry out a detailed analysis
of the relationship between the company and the brands on the one hand, and its distribution
partners on the other. Armed with theseresults, the sales force will be able to make the most of
this relationship to create the maximum impact.
What should be done with the secondary brand which has a lower price positioning?
Clearly, it is a matter of the utmost importance that the main brand is not cannibalized. However,
there is no easy solution. Each case needs to be treated individually and all the relevant
parameters must be taken into account. Secondary brands that can only survive through cross-
subsidization must be evaluated in terms of their economic viability.
If a company has already established a well-organized brand structure, another problem
affecting the brand architecture may arise, namely how to present the product ranges under
each of the brands. Each brand portfolio must fulfill two conditions. First, there has to be a
connection between the product offerings and the established brand. The reason is that
customers store all their positive experiences under the name and symbols of the brand.
Secondly, the individual products need to be sufficiently differentiated from one another. This
way customers can perceive how broad a range the brand is capable of covering. If these
conditions are met, the brand will achieve maximum competitive strength over its entire
product range.
When the brand portfolio is headed by a group brand, the Brand Architecture method has to
address another issue. In communications with sales markets, the group may need to remain
entirely invisible or to display its connection with the brand. In the latter case, it is important to
determine how prominent that link must be.
Certainly, one of the main tasks of any group brand is to impress the financial markets. Unlike
sales markets, where the existence of individual, unconnected brands will not necessarily have a
negative effect on the relationship with customers and retailers, financial markets need to see
evidence that a group has successfully integrated its brands into a strong portfolio.

6.  The Instruments of the Brand Architecture
The Brand Architecture method provides a set of instruments which puts the companyname, as
well as its brands and symbols, on to a secure and economically viable basis.
Management gets all the information it needs to make decision-making both reliableand
transparent:
The Brand Architecture establishes the correlation between the competitivestrength of the
brands that has been built up over time, and the company’s currentpolicies and plans.
The very first task is to decide which names and symbols are connected with the energy that
the brand has developed over its history. These represent significant corporate assets and,
within a complex portfolio, provide the framework for the Brand Architecture.
All the relevant options for the future brand structure will be worked out in detail and
analyzed from a strategic and operational perspective.
The Institut für Markentechnik systematically evaluates all the advantages and
disadvantages of the different options and compares them objectively.
Should it prove necessary to give up established names, a migration process will be
developed for transferring the brand energy.
Implementation strategies are designed to ensure that the new brand structure can be
realized in day-to-day business.
Each new activity (at the company, brand or product level) will have its logical place in the
brand structure and can therefore be integrated according to objective criteria at any future
point in time – this enables management to manage and control the brand portfolio in a
sustainable manner.
 How to develop Brand Architecture
Branding is a bit of a mystery for many small to mid-market (SMB) companies. There are many
opinions and methods as to how best approach it.
Top creative agencies have their own “proprietary” methods for crafting brand strategies. They
have to, in order to position themselves against competing agencies. They use cool-looking
graphics: circles, triangles, and flow charts to illustrate attributes, values, personality traits, and
promises.
Many SMB companies never bother to craft a brand strategy, instead allowing the market to
brand them, for better or worse. Deep down, SMB marketers know they should be putting more
effort into branding, but many don’t know where to start.
The good news is, if you were to break down most agencies’ proprietary branding methods,
you’d find many similarities.

7. If you’re one of the 90% of companies that don’t have the budget to hire top agency talent for
your branding, don’t worry; with a little elbow grease and a good plan you can create your own
brand strategy. Solving the branding black box just takes a little learning and a strong
commitment.
Brand Architecture is Your Brand Strategy Foundation
The key to your entire brand strategy is your brand architecture. Your brand architecture sets
the foundation for all the other components of your brand, and aligns your brand personality
traits, your means, your promise, your story, and your visual and operational requirements into
a single unified structure.
Brands play on our emotions, so your brand architecture should uncover the specific emotions
around which you might build your brand.
To create your brand architecture, follow this five step process:
1. Start by listing each of your product/service features.Then, list the benefits of each.
A feature is an element of what something does or what it is. For example, a car’s features
may include a ski rack and an upgraded stereo system.
A benefit is a positive result that the feature delivers.
2. Now focus on the benefits. For each one, determine whether it’s functional or
emotional.
A functional benefit is directly related to the functionality of the feature. Example: An
upgraded stereo provides higher-quality sound.
An emotional benefit is one that evokes a feeling or emotion. Example: An upgraded stereo
might make the user feel like a rock star.
3. Next, review each feature and benefit individually, and determine its level of
importance to the market. Assign each to one of three categories:
Expected: These are basic and expected; a customer won’t buy without these features or
benefits. Every product/service in this category must offer these features.
Adds value: Not expected, but most customers probably won’t purchase based on this
factor alone. Nevertheless, it helps differentiate your product/service from those of your
competitors.
Will buy: Customers will choose you over your competitors based on this feature/benefit
alone – it’s just that valuable

8. 4. Now, rank your features and benefits. Brands play on our emotions—even B2B brands.
The strongest brands are built around emotional benefits. Use this ranking system:
Features that are expected = 1
Features that add value = 2
Features that will buy = 3
Functional benefits that are expected = 4
Functional benefits that add value = 5
Functional benefits that will buy = 6
Emotional benefits that are expected = 7
Emotional benefits that add value = 8
Emotional benefits that will buy = 9
5. Few brand architectures are built around features, but by including them in the
rankings, we emphasize the importance of focusing on benefits and, more specifically,
emotional benefits that cause people to desire your offering on a visceral level. The final
step is to identify the emotional benefits that will become the core of your brand strategy.
Typically, you should focus on the highest rankings for the architecture of your brand.
Evaluate all of those with a ranking of 6 or higher. You might decide to include a few
functional benefits with the emotional benefits.
Carefully consider the functional or emotional benefits you select for your brand
architecture. You’ll spend a lot of resources to convey these to the marketplace, so test
them amongst your team and your market if you’re unsure.
After you’ve decided on your brand architecture, you can begin thinking about the other
components of your brand strategy: your brand personality traits, your means, your promise,
your story, and your visual and operational requirements.
 Market Penetration
1. Existing Markets, Existing Products
For many companies, the first place to look for more sales is amongst existing customers.

9. Current customers have already made the ultimate gesture of approval and paid money to buy
your products. A bit more persuasion and they may buy more.
However, how many companies know their customer so well that they know if they have every
available piece of business? Ask yourself the following questions:
How much is each customer buying of the products (or services) I sell to them?
What share do my competitors and I have of each customer's account?
What does the customer think of me against the other suppliers it could or does use?
What would make each customer buy more?
There is only one way to ensure that a company’s customer value proposition (CVP) appeals to
the target audience and differentiates that company from the competition and that is through
fully understanding market needs. B2B International can help you better understand the needs
and perceptions of your customers with regards to your products and services. Through
detailed analysis we can give you a clearer indication of where emphasis needs to be placed to
deliver customer value and achieve greater customer loyalty.
2. New Markets, Existing Products
Every company has a product that can travel. It can travel to new geographical markets or to
new industry segments that have not been tapped before. New markets, wherever they are –
new countries or new segments – carry risk.
B2B International specialises in collecting information on potential customers and markets
wherever they are in the world. With this knowledge, a company can build growth and value
more quickly and more securely than by relying on guesswork.
In the last few years, and due to the lure of one of the biggest potential marketplaces in the
world, B2B International has carried out numerous projects within China for public and private
sector organisations. We have conducted Chinese market entry studies for publishing
companies, paper manufacturers, textile companies, chemical companies, oil companies, IT
companies and even financial institutions. In each of these cases, our job has been to identify
whether an opportunity exists, define the nature of this opportunity and devise strategic and
tactical market entry recommendations.
Of course, we have also helped clients enter different geographies outside of China and Asia
Pacific, from the US and Canada through to Western Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Netherlands), Eastern Europe & CIS (Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Ukraine), Africa and South
America.