Brand Organizing

Axle Davids CEO | Kalan Vuksanovich Creative Lead
How to Organize Your Brands
Brand Architecture Distilled

2
©2O19 DISTILITY COPYRIGHT HOLDER IS LICENSING THIS UNDER THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE, ATTRIBUTION 3.0
This eBook aims to make brand
architecture, the structuring of
brands, easier to understand.
Keep in mind, real world brand architecture can get complex
quickly. Before diving into a brand architecture project, please
consider hiring an expert. We hope you enjoy How to Organize
Your Brands.

©2O19 DISTILITY COPYRIGHT HOLDER IS LICENSING THIS UNDER THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE, ATTRIBUTION 3.0 3
Axle Davids is the founder of Distility.
He has over 20 years of experience building
and marketing brands. He created Distility
in 2005 to make the branding process
smoother and faster for industry innovators.
For each project, Axle leads brand and
business strategy development. He makes
sure every client has the clarity they need
to launch their brand with confidence –
and with their whole team on board.
Before he went rogue, Axle worked as a
creative director for some of Canada’s
pioneering digital firms, overseeing more
than 150 interactive design projects for high-
profile brands like Lands’ End, Cosmopolitan,
Disney and Apple. Whether you’re a global
enterprise or a fresh-faced startup, he brings
your company into sharp focus.
If you would like to discuss your brand
architecture with Axle, please contact our
managing director, Laura van Wyngaarden,
at 416 417 7777 x1 to set up a meeting.
About the Author
See how Distility gets branding done
Learn more about Axle and his team at distility.com

WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE?
Architecture is the planned designed of a
system. It can apply to a building, a piece of
software, a flow of information or an object.
WHAT IS BRAND ARCHITECTURE?
Brand architecture is the planned design of
your branded offers. It is the structure that
determines how they coexist.
It is not the same thing as your brand
strategy or systems. It isn’t a visual
guideline. It isn’t the outline of a story.
Brand architecture is a high-level
schematic that helps you build and scale
one brand, or multiple brands. And if you
have multiple brands, brand architecture
defines whether they are like parent and
child, siblings or strangers.
IT STARTS WITH NAMING
Brand architecture determines how
products, services and divisions are
named. It also shapes the visual identities
of branded offers.
For the purpose of this ebook, we will focus
mainly on brand architecture and naming.
Getting Started

House of Brands or Branded House?
Brand architecture is commonly thought of as a choice
between a house of brands or a branded house.
But your options are not so simple...
FEDEX
Branded house
NABISCO
House of brands

Whether it’s a branded house or a house of brands, there are
several, more specific models to choose from.
MASTERBRAND
One Parent Brand
FREESTANDING BRANDS
Strangers
SUB-BRAND
Parent + Children
HYBRID BRAND
Take Your Pick
ENDORSER BRAND
Siblings
*
*
* * *
Your Options

Your Options
MASTERBRAND
One Parent Brand
FedEx
FedEx Office
FedEx Express
FedEx Freight
Ford
Ford Mustang
Ford F-Series
Ford Escape
Nabisco
Ritz
Oreos
Chips Ahoy!
Viacom
MTV
VH1
Comedy Central
Microsoft
Windows
Minecraft
Xbox
Trademark
+
Descriptor
Trademark
+
Trademark
Trademark
by
Trademark
Trademark Mixed
Architectures
FREESTANDING
BRANDS
Strangers
SUB-BRAND
Parent + Children
HYBRID BRAND
Take Your Pick
ENDORSER BRAND
Siblings
*
*
* * *

Why You Should Care
GET A CLEAR SYSTEM
Brand architecture gives you a
clear system for introducing and
maintaining trademarks.
If your brand architecture is unclear,
you will likely suffer from one or more
of the following:
LOW BRAND AWARENESS
This is the biggest pain for a lot of firms.
It’s why the majority of our clients come to
us. Here, overemphasized product brands
dilute the parent brand.
OVER-BRANDING EXPENSE
Many organizations over-brand. They pay
for new trademarks and logos out of habit,
even when a simpler brand architecture
would have superior marketing impact.
CLUTTERED ADVERTISING
Too many brand logos in one ad demand
more attention than most prospects are
willing to give. This can make a marketer
look unsophisticated or even amateur.
CUSTOMER CONFUSION
Another common pitfall is seen when
a company launches a new brand that
conflicts with its existing brands. This is a
surefire way to confuse loyal customers.
Unclear architecture can also lead to:
• Product naming confusion
• Cannibalization of sales
• Unexpected trademark conflicts

9
*
*
* * *
Masterbrand

What is a Masterbrand?
The masterbrand architecture
features one single brand. A firm
using this architecture may have
hundreds of products and services,
but there is only one brand.
That is to say, there is a firm-wide
brand promise, position, personality,
tone of voice and visual identity.
All individual products and services
roll up into this brand system. It is
a branded house in its purest form.

NAMING
This masterbrand uses descriptive, non-
trademarked names for all products and
services. These names use plain, descriptive
language. They aren’t unique enough to be
considered trademarkable.
DESIGN
With only one name, there is typically
only one logo. However, design can be used
to differentiate products, services and
divisions, as seen in these example from
FedEx and Google.
DIFFERS FROM SUB-BRANDS
As you will soon see, this is very different
from the sub-brand architecture, where
every new offer can have a unique
trademark, tagline, tone of voice and
visual identity.
FEDEX GOOGLE
FedEx uses descriptive names and
differentiates between divisions using colour.
Google relies on descriptive naming for the
majority of its homegrown products and services.
It uses icons to differentiate them and create
visual interest.

GAIN MAXIMUM BRAND
AWARENESS
By focusing brand marketing on a single
brand strategy and brand image.
MAKE OFFERS EASY TO GROK
Your products and services are offered
using descriptive names which make it
easier for your customer to understand
your solution.
LOWER BRAND MARKETING COSTS
By using descriptive names, the need to
trademark offerings is eliminated, along
with the creative costs for separate and
distinct logos, imagery and the like.
WHY AVOID A MASTERBRAND?
A masterbrand brand architecture isn’t
going to work if your products and services
don’t naturally fit together – or if they
compete. This can occur if:
• Your offers don’t fit together
under one brand promise, personality
and position
• Your audiences need distinct stylistic
differences between your products
Masterbrand fail
A masterbrand could backfire for an upscale brand that
introduced a low-budget product line. Customers would
get confused. “Is this a luxury or budget brand?” they
would wonder. Confusing your customers is bad for
your brand and even worse for your business.

13
Sub-Brand

What is a Sub-Brand?
The sub-brand architecture
features an overarching parent
brand and separate unique,
trademarked sub-brands beneath it.
Each of these sub-brands may have
a distinct brand promise, position
and personality. They could even go
so far as to have their own brand
voices and visual identities.

NAMING
Sub-brands are useful when appealing to
different target audiences. They allow for
equally different product styles. You see
them all the time in automotive, athletic
and electronics branding.
DESIGN
With multiple brand names, there often
comes the need for multiple logos, designs
and brand experiences. Ford, for example,
creates distinct logos for its sub-brands.
EXAMPLE
While this is the default decision for
most marketers, it need not be. Just look
at Apple. Popular Apple sub-brands have
different names. But they use the same
simple colours and fonts to tie into and
reinforce the parent brand.
FORD APPLE
Ford benefits from its economy sub-brands
like the Fiesta ($14,000) as well as its upscale
sub-brands like the Expedition ($52,000).
Popular Apple sub-brands like iPhone, iPad
and MacBook may have different names,
but they share the exact same logo style.

EXPLOIT UNIQUE
PRODUCT DESIGNS
Sub-brands have unique names, logos and
experiences that can embody the unique
style of the product. For example, a firm like
Adidas may sell marathon running shoes,
along with more fashion forward footwear.
The marathon shoes can be branded to
embody the spirit of endurance, while the
more style-savvy products can embody the
spirit of a designer or a celebrity.
POSITION TO
DIFFERENT AUDIENCES
Sub-brands help you market to separate
audiences that have different – but not
conflicting – needs: moms looking for
minivans vs. men looking for trucks, in the
case of a firm like Ford.
PARENT BRAND HALO EFFECT
Sub-brands get to be unique, while
benefiting from the reputation of their
parent brand.
WHY AVOID SUB-BRANDS?
A sub-brand architecture isn’t appropriate
if your offers conflict. This is why Unilever
does not attach its name to brands like
Dove or Axe in marketing; Dove is marketed
to women with a message of natural beauty.
Axe targets young men with a promise of
sex and supermodels. Avoid a sub-brand
model if:
• Your offers have drastically different
primary audiences that don’t want
to be associated with one another
• One masterbrand would work just fine
Sub-brand fail
A sub-brand approach could backfire for a
health food brand that introduced a new,
sugary soft drink. Launching a product
like this under the same parent brand
would damage both sub-brands. Each
audience – health food and cola fans alike –
would be alienated.

17
7
Endorser Brand

What is an Endorser Brand?
An endorser brand architecture
is made up of distinct product
brands, which are linked
together by a background
parent brand.
In this scenario, all product
brands have a unique promise,
position and personality. They
have their own logos, colours
and slogans.

NAMING
Endorser brands have individually
trademarked names for their offerings.
DESIGN
The offerings – that is to say, the endorsed
brands – feature their own distinct logos
and visuals. This may sound like sub-
branding, but it isn’t. Here, the parent
brand’s logo is dramatically smaller. It takes
a back seat to focus attention on products
and services.
However, the parent brand is still
noticeable enough to assure the customer
that they are buying quality. This links
sibling brands, and makes cross-promotion
easy and effective.
What is an Endorser Brand?

Where Sub-Brands End and Endorsed Brands Begin
SUB-BRANDS
FORD FOCUS
EXAMPLE
DIFFERENCE
LOGO
PLACEMENT
COPYWRITING
URL
ENDORSED BRANDS
RITZ CRACKERS (By Nabisco)
Shares the spotlight wit
its parent brand.
Ford is the parent brand.
The Ford logo is still featured most
prominently on all vehicles.
Always uses the Ford name.
“Ford Focus wins…”
Can be found at ford.com
Hogs the spotlight – the parent
brand is always in the background.
Nabisco is the parent brand, but
the Nabisco logo is small and found on
the corner of the package.
Does not mention the Nabisco brand.
“Nabisco Ritz wins…”
Has its own website – ritzcrackers.com

Why Use an Endorser Brand?
REACH DIFFERENT AUDIENCES
Nabisco is a well known endorser brand.
As the parent brand, Nabisco is featured
on the packaging of all of its products. This
links cookie and cracker brands, including
OREO, Ritz and Arrowroot. It ties them
into the Nabisco promise of high-quality
freshness, along with the packaging
innovation the parent brand is known for.
However, it is the individual product brands
that are featured in marketing. They have
distinct brand strategies, visual identities
and packaging.
UNIFY PRODUCTS UNDER
A SHARED STANDARD
Endorser brands allow you to tie a
broad range of offers together with a
common corporate standard like quality,
innovation or value. This makes them
endorsable, and it can be continually
reinforced in marketing.
CROSS-PROMOTE WITH EASE
Because the product brands are
linked, cross-promotion becomes easy
and effective.
WHY AVOID AN ENDORSER BRAND?
An endorser brand architecture isn’t
right if your customer has no need for the
assurance of a background parent brand.
It’s especially bad for companies that:
• Have small brand portfolios
• Need to up corporate brand awareness
• Have limited marketing and legal
budgets
Endorser
brand fail
If a business’ success depends on high cor-
porate brand awareness, the endorser brand
architecture would be a marketing misstep.

22
Freestanding Brands

What is a Freestanding Brand?
A freestanding brand is
created to stand apart
from the other brands in an
organization's portfolio.
It has its own brand promise,
position and personality; its
own voice and visual identity.
A freestanding brand is never
linked to its parent brand in
marketing. In some cases, it is
even a separate organization
from the parent brand.

What is a Freestanding Brand?
NAMING
The freestanding brand is an invented,
suggestive, or semi-descriptive trademark.
Since it’s a stranger to other brands in the
parent company’s roster, its own offers
can follow masterbrand or sub-brand
naming conventions.
DESIGN
There is never a visible connection
to the parent brand.
EXAMPLE
Viacom is the parent of a number of
freestanding brands. Notable Viacom
brands include: MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon,
Spike and Comedy Central. These
entertainment brands work well as
freestanding brands because each has its
own distinct audience, along with its own
brand promise, position and personality.

Freestanding Brand: Toyota
Another occasion for the freestanding
approach occurs when a firm tries to
conquer a new market.
For example, when Toyota decided to
target the luxury market, it opted
to avoid using the Toyota brand (it
was known for value, not luxury). It
therefore created the freestanding
Lexus brand.
Honda did the same with Acura. GM the
same with Cadillac. And Nissan the same
with Infiniti.
Toyota, known for value (pictured top right),
created the freestanding brand, Lexus, (pictured
bottom right) to target a luxury market
TOYOTA

Why Use Freestanding Brands?
POSITIONING TO
UNRELATED AUDIENCES
The customer experience of each
freestanding brand will always be distinct,
so the corporate brand can target customer
segments that have nothing in common, or
that even conflict.
EASY BUYING + SELLING
Ownership of a freestanding brand can
change without a costly rebranding effort.
Viacom can sell MTV and the new owner
does not need to rebrand.
CLEAN RISK MANAGEMENT
If one freestanding brand attracts bad
publicity, the others in the roster will
usually remain unscathed.
WHY AVOID FREE-
STANDING BRANDS?
A freestanding brand architecture isn’t
going to be useful if offers need to be
linked. It can also be the most costly brand
architecture, with the longest time to
market. Avoid freestanding brands if:
• Your products’ audiences have
overlapping needs
• You want to increase awareness
of one parent brand
• You want to associate product
brands with one parent brand
Freestanding
brand fail
If a small to mid-sized firm invested its
marketing dollars in a roster of freestanding
brands, it would likely be a waste of time
and money.

27
Hybrid Brand

What is a Hybrid Brand?
A hybrid brand architecture is
a mixture of two or more other
architectures. Here, different
brand architectures can coexist,
provided there is an irrefutable
business need for them to do so.

Hybrid Brand: Microsoft
This approach is typically used when a firm is changing
brand architectures, or acquiring existing brands
through mergers or an acquisition. In such cases, the
firm has to preserve older product names and designs
to keep customers happy, or to avoid confusion.
The hybrid architecture is also used when a firm
introduces a superior new product that overshadows
a similar offer in the roster. This was the case when
Microsoft introduced the endorsed brand, Bing, as
an alternative to its failing Microsoft Network (MSN)
search engine.
It behooved Microsoft to create a fresh new search
brand that wasn’t visibly associated with MSN at
launch. Only after it proved successful did Bing
become more prominently linked to Microsoft.
MICROSOFT HYBRID BRAND OVERVIEW
SUB-BRANDS
MASTERBRAND
XBOX®
OUTLOOK®
BING®
YAMMER®
MICROSOFT®
WINDOWS®
MICROSOFT®
EXCEL®
MICROSOFT®
VISIO®
MICROSOFT®
HEALTH
MICROSOFT®
CLOUD
MICROSOFT®
INTERNET EXPLORER
ENDORSED BRANDS
MINECRAFT®
BUNGIE®
FREESTANDING BRANDS
MICROSOFT®
SURFACE®

Why Hybrid Brands Work
Most hybrid brand architectures work
because they allow for the peaceful
coexistence of old and new products. They
also allow for the merger or acquisition of
different types of brands.
For firms that are primarily masterbrands,
introducing a trademarked sub-brand can
help when:
• Descriptive product names are too long
• Descriptive names will confuse the
audience
• A major innovation justifies its own
trademark, like iPod or Laserjet
For firms using the sub-brand or endorser
brand architecture, introducing a descriptive
masterbrand name can help when:
• There is a corporate initiative to market,
like a loyalty program
• A descriptive name will work just as
well as a new trademark
• There is no time or budget to create
a new trademark
Why hybrid brands
should be avoided
They tend to be compromises, so avoid as much
as possible unless the business case demands a mix.

31
Masterbrand, Sub-Brand, Freestanding, Endorser or Hybrid?
WHICH WILL YOU CHOOSE?

Review Your Options
SUB-BRANDS
MASTERBRAND
BEST FOR...
CORPORATE
BRAND AWARENESS
COST TO
CREATE + MAINTAIN
TRADEMARK
VIOLATION RISKS
PROTECTION
FROM COLLATERAL
BRAND DAMAGE
ENDORSER BRAND FREESTANDING BRAND
Parent + Child
When customers need to
immediately understand what
a product is and does, and want
to trust one leading brand
Highest
Lowest
Lowest Low
Highest
Medium Low
High
Lowest
High
Highest
High
High Highest
Lowest High
When customers need to
choose between man
similar company products
like cars or sneakers
When customers buy more
because they are focused on
a single star brand
Best when brands target
extremely different
audiences and needs, or need
to compete against their
own existing brands
Siblings Strangers

10 Steps to Brand Architecture Confidence
List all your firm names, not just the
ones you are marketing
• More than you thought? Don’t give up!
List the unofficial names that others use,
including the use of any acronyms
• Does this already reveal naming
issues you need to fix?
Find and list the website URLs for
these names and study their place in
the website navigation
• Are your offers well organized
on the web?
List any known trademark confusion or
conflicts with any other brands out there
• Do these impact the urgency of getting
your names sorted?
Review your offers in terms of their
need for unique identities
• Can they sell effectively with
similar benefits and stories?
Then a masterbrand architecture
may work best
• Does each one require a unique style
and story and name? Then a sub-brand
or endorser brand may be best
Review what your customers are buying
• If the same customer profile is buying
similar products, the masterbrand or
sub-brand architecture may be most
effective
• If very different profiles are buying
very different products, the endorser or
freestanding brand architecture may be
the way to go
Eliminate the options that aren't for you
• Based on your analysis, determine
which brand architectures you
can safely eliminate
ENDORSED BRANDS
Do a SWOT analysis of the remaining
brand architecture options, using the
SWOT charts in the next section
• What are the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats of each
approach?
Find a designer to prototype options
• The inspired use of type, colour, icons,
materials or taglines can bring your
brand architecture to life, so you can
get people on board
Take it to the team and talk next steps
• Send this ebook to your team. Then
meet with them, and show them how
you have worked through these 10
steps. Teach them and involve them in
the decision, because everybody is
impacted by brand architecture
Shameless plug
You can also contact Distility for a free consultation by calling 416 413 7777 x1

10 Steps to Brand Architecture Confidence
At Distility, we’re big fans of the simplest
approach that works. We tend to champion the
masterbrand architecture. But there have been
cases in which we’ve consulted on sub-brand and
even hybrid architectures.
It all comes down to where your company is and
where it wants to go. Streamlining past and future
offers is hard work. Regardless of your goal,
defining your brand architecture is a critical step
to efficient and powerful marketing.
Contact us
Speak to us directly at 417 413 7777 x1 or email us
at hello@distility.com to learn how we can help you
get your brands organized, so you can save time
and valuable marketing dollars.
Don't let your brand
architecture be an
afterthought
It impacts more than just your
marketing. It affects how your
people present themselves, and
the offers in your firm’s roster.
So send this to everyone and get
the conversation started!

35
Brand Architecture Tools
1. Architecture overview
2. Brand name inventory and issues chart
3. SWOT matrixes

Architecture Overview
MASTERBRAND
One Parent Brand
FedEx
FedEx Office
FedEx Express
FedEx Freight
Ford
Ford Mustang
Ford F-Series
Ford Escape
Nabisco
Ritz
Oreos
Chips Ahoy!
Viacom
MTV
VH1
Comedy Central
Microsoft
Windows
Minecraft
Xbox
Trademark
+
Descriptor
Trademark
+
Trademark
Trademark
by
Trademark
Trademark Mixed
Architectures
FREESTANDING
BRANDS
Strangers
SUB-BRAND
Parent + Children
HYBRID BRAND
Take Your Pick
ENDORSER BRAND
Siblings
*
*
* * *

Brand Name Inventory and Issues Chart
STEP 1
FIRM NAMES UNOFFICIAL NAMES WEBSITE URLS TRADEMARK STATUS NOTES (SEE PAGE 32)
STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5 – 7

FIRM NAMES UNOFFICIAL NAMES WEBSITE URLS TRADEMARK STATUS NOTES (SEE PAGE 32)

SWOT Matrix for Masterbrand Architecture
INTERNAL REASONS
EXTERNAL REASONS
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES
THREATS

SWOT Matrix for Sub-Brand Architecture
INTERNAL REASONS
EXTERNAL REASONS
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES
THREATS

SWOT Matrix for Endorser Brand Architecture
INTERNAL REASONS
EXTERNAL REASONS
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES
THREATS

SWOT Matrix for Freestanding Brand Architecture
INTERNAL REASONS
EXTERNAL REASONS
STRENGTHS
OPPORTUNITIES
WEAKNESSES
THREATS

athriftymom.com
http://athriftymom.com/nabisco-snacks-1-00-off-2-printable-coupon-50-at-walmart/
All trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress, product names and logos appearing in this ebook are the property
of their respective owners, including in some instances Distility. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
paulstamatiou.com
http://paulstamatiou.com/how-to-get-started-with-hdr-photography-part-3/
gtcarlot.com
http://gtcarlot.com/badges/Ford/Expedition/2003/47633012.html
idownloadblog.com
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/01/09/7-years-ago-came-first-iphone/
businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/ipads-have-outsold-android-tablets-24-to-1-2011-7
apertura.com
http://www.apertura.com/negocios/Toyota-presenta-su-nuevo-Corolla-en-medio-de-las-reuniones-con-el-Gobierno-20140312-0002.html
apkmodgame.net
http://www.apkmodgame.net/tag/2007-lexus-ls460-interior-view
Image Credits

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