This document discusses brand strategy and architecture. It defines brand strategy as the central unifying idea that aligns behaviors, actions, and communications across services to build on a vision and business strategy. It illustrates who you are and what you do to define positioning, differentiation, and competitive advantage in a way that resonates with stakeholders. The document then discusses types of brand architecture including monolithic, endorsed, and branded models, and considers which may match a company's desired attributes based on business strategy, structure, client needs, values, and brand synergies. Finally, it outlines the process for developing a brand strategy and architecture through discovery, strategy development, design, testing, implementation, and maintenance.

1. February 09
© 2009 Blueprint Advisory Pty Ltd
Brand Strategy and Architecture

2. Brand Strategy

3. What is brand strategy?
• Central unifying idea which aligns behaviours, actions, communications
• Works across services
• Builds on a vision and is aligned to business strategy
• Illustrates who you are and what you do
• Defines positioning, differentiation, competitive advantage
• Needs to resonate with all stakeholders – internal and external
• Guides marketing
• Makes it easier for the salesforce to sell more
• Provides clarity and inspiration to employees

4. Who are you?

5. Who will you be?

6. What do you need to do?
• Be true and committed to your strategy – sound, don’t waiver
• Invest in developing your identity – this will cost - management time, $$
• Be consistently consistent – needs addressing
• Have a brand strategy – drives marketing, sales, inspires employees
• Have Board support – starts at the top; it is a top down process
• Walk the talk – need to be clear on what is ‘walked and talked’

7. Types of brand architecture

8. Monolithic

9. 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

10. BMW

11. British Airways

12. Commonwealth Bank

13. Endorsed

14. 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

15. Endorsed logos: Product, Corporate, Service and Event

16. Branded

17. Branded
• Found in FMCG companies
• Separate corporate identity from brands – Unilever, Kelloggs
• Brands have names, lifecycles, personalities of their own
• Often compete with each other

18. Proctor & Gamble

19. Hybrids

20. Hybrid
• Combination of all three – monolithic, branded and endorsed
• Occur through M&As
• Preserve the goodwill associated with the acquisition

21. Telstra

22. Which architecture matches
your desired attributes?

23. Consider
• Reflects business strategy
• Simple structure
• Designed around client needs
• Flexible
• Consistent with values
• Reflects brand value synergies

24. The process to develop your brand
strategy and architecture

25. 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?

26. Developing the brand
• 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?

27. Stages
Brand Audit and
Discovery
Brand Strategy and
Service Brand
Strategies
Group Brand Design
and Service Brand
Design
Enthusiastic and
Committed Leadership
Create a Project, elevate as
Mission critical.
Brand audit of key collateral.
Review and assess values, brand
essence, and competitive
strengths.
Develop
brand essence.
Stakeholder consensus on
brand architecture,
values, brand essence.
Brand brief.
Brand architecture
and Market offerings
Development of
visual expression,
across core applications
and communications
Test/feedback
Guidelines and standards
Implementation of
new identity –
internal and external
Systems and processes
for maintaining standards

28. Making this happen

29. 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