The reality? Managing a successful brand and exploiting it in the digital world: it’s hard!
Branding is not the logo, it’s not the symbol, it’s not the name. Branding is the identity of a brand aligned with its communication strategy.
In an increasingly competitive market, with both traditional and digital communication needs, it is crucial to stand out by paying attention to the details of your strategy.
At Up We Go, we not only advise, we also dedicate ourselves to boost investment in branding our customers.
And that’s no accident!
We will explore the crucial importance of Branding and Brand Architecture and how understanding these elements will facilitate the development of the strategic positioning of your brand and company.
What is branding and brand architecture?
Let’s start by clarifying the main concept: the Branding. This process is essential when building a company, product or service. It is its identity.
Identity creation begins by conveying values, culture, positioning and mission through consistent design and a visual pattern that sticks in the memory.
The communication strategy for this identity is part of branding and must establish a positive positioning and image over time.
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A Brand Architecture is the form of organizing a company and its by-products, sub-brands and the relationships between them. It is a form of strategic organizational communication. Architecture applies to both corporate brands and products. Structure refers to the hierarchy of brands managed by a company. The use of this organization demonstrates the company’s concern for its future, as it strategically allows it to foresee innovation and growth.
Nowadays, companies have to keep up with the pace of market growth and respond to their niches in an agile way. Brand Architecture allows a brand to serve various niches through different sub-brands with products and communication strategies suited to the specific target audience. Its priority is to help a company organize itself to match the way consumers and society organize themselves.
Consumers intuitively fit into a sub-brand that meets their needs and creates a relationship of loyalty and proximity.
Types of brand architecture
There are several brand architecture formats that depend on various factors that will influence the ideal choice for your company. These factors are variety of products, services, strategies and budgets. Below are the most common types of brand architecture:
Branded House or Mother Brand
Branded House architecture is a strategy used by small and large companies alike. It is characterized by the “mother” brand, which manages all products and services associated with it. It concentrates marketing and communication efforts on a single identity, streamlining processes and investments, creating strong recognition.
Sub-Brands or Sub-Brands
In sub-brand architecture, these are created for specific products or services of the main brand. They are usually needed to separate consumer niches according to the specification of the products or services.
These sub-brands have their own own logo but with a continuous presence of the main brand, creating the perception of a unified family with the same management and strategy.
For example, the Samsung brand, which has the sub-brands Samsung QLED, Samsung Galaxy and Samsung Home Appliances, or the Sony brand, which has the Sony PlayStation.
House of Brands
The Casa das Marcas architecture is more difficult to identify because the company main brand management totally independent, with a unique market positioning and identity. This strategy is used by large companies with greater investment power. They create these brands to complete a portfolio that meets the various needs of the market. The best known example due to its success is the P&G (Procter & Gamble), which manages the brands: Gillette, Pantene, Oral-B, Tide, Bounty, among others.
The main brand usually only manages the budget, marketing and communication.
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Endorsed Brands
In the Endorsed Brands architecture, the main brand manages other brands but, unlike Casa das Marcas, it also manages the brands administratively, also provides services or has its own products.
A prominent example of an Endorsed Brand is the 3M. It has its own production but manages and communicates implicitly with the Post-it, Scotch-Brite and Scotch brands. Another example is the Kellog’s brand with its Froot Loops, Corn Flakes and All-Bran brands, among others.
This strategy allows the main brand to add value to lesser-known brands.
Up We Go tips for SMEs
For SMEsit is advisable to adopt a simple and appropriate approach to ensure a consistent and recognizable presence in the market.
Architecture Branded House or Subbrands is the right choice. These strategies make it possible to concentrate marketing and communication efforts on a limited number of brands, creating a strong and recognizable identity.
For small and medium-sized businesses, house of Brands architecture is generally not recommendedbecause it requires a very large budget and have a extremely diversified portfolio of products or services.
It is preferable to create a portfolio of diversified products or services that are in line with the company’s identity.
At Up We Go we advise and act according to your company’s identity and objectives.
