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B r a n d a r c h i t e c t u r e
is a powerful tool that can help companies better organize various brands within their business portfolios and
focus on strategic goals for individual brands. Doing so has enabled more effective and consistent brand management
and helped put an increased focus on strategies to meet specific growth, sales, and profit goals for
individual brands.
Unfortunately, many companies today have trouble keeping their brand portfolios
in order. Most brand architecture efforts focus on either the past––rectifying problems
caused by a lack of defined brand roles and inconsistent brand-building
and acquisition strategies—or the present––organizing brands to
best meet short-term objectives. Further, brand architecture is primarily
treated as an internal exercise aimed at defining brand “territories,”
where brands are viewed as separate and distinct and
are managed independently rather than collectively. The customer
perspective is rarely included in the process. Finally,
most brand architecture decisions still tend to be highly
subjective and driven more by emotional sentiment
and baggage than by rational, data-based judgment.
Truly effective brand arc h i t e c t u re focuses on
managing brands collectively and unearthing
i n h e rent synergies to increase the collective value
of the brand portfolio. When approached in this
m a n n e r, brand arc h i t e c t u re goes from being a
simple yet valuable organization tool to becoming
a forward-looking strategic weapon.
This requires a few key elements:
• Viewing brand architectures not as hierarchical
and static, but as dynamic and
evolving
• Identifying and understanding the customer-based
inter-relationships of various
brands within the portfolio
• Fundamentally shifting the role and objectives
of brand management away from individual
brands and toward the collective value
of the portfolio
The most important factor in improving brand arc h i t e c-
t u re is the role of the customer. The reality is that customers––who
a re the ultimate arbiters of a brand’s success or failure––don’t experience brands in the neat, organized way
t h e y ’ re typically portrayed on an organizational chart. Instead, they experience brands inter-dependently and
d i ff e rently over time. Effective brand arc h i t e c t u res don’t just take the customer brand experience into account;
t h e y ’ re based upon it.
a r e t h e o n e s t h a t s t a y c o n n e c t e d .
Including the Customer
Customers develop relationships with brands through direct experiences. They then form perceptions of
a brand based on their experience with and in relation to other brands, whether it’s enjoying a ride at Disneyland
before heading off to see the new animated Disney movie or always seeing Sprite sold next to Coke.
Ralph Lauren has Polo, Polo Sport, Chaps, and Lauren. IBM has IBM eServers, IBM Global Services
Consulting, and Lotus. Ingersoll-Rand has Hussman, Club Car, Bobcat, and Schlage. These brands are targeted
to different customers and needs, but direct or indirect linkages or “synergies” between these brands
can emerge when they’re experienced in a similar context. Brand managers are always seeking ways to
increase the value of their brands, and these synergies may represent the greatest opportunity for increasing