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Brand Architecture - Page 6 of 13 - Branding Strategy Insider

By definition brand architecture is the logical, strategic and relational structure for your brands or put another way, it is the entity’s “family tree” of brands, sub-brands and named products. Two shorthand terms are often used to describe how an organization manages its brand architecture: 1. “Branded house” implies that most or all products and services provided by that organization primarily bear the organization’s brand name. FedEx, Google, Coca-Cola and Virgin for example. 2. “House of brands” implies that the organization’s products and services bear a wide variety of brand names as opposed to the organization’s brand name. The Kraft Heinz Company, General Motors, Pepsico and Procter & Gamble for example.
Brand Architecture’s Impact On Brand Value

Brand architecture often comes down to an evaluation of tradeoffs. In my experience, there’s rarely a cost-free benefit or a no-foul cost. That’s why I have found the concept of brand value so helpful. It focuses on the net effect of an initiative — are the benefits worth more than the costs of getting those benefits or are cost-saving initiatives doing more harm than good?

When To Assess Your Brand Architecture

The job of a brand architect can be compared to the job of a closet organizer, and by that, I don’t mean someone who organizes in secret, I mean an organizer of closets. Both jobs bring order to chaos, throwing out anything that’s no longer useful and developing a system for keeping things in check and off the floor. Let’s explore this analogy. What guidance does it gives us about when you should be assessing...

4 Factors In Making Brand Architecture Decisions

The brand architecture spectrum has been well documented and has proven to be a powerful way to describe and map the brand architecture universe. Do a Google image search of brand architecture spectrum and you will find many variations on a theme (like this one). These renditions show the progression of brand architecture options from branded house (one single brand) to house of brands (many brands under one roof).

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