BRAND

ARCHITECTURE
Corporate Product and Brand
Relationship

No Go Limit

Brand Stretching

Leveraged Extensions
Diversifications
Spontaneous Extensions

Core Extensions
Brand
Essence

Brand
Extension

BRAND RELATIONSHIP
SPECTRUM
Structuring your Brand Product Matrix to
create healthy brand portfolio.

Linking Brands
House

of Brands

Branded House

Sub

Brands (under a Master Brand)

Endorsed

Brands

Branded House vs. A House of Brands

Tata salt
Tata Mobile
Tata Steel
Tata Indiacom
Tata The Branded House

Vicks
Head & shoulders
Old spice
Camay
Ariel
P&G A House of Brands

House of Brands
Branded

House vs. House of Brands - the two

extreme ends of alternative Brand Architecture.
House of Brands strategy each independent
stand-alone brand creates more market impact.
P&G, HUL, Marico, Reckitt & Benkiser, Jyothi
Labs, United Spirits etc.
Allows firms to clearly position brands on their
functional benefits.

Product Branding
Product

Branding is one extreme of branding

continuum.
It is fiercely driven by customer logic.
The brand is promoted exclusively so that it
acquires its own identity and image (and adds up

various associations. No multiple products hanging from the

same origin).

Allows

brand to acquire differentiation and

exclusivity.
Co. name is relegated to backseat (legal /
statutory requirements

Product Branding
Proctor & Gamble
Brand
Ariel

Market

Tide

Pantene

Head &
Shoulders

Detergent Shampoo

Detergent

Camy

Soap
Shampoo

Whisper

Sanitary
Napkin

Vicks

Old
Spice

After
shave

Balm

Position
Healthy
Hair

Hi Tech
Whiteness

dandruff

Cream

Macho

Cold
Hygiene
protection remedy

Product - Brand Strategy

Reckitt & Benckiser
Brand

Market

Position

Robin

Blue

Cherry
Blossom

Shoe
polish

Harpic

Toilet
Cleaner

Lizol

Floor
Cleaner

Colin

Disprin

Glass
cleaner

Analgesic

Mansion

Floor
Polish

Brasso

Metal
Polish

A BRANDED HOUSE

 In

a branded house strategy, the brand

moves from being a primary driver to more
dominant one.
The descriptive sub-brand goes from having
a minority role to little or none at all.
Eg: Virgin, Sony, Adidas, Honda
Leverages an established brand name and
requires minimum investments.

 Limitations

of Branded House Strategy

When Brands like Levis, Nike and Mitsubishi
are stretched over a wide product line.
The firms ability to target specific group is
constrained. Compromises happen.
A significant amount of profits and sales can
get affected, if the mother brand falters.
Three

goals of branded house clarity,

synergy and leverage.

Line Branding
Basic Idea in line branding is how the firm
organizes its product portfolio.
Here brand is the core idea that connect with its
consumers.
Customers do not tend to be contended with one
product. Line brand starts with one product, but
later extends to a set of products which enhance
the brand by reinforcing each other.

Lakme user wants complementary products which

enhances beauty body lotion, deep pore cleansing lotion,
lipsticks, nail enamels, eye make up etc.

Line Branding
HLL
Axe

Axe
Deo

Axe
Shaving
Cream

Axe
After
Shave

Axe
Soap

Axe
Talc

Share same brand concept and

they do complement each other.

Range Branding
Line branding restricts the brands expansion into
nearby territories of complimentary products.
Range branding brands can move beyond
product complimentarity.
Encompass many products under a single banner.
All the products share a common promise which
stem from the ranges area of competence.

Maggi noodles, sauce, macaroni's, dosa mix

Britannia
Milkman ---- Ghee, Butter, Milk Shake, Milk,
Cheese.

Range Branding
Himalaya Drug Co.
Ayurvedic Concepts
Health Care
Ayur slim
Capsules
Digestive
Capsules
Daily Health
Capsules
Cough
Syrup

Body Care
Antiseptic
Cream
Pain
Balm
Muscle &
Joint Rub

Hair Care
Hair
Cleanser
Hair
conditioner

Skin Care
Face wash
Moisturizing
lotion
Hand & body
lotion

Anti-dandruff
cleanser

Deep
cleansing
lotion

Anti-dandruff
Hair vitalizer

Pimple
Cream

Umbrella Branding
Particularly

favored by companies of east

LG, Mitsubishi, Cannon, Bajaj , Tatas, etc.
Scores well on economics less costly;
leveraging common brand name distributes its
investment.
Makes sense in the current environment
where there is information overload.

Amul Bread spreads, Cheese, Mithaee range, UTH

milk, Fresh Milk, Pure Ghee, Infant Milk, Milk Powders ,
Chocolates etc

Umbrella Branding
Philips
Medical

TVs

Hi - Fi

Lighting
Monitors

Mixers

Shaver
Phones

Irons

Umbrella Branding
Umbrella

brands represent many things about

many products, but in this age of specialization
what is needed is everything of something.
From customers point of view, a specialist
brand makes more sense than a generalist
brand.

Mid size car Santro, Accent or Indica

First two are specialists while Tata Indica is a generalist
(brings in images of LCVs, HCVs and host of other things).

Source Branding
Hybrid of umbrella strategy and product-brand
strategy. (also called as Double branding)
Product is given a brand name and it is combined
with the name of the firm.

Johnnie Walker Red label, Green label, Black label & Blue
label

Both the names enjoy equal importance in brands

communication.

Kellogs Corn Flakes, Rice flakes, Wheat flakes are part

of Umbrella branding
Kellogs Frosties, Chocos are Source Branding

Source Branding
Maruti
Suzuki

800

Zen Wagon-R ALTO Esteem Gypsy Baleno

ENDORSER BRANDS
& SUB BRANDS

Endorsed Brands
Endorsed

brands (like House of brands) are

independent, but they are also endorsed by
an organizational brand.
Courtyard, Fairfield Inn and Marriot.
Accent, Santro and Hyundai
Unlike Linked Names as earlier, There can be
also Token Endorsement as in the case of
Trident Oberoi or Ginger - Taj
Lexus-Toyota (Shadow Endorsement)

Marriott Brand Architecture

Marriot

Hotels. Resorts. Suites.

Marriot Residence Inn
Courtyard

Fairfield

by Marriot

Inn by Marriot

Subbrands
Another

powerful brand architectural tool.

Can make the offering look more differentiated
and appealing to customers, while holding on to
some of the key associations of the parent
brand.
Can also help the master brand to stretch,
allowing it to enter areas which otherwise it
would not have fit.

Sub-brand can serve as a descriptor, a driver or a

combination of
If the brand is purely descriptive, then the
strategy is similar to branded house. Master
brand is the main driver. (Tata Motors, Tata Tea,
Visa Gold).
If sub-brand also has driver role but of lower
level, then Master brand will take primary role
(Compaq Presario, Maruti Alto, Honda City)
If the sub-brand is as important as the master
brand a co-driver situation arises ( Gillette
Sensor, Sony Trinitron, Intel Pentium)

The GE - Appliances
Vertical Brand Architecture
GE

Monogram

(Designer/Architects)

GE

Profile

(Upscale, High Income)

GE

Appliances

(Mainstream Quality seekers)

Hotpoint

(Mainstream Value seekers)

Brand Architecture
It

shows the organizing structure of the

brand portfolio.
It specifies the brand roles and the relationship
among brands (say Maruti-Suzuki and Esteem)
and different product-market brand
relationships.
It is defined by 5 dimensions
The brand portfolio, portfolio roles, product
market context roles, the portfolio structure and
portfolio graphics.

Brand Architecture
Product- Market
Context Roles
brands
Benefit Brands
Co Brands

Brand
Portfolio

Portfolio Roles

Brand
Architecture

Brand Portfolio
Structure

Portfolio Graphics
Logo
Visual representations

Brand groupings
Brand hierarchy trees
Brand range

Powerfu
l
Brands

Optimal
allocation of
brand building
resources

Strategic brands
Linchpin brands
Silver bullet
Cash cow brands

Sub

Synergy in
creating
efficiency
visibility
associations

Clarity of
offering

Leveraged
brand
assets

Platform
for future
growth
options

Brand Portfolio
Brand

portfolio includes all the brands and sub

brands attached to product-market offerings.
This will include co-brands with other brands.
A basic brand architecture parameter is the
composition of the brand portfolio.
Each brand requires brand building resources.
Treating brands as Silos owned by individuals or
organizational units can lead to misallocation of
resources.

Portfolio Roles
A

tool to take a more systems view of the brand

portfolio.
Strategic Brand
Linchpin Brand
Silver Bullet
Cash cow Brand.
These roles are not mutually exclusive. A brand
could be simultaneously a linchpin and a silver
bullet brand or it could evolve from a strategic
brand to a cash cow brand.

Portfolio Roles
Strategic

Brand is one that represents a

meaningful future level of sales and profits.
It may be currently a dominant brand (megabrand) that is projected to maintain or grow its
position or can be small brand with immense
growth potential.
Airtel for Bharati Tele-Ventures
i-pods for Apple
Big Bazaar for Pantaloon retail.

Portfolio Roles
Linchpin

Brand: is the leverage point of a major

business area or of a future vision of the firm.
It will indirectly influence a business area by
providing basis for customer loyalty
Taj Businesss Hotels is a linchpin brand for EIH
as it represent future ability to control a critical
segment (Business traveler) in the Hotel
Industry.

Competitor activities such as rewards programme

by Welcom group, Trident etc can put Taj on
strategic disadvantage.

Portfolio Roles
Silver

Bullet is a brand or a sub brand that

positively influence the image of another brand.
It can be a powerful force in creating, changing
or maintaining a brand image.
IBM Think Pad the innovative product
generated significant boost to IBMs public
image. Think Pads sales represent only a
minute percentage of IBMs total sales.
Hero Honda - Karizma

Portfolio Roles
Cash

Cow Brands: Strategic, Linch pin and

silver bullet brands involve investment and
active management.
Cash cow brands has significant customer base
that does not require the investment that other
portfolio brands require.
Even though sales are stagnating or declining
there exists a loyal core of customers who are
unlikely to leave the brand.
Generates resources for investing in other
brands.