The Definition of Brand Architecture – Simplified
Here’s a quick and simple definition of brand architecture: It’s the building plan for creating a strong brand.
If brand building is about creating an experience—an idea in the consumer’s mind of why to choose you product over the competition—your brand architecture is the structural plan that makes sure everything fits together seamlessly. It’s making sure the zoo’s lion extravaganza is separated from the gazelle hut by more than a 2-foot high fence. And it’s making sure your brand doesn’t become a zoo—period.
Brand architecture is a strategic roadmap for present and future success.
Brand architecture defines the different levels within your brand and provides a hierarchy that explains the relationships between the different products, services, and components that make up your company’s portfolio of offerings. This architecture gives your existing brand structure so employees and customers understand the value of and relationship between its different parts. It also creates a roadmap that guides how your brand can scale in the future.
At Tiny Bully, our clients come to us with solid ideas and great vision—but what many lack is a clear structure to define how they are organized now and how they will handle future opportunity.
Why is brand architecture important?
- Clear brand architecture ensures your automobile company’s great idea for an electric hybrid home appliance line isn’t going out of bounds of the core brand’s mission.
- It guarantees that your long-established and recognized logo-mark doesn’t get bastardized when a newly hired product manager introduces a good idea for a line extension and prefers the color “red”.
- It empowers you to organize and introduce new product lines that fit seamlessly into different divisions of your brand so you leverage existing equity, retail relationships, and consumer loyalty.
How to tell when it’s time to hire a branding agency with solid brand architecture experience
A disorganized (or nonexistent) brand architecture could cost you market share and put your brand value at risk. A good branding agency can mean the difference between successful long term growth and steady disintegration of your bottom line. It may be time for a brand architecture consultation if:
- You have an existing brand that is planning a product line extension.
- You’re launching a new brand that has big plans now, but bigger plans in the future.
- You’re reading this post and realizing your current brand architecture is non-existent or varying depending on whom you ask in your company (i.e. wayward).
Get in touch to learn more about crafting a brand architecture that positions your brand for success.