brand architecture

Definition

The organizational structure of a company's brands, products, and services—whether they're independent siblings, a parent-child hierarchy, or one big happy endorsed family. It's the family tree that determines who gets what inheritance.

Example Usage

Procter & Gamble uses a house of brands architecture where Tide and Pampers stand alone, while Marriott employs branded house with everything carrying the Marriott name.

Origin

Formalized as a strategic discipline in the 1990s by brand consultancies like Prophet.

Fun Fact

Getting brand architecture wrong can cost millions—just ask GM, which had eight different brands competing against themselves before bankruptcy.

Source: Strategic brand management frameworks

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