Brand Architecture: What It Is & How to Choose the Right Model

As your business grows, you may add new products, services, and sub-brands into the mix. You’re on the road to success, and it’s all very exciting.

But growth can also make things more complicated, and potentially confusing.

Perhaps you’re selling different products to different customer segments under one brand name – and it doesn’t feel quite right. Or maybe your customers are getting confused about which service comes under which sub-brand?

At this stage, you need to think very carefully about how your business is structured to make sure that everything still fits together clearly.

That’s where brand architecture comes in.

Get it right, and you’ll have a clear and cohesive business that’s easy for customers to understand. But get it wrong, and you could confuse your customers, dilute your brand identity, and scupper further growth.

In this article, we’ll explain what brand architecture is, explore the three primary brand architecture models, and help you choose the right one for your business.

What is brand architecture?

Think of your brand architecture as the blueprint for your business. It defines how the different brands, products, and services that make up your business fit together and relate to each other.

If you’re a new business selling one type of product to one type of customer under one brand name, your brand architecture will naturally be very simple. But as your business grows, things can quickly become more complicated.

As you introduce new products, services, audiences, and sub-brands to your business, you may need to adapt how it’s structured to stop things from getting confusing. That’s where brand architecture comes in.

In practical terms, brand architecture helps you to determine:

• How your brands are organised: Which is the parent brand, which are the sub-brands, and where individual products and services sit in the structure.
• What your brands are called: Do they share the parent brand name or have their own distinct names?
• How your brands are related: Is the relationship between your brands obvious to customers or are they kept separate?
• How new products and services are introduced: Do they launch under an existing brand or a new sub-brand?
• How your brands look and feel: Do they share the parent brand’s visual identity, messaging, and tone of voice, or have their own unique look and feel?

Brand architecture should be built strategically. Therefore, you always need a clear brand strategy before you decide how to structure your brand. You need to know who your brand is for, what it stands for, and how it wants to be perceived. Your brand architecture must always be designed to support your brand strategy – not the other way around.

Clear brand architecture helps to prevent confusion, improve market clarity, and increase brand equity. Ultimately, it can help your business to keep on growing and achieve long-term success.

The three brand architecture models

There are three primary ways to structure your brand architecture. Most brand architectures are a variation on, or a combination of, one or more of these.

• Model 1: The Branded House
• Model 2: The House of Brands
• Model 3: The Hybrid (Endorsed House)

Let’s look at how each model works.

The Branded House

This is the most common type of architecture. In this model, one parent brand owns several sub-brands. This is a cost-effective way of running things, as all of the brands in the house generally share the same brand identity and value proposition. They also grow equity together, with sub-brands borrowing the parent’s credibility and trust from day one.

However, although this model is the simplest and most cost-effective option, it also carries higher risk, as it means any damage to reputation is felt business-wide.

Real-world examples of the Branded House model include:

• BBC
• Virgin
• Apple
• FedEx

The House of Brands

In the House of Brands model, the parent company exists primarily for investment, ownership, and administrative purposes – most consumers are unaware of it. The parent company owns several independent sub-brands, each with its own distinct audience, identity, and positioning.

This model is far more expensive to operate because each brand needs its own marketing, management, and customer acquisition budget. However, it gives each sub-brand the flexibility to target different audiences without confusion and helps to isolate reputational risk.

Real-world examples of the Branded House model include:

• Procter & Gamble
• Unilever
• Alphabet
• Reckitt

Hybrid (Blended House)

The hybrid model sits somewhere in the middle and offers the best of both worlds. The parent brand may endorse some of its sub-brands, while others may remain fully independent.

This model is more flexible as it enables the sub-brands to borrow the parent brand’s credibility and trust while still retaining their independence. However, it is also the most complicated model of the three and can be confusing for customers if it is not executed with care.

Real-world examples of the Hybrid model include:

• Marriott International
• Toyota
• Microsoft
• Amazon

How to choose the right brand architecture model for your business

So, how do you know which model is right for your business? The answer really depends on factors like your commercial objectives, audience relationships, and growth trajectory.

The Branded House model may be right for your business if:

• You have one primary audience, and your products or services complement each other.
• You want to concentrate your marketing budget.
• Your parent brand has strong equity.
• Operational simplicity is a priority.

The House of Brands model may be right for your business if:

• You serve different audiences with different values and expectations.
• You plan to grow through acquisition.
• You have the budget and operational capacity to manage independent brand identities.
• Minimising reputational risk is a priority.

The Hybrid Blended House model may be right for your business if:

• You need the efficiency of a branded house, but some sub-brands still require more independence.
• Your portfolio spans very different market segments.
• You’ve acquired a brand with strong equity.

Fictional case study: Yorkshire Coffee

So, what does all this look like in practice? Let’s take a fictional coffee brand and see what happens as the business grows.

The brand

Priya launched Yorkshire Coffee in 2018, selling ethically sourced speciality coffee directly to consumers and independent cafes across Yorkshire.

By 2022, her business had grown exponentially. The original DTC coffee business still existed, but Priya was now also selling wholesale to restaurants, running a barista training school, and developing a premium range of brewing equipment and accessories.

She now had four distinct businesses, but only one brand name and identity, which she created four years ago when she was still selling speciality coffee at market stalls.

The problem

The different parts of the business no longer fit neatly together under the Yorkshire Coffee brand. The training school felt completely different to the original D2C coffee business, and the equipment range targets a different audience. Nothing feels coherent anymore.

Priya had a brand architecture problem.

The solution

Priya partnered with a branding agency (like Create8) to bring clarity to her brand strategy and develop a coherent brand architecture.

First, she determined what Yorkshire Coffee stood for: Craft, provenance, and the belief that how coffee is grown, processed, and served matters.

This clarity helped the brand architecture fall into place more easily.

Priya decided the hybrid model was the best fit for her business. She kept Yorkshire Coffee (comprising the DTC and wholesale supply businesses) as the parent brand. Then the training school became Yorkshire Academy, endorsed by Yorkshire Coffee.

The barista equipment and accessories range, however, targeted a different audience, so Priya launched it as an independent brand called Brewer. That way, its commercial performance wouldn’t affect Yorkshire Coffee’s brand equity.

Three brands. One parent brand, one endorsed sub-brand, and one fully independent brand. The result is a clearer structure that gives each brand room to grow.

Partner with Create8 for help structuring your brand

As your business grows, your brand strategy and structure will need to evolve. If you’ve recently added new products, services, audiences, or sub-brands to your business, it could be time to rethink your brand architecture.

At Create8, we help growing businesses to develop clear brand strategies and architectures that will support them both now and in the future.

Ready to bring some clarity to your brand? Contact us today by calling 0161 820 9686 or by emailing hello@create8.co.uk.

Brand architecture FAQs

What is brand architecture?
In simple terms, brand architecture is the way that brands, products, and services are organised, structured, and connected within a business.

What is the difference between a branded house and a house of brands?
The sub-brands within a branded house generally all share the same brand identity as the parent brand. A house of brands owns multiple brands, which all have their own unique names and identities.

Why is brand architecture important for small businesses?
Brand architecture becomes more important as small businesses grow and begin to launch new products, target new audiences, or enter new markets. It helps them to evolve and grow without confusing or weakening their existing brand.

Can brand architecture change over time?
Yes, your brand architecture can (and often should) evolve as your business grows, diversifies, or acquires other brands.

What comes first – brand strategy or brand architecture?
Your brand strategy should always come first. You need to understand what your brand stands for and who its audience is before you can decide how to structure it.