Brand Architecture Specifies Brand Equity

Brand architecture is a system of brands, names and symbols that

Defines the relationship between a company’s brands,
Rationalizes the brand portfolio, and
Describes how equity flows between and among a company’s brands.

Brand architecture helps you communicate your brand to specific target segments. As David Aaker says in Brand Leadership, “Brand architecture organizes and structures the brand portfolio by specifying brand roles and the nature of relationship between brands.”

Build Effective Brand Architecture

Understanding and being able to communicate your brand architecture is a tool that will help you manage your products and brands more effectively. Branding research helps you create the optimal brand architecture by helping you understand your target segment’s perceptions about your master brand, your sub-brands and your endorsed brands and how they fit together in the marketplace.

A brand audit is a great starting place for building the understanding that will lead you to an effective and efficient brand architecture.