How to Build a Brand with Complex Architecture – a Guide for Entrepreneurs

Building a strong brand is not just about creating an attractive logo or messages for marketing communication. A brand is much more than that. It incorporates the perceptions, expectations, and reactions your company generates in the minds of your customers or prospects through its promises and actions. Whether your company’s activity is B2C, B2B, or a combination of both, a well-defined brand architecture helps you secure a place in the audience’s mind. It creates those synergies that optimize resources, contribute to business growth, and propel the brand forward on its path to success.

Brand architecture is, basically, the way a company organizes its portfolio of brands to maximize market impact and consumer appeal. Each brand becomes an essential piece of a puzzle. This, in return, when structured and strategically managed, will support the company’s overall objectives. A good example of strategic brand architecture is eMAG, which has created a complex ecosystem of brands: eMAG Marketplace, Fashion Days (fashion), and Tazz by eMAG (food delivery). All three brands have distinct identities that meet specific consumer needs but are all tied to a strong main brand.

Depending on your market vision and business model, there are several types of brand architectures you can adopt:

A main brand supports sub-brands, which, consequently, can benefit from its reputation. A global example is Amazon, with Amazon Prime, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Alexa. This model is often found in industries where loyalty to the main brand is crucial, such as finance or telecommunications.

Sub-brands are independent but supported by the umbrella brand. The parent brand name appears in communication, guaranteeing quality and trust, but the sub-brands retain their distinct identity. An example is Nestlé, where many products like KitKat, Nescafé, and Maggi have their own identities but are supported by the parent brand, which acts as a quality guarantee. Nestlé also has non-food products, such as health supplements (Boost, Garden of Life), personal care products (Cetaphil), and pet food (Purina, Friskies, Felix), which follow the endorsed brand architecture.

Each brand has its own identity and market positioning but is part of the same family, without a visible or significant connection to the parent brand. Examples include Volkswagen Group, which owns brands such as Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Skoda, or Procter & Gamble, with Tide, Pampers, and Gillette. Ursus Breweries is a local example, with distinct brands such as Timișoreana, Ursus, and Ciucaș. This model is often preferred in industries where diversity and market segmentation are essential, such as FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods).

A combination of the previous models, ensuring synergy between brands while maintaining a certain level of independence. Companies may opt for a mix of monolithic and individual branding, depending on target markets, consumer segments, or strategic objectives. PepsiCo is an example, with strong free-standing brands (Pepsi, Lay’s, Gatorade), as well as sub-brands under the main Pepsi umbrella. In Romania, a relevant example is Banca Transilvania, which has integrated subsidiaries such as BT Asset Management and BT Capital Partners under its umbrella, launched additional services and products like BT Pay, BT 24, BT Mic, Star Card, and also launched Stup and Salt Bank. Digi Communications illustrates this concept well, too, managing strong brands like Digi Mobil and Digi TV. This model is ideal for companies that want to combine innovation and diversification with the strength of a main brand.

This model encompasses a clear hierarchy where the umbrella brand is layered over sub-brands, and these are organized on multiple levels, usually based on market segment or product category. Toyota uses this layered architecture with its brands: Toyota for the mass market, Lexus for the premium segment, and, in the past, Scion for the young and accessible segment.

• Clarity: Consumers quickly understand what your company offers and can more easily choose the right products.
• Efficiency: You can adjust the portfolio without affecting the company’s image.
• Risk Diversification: Having multiple sub-brands helps you enter new markets, test distinct positions, and thus reduce the risk of failure.

If these are the advantages, one question arises:

Managing multiple brands can, however, pose some challenges. The good news is that, when handled well, they can make the difference between a brand that survives and one that strives.

• Higher Costs: Managing multiple brands can significantly increase your marketing and operational budget.
• Impeccable Coordination: Consistency and alignment between brand managers and their teams become essential—like an orchestra, if one instrument is out of tune, the entire performance suffers.
• Consumer Confusion: There’s a risk that too many brands can create some confusion. Still, this only happens if the sub-brands are not managed correctly.

Following our experience in branding and marketing, as top executives and consultants supporting B2C and B2B client growth, we learned a few tips & tricks worth keeping in mind:

• Clearly Define the Role of Each Brand: Every brand in the portfolio must have a clear identity and a well-defined purpose. No brand should exist “just because.”
• Ensure Consistency in Execution: All brands in the portfolio must adhere to the company’s principles and values, even if they have different voices and personalities.
• Communicate Internally and Efficiently: Ensure that internal teams are well-coordinated and strategies are implemented without errors.
• Constantly Monitor: Periodically evaluate each brand’s performance to make quick adjustments when something doesn’t go according to plan. The market changes, and your brand needs to keep up and seize opportunities.

The choice of the right brand architecture depends on the business model and market approach. In retail, for example, where interaction with the end customer is essential, an “Umbrella” architecture can be the right choice, offering consumers a sense of trust and familiarity. In B2B, companies often seek specialized solutions, and the “House of Brands” architecture may be more suitable, allowing each brand to address a specific market segment with a distinct offer.

If you choose to grow the business through acquisitions, the “House of Brands” model can allow for the rapid integration of new entities without affecting the identity of the parent company. On the other hand, monolithic brand architecture requires more careful harmonization to ensure the coherence and continuity of the main brand.

To ensure consistency and coherence in your brand’s communication, you need a clear and detailed Brand Book. It sets the rules for existing brands and provides a framework for integrating new ones, following acquisitions or new products and services development. A good example is Bitdefender, which has maintained visual and verbal consistency even after launching new solutions and expanding into other markets.

If you’re wondering how to maximize your company’s profit or scale your business quickly, remember that a complex brand architecture, supported by a solid strategy, can bring significant business advantages. As we know from experience, with careful planning and efficient management, this approach can support the construction of a strong brand capable of quickly adapting to market changes and generating long-term value.