SU 2: Brand Architecture And The Brand Relationship Spectrum

Question 1

Define brand architecture

Answer 1

An organizing structure of the brand portfolio that specifies brand roles and the nature of relationships between brands

Question 2

What are the different brand roles

Answer 2

1. Driver role - a brand that influences a customers purchasing decision. (this includes the monolithic structure or branded house, the dualithic sub-brands, dualithic endorsed brands, multilithic structure or house of brands with each sub-brand having its own driver role).
2. Endorser role - the driver brand is supported and given credibility by a brand serving in the role of an endorser
3. Strategic role - one that is significant for the organizations future operations
4. Sub-brand role - a sub brand identifies a particular model or variant of a product line inside the brand system
5. Brand benefit - marketing the qualities, components or service offerings that are beneficial to customers as an important role of a brand

Question 3

What is the role of brand architecture

Answer 3

• to clarify brand awareness: to explain to consumers the similarities and differences between various products and services
• to improve brand image: to maximize equity transfer between the brand and specific goods and services (to increase consumer trial and repurchase)

Question 4

What is the brand relationship spectrum

Answer 4

Reflects how a company’s brands are related to their products and services. Brand relationship spectrums were never intended to describe the entire brand architecture systems.

Question 5

Explain the monolithic brand structure

Answer 5

• single brand name
• same visual style in the different product classes or categories
• branded house - the company is the brand
• each of the products, is a sub brand of the parent company
• do not operate independently of one another
• do not overshadow the primary brand

Question 6

What are company benefits of the monolithic brand structure

Answer 6

• focus and costs: marketing resources and efforts can be directed towards a single brand, less money is required
• simplicity: fewer brands to manage internally and externally, limiting the opportunity for customers to be confused
• efficiency: brand image and equity can be effectively leveraged a cross multiple products
• reinforcement: can more easily benefit from positive feedback for any new or old products
• spill over effect: associative transfer is maximized, if a customer trusts a master brand they may easily move to purchase other products under the same brand name

Question 7

What are the negative effects of the monolithic brand structure

Answer 7

• lack of specificity: the unique opportunities and challenges for specific products may be overlooked or ignored
• dilution effects: a brand’s meaning may become too diffused if it is positioned too broadly across numerous product categories
• negative spill over effect: customers will stop using all the products related to one brand if they are experiencing a problem with one of the products under the same brand
• lost opportunities and limited creativity: there are fewer opportunities to create potentially beneficial new brands

Question 8

Explain the dualithic brand structure

Answer 8

The term dual suggests that the brand structure combines two brands, thus the dualithic brand structures can be divided into sub-brands and endorsed brands

Question 9

Explain the benefits of the dualithic sub-brand and endorsed structure

Answer 9

• provide opportunities for brands to expand
• address competing brand strategy needs
• save on brand building resources
• prevent brand dilution
• indicate its a new addition

Question 10

Explain the dualithic -sub-brand- structure

Answer 10

• sub-branding is an extension of a brand tied to the parent company or brand
• it is a brand within a brand
• sub-brands carry their own names, visual communication and marketing strategies

Question 11

What are the opportunities a brand can exploit by making use of dualithic sub-branding

Answer 11

• economies of scale (where the basic product remains the same but the design and visual appeal are altered to fit each market)
• dethroning a market leader
• responding to new challenges (addressing issues such as global financial crisis and focus on the bottom of the pyramid)

Question 12

Explain the dualithic endorsed brand structure

Answer 12

• branding using two brands
• making a product brand name more significant than the corporate brand name
• parent brand is made to play an indirect role
• transferring certain common generic associations

Question 13

What are the motivations for using an endorsed brand structure

Answer 13

• credible and substance: an endorsement from a well-known company lens weight and legitimacy to the product brand
• associations: endorsing a brand provides some useful associations for the endorser
• limited reputation risk: companies can be shielded from a major reputation risk by using brand endorsement rather than having a more prominent driver role
• variety for positioning: provides a greater variety of positioning alternatives than if a monolithic structure were used

Question 14

What three ways are endorser brands used

Answer 14

• token endorser: the use of the token endorsers logo or catchphrase can draw attention to it
• linked endorsement: linking the company (master brand) and product brand names, for instance, McNugget from McDonald’s
• strong endorsement: most commonly used form of endorsement is to spell out explicitly the complete name of the endorsing brand

Question 15

Explain the multilithic brand structure

Answer 15

• many brands
• house of brands
• brands that each have their own name within an organization or company
• brand name assigned to a product is not used by any other product

Question 16

Explain the benefits of the multilithic structure

Answer 16

• benefits and niche markets: enables businesses to focus their brand positioning on functional benefits and to rule specific market niches
• incompatible brand associations: avoids a brand association that would be detrimental to a products success
• breakthrough advantages: when Toyota introduced Lexus as the luxury car model it positioned it apart from any Toyota predecessors

Question 17

Explain the multilithic -shadow endorser and not connected- structure

Answer 17

• shadow endorser: although there is no obvious link between a shadow endorser brand and the endorsed brand, many customers are aware of it
• not connected: the brand names and logos of the different brands of a company are completely different

Question 18

How can one select the right position in the brand relationship spectrum

Answer 18

By asking questions
towards a branded house
1. Does the master brand contribute to the offering?
2. Will the master brand be strengthened through a brand extension or endorsement?

towards a house of brands
3. Is there a compelling need for a separate brand?
4. Will the business support a new brand name?

Question 19

What are the guidelines for brand architecture

Answer 19

• be customer focused: this recognizes the knowledge, desires and behavior of your customers
• brand platforms: establish wide, forceful brand platforms, the need for a robust umbrella brand or company brand is high and it maximizes flow and synergy
• less is more: avoid over branding and having too many brands
• selectively employ sub-brands: make sure to use sub-brands wisely.
• selectively extend brands: brand extensions should build upon and strengthen current brand equity, one should be selective about employing the strategy

Question 20

What is a product line

Answer 20

The product line is a collection or group of goods in a certain product category which are closely related either because of how they function or who they are sold to etc. cars

Question 21

What is a product portfolio

Answer 21

Refers to the collection of all the products marked by a company in all the different categories this includes both individual products and product lines (for example Honda’s product portfolio includes motor vehicles, motorcycles, power tools etc.)

Question 22

What are the various dimensions within a product portfolio

Answer 22

• width: this is the number of product lines a company carries (Honda carries four product lines - motor vehicles, motor cycles, power products and marine products)
• length: the length of a product line is the total number of products or items in the product line (Honda has three items in its motor vehicle category)
• depth: consists of the number of variants offered for each product within the product line (for example Honda’s Amaze motor vehicle has three models - comfort CVT, comfort manual, trend manual)
• consistency: reflects how closely related the various product lines are (all Honda products are powered by the Honda engine and sold in the same retail outlets)

Question 23

Explain brand portfolio

Answer 23

Is the set of all the brand lines that a particular seller makes available to buyers within a specific category or market segment. Brand lines in the portfolio can be characterized by two key dimensions:

• scope: the variety of markets and market segments that the brands and the company’s brand portfolio target
• relationship: the degree to which the brands in the company’s brand portfolio are similar or unique and whether they compete with or support one another

Question 24

Distinguish between brand stretching and brand retrenching

Answer 24

• brand stretching: is a key component of the overall strategy for creating and sustaining a brand’s strong overall equity, it is also known as brand extension.
• brand retrenching: looks to eliminate brand extensions or the retirement of a brand to strengthen the overall product portfolio

Question 25

What are the advantages of brand stretching

Answer 25

• consumer knowledge: there’s less of a need to develop awareness in brand image from a new product or services promoted using an established strong brand
• consumer trust: strong brands are trusted by customers to fulfill a certain promise beyond simply being well-known
• lower cost: reduced launching costs and benefits of awareness and reputation
• packaging and labeling efficiency: extension avoids both the expense and difficulty of coming up with a new name for a product as well as maximizing the prominent and visibility of the brand in retail stores

Question 26

What are the disadvantages of brand stretching

Answer 26

• brand dilution: when consumers begin to think less highly of a product
• cannibalism: users switching from another brand within the company to the new extension, thus taking away sales from the parent brand
• forgo the opportunity to build a new brand: not stretching the brand but rather creating a new brand could have various advantages