Top 7. Brand Architecture Blunders PARTNERS. See Things Differently TOP 7 BRAND ARCHITECTURE BLUNDERS 1 PARTNERS

Transcription

1 Top 7 Brand Architecture Blunders See Things Differently TOP 7 BRAND ARCHITECTURE BLUNDERS 1

2 1. Inwardly Focused 2. Inflexible Models 3. Complex Relationships 4. Internal Language 5. Does Not Support Business Strategy 6. Not Pragmatic or Supportive of the Corporate Culture 7. Not Future-Proof Brand architecture is not a new concept in the world of brand management. In its basic form, it establishes and communicates the relationships between brands between corporate brands and product brands and between sub-brands, range brands and line extensions. The purpose of brand architecture is to help customers and potential customers better navigate offerings and to establish their relevance. Good brand architecture is the roadmap between a company and its various target audiences. Strategically using brand architecture to connect offerings to customers has never been more critical given the fragmentation of customer segments and the disintermediation between brands and brand owners caused by social media. TOP 7 BRAND ARCHITECTURE BLUNDERS 2

3 Having focused on brand architecture for the last 20 years, I have worked on numerous projects spanning multi-national corporations to start-ups; consumer packaged goods to pure business-to-business organizations; traditional brick and mortar to online only companies; and product offering to service offering organizations. In looking back, seven blunders consistently rose to the top: Inwardly Focused: Brand architecture must be based upon the marketplace-in rather than the organization-out. It should not be based upon organization charts or internal silos. If it makes sense to organize around customer segments, then do so. If it is more appropriate to organize around product categories that works as well. The blunder is to allow internal constructs and politics inhibit you from structuring architecture based upon the consideration set from the customer s vantage point. Consider a global payments technology company that s masterbrand had massive consumer appeal and awareness. Lacking an externally focused customer segmentation strategy, the commercial segment was hamstrung from creating brand recognition and relevance for its specific audiences. In creating the company s brand architecture, the overarching principle behind my recommendation was establish clear delineation between offerings for the consumer and commercial segments. By avoiding the inwardly focused blunder, the architecture enabled the commercial business to address the different needs of its segments and grow market shares. Inflexible Constructs: Business is dynamic fraught with mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs and divestitures, joint ventures, ever changing competitive landscapes, just to name a few. Brand architecture constructs must be flexible in order to allow for the needs of business today and tomorrow. They must be responsive to market realities and allow brand equities to be optimally leveraged when at all possible and transferred when deemed appropriate. Constructs must take into account whether an existing brand can stretch into a new category or if a different brand in the portfolio is better equipped to carry the offering. How often have I heard a client say, The old model was so inflexible it was simply abandoned? For brand architecture to be embraced by an organization, it must have the fluidity to evolve in lockstep with the needs of those charged with implementing it. Complex Relationships: Brand architecture is meant to move products and services closer to the customer; to help the consumer expeditiously find the product she is looking for. Structures that are too complex often create a conceptual divide between brands and businesses. How often have we heard well-meaning colleagues discuss their desire to brand an internal LOB externally? How many times have we sat in focus groups only to hear customers have no idea what company sells the product in question? They are aware of the product, they have preference for the product, but unfortunately they simply have no idea what company sells the product. By clearly communicating the relationship between the corporate brand and the product brand, we can ensure future purchases and increase market penetration. Internal Language: Take a moment to travel down memory lane. Remember your first job out of B school and your first big meeting? Remember all the internal jargon and acronyms being used? Remember how confused you felt? Consumers and customers feel just as confused when internal vernacular is foisted upon them. When developing architecture models, we must keep in mind that internal alphabet soup often confuses more than it clarifies offerings. So, too, does brand speak cloud and muddle product portfolios to targets. Is the premium product better than the select one? Consumers don t understand the difference between a sub-brand and a line extension, nor do they recognize that a specific color is meant to communicate a particular relationship between two offerings. TOP 7 BRAND ARCHITECTURE BLUNDERS 3

4 Does Not Support the Business Strategy: As discussed, brand architecture must be based upon the customerin rather than the organization-out. Further, it must be based upon and supportive of the organization s business strategy. I like to say that brand strategy is the external communication of the internal business strategy. Brand architecture is the means by which the business strategy is structured, represented and communicated externally. Consider, for example, a company that was consolidating its sales organizations to cut costs. Its brand architecture shouldn t merely reflect this consolidation but must also communicate it. On a sales call with one of the company s reps, I noted he was wearing a shirt with the consolidated company logo while wearing a pin representing the old sales organization. And, he handed me two business cards one old and one new. The organization had not developed a brand transition strategy to communicate the change and hence the rep s schizophrenic representations. Not Pragmatic or Supportive of the Corporate Constructs and Culture: Like a company s business strategy; its brand architecture must work within the constructs of the organization. Is the organization marketing driven or sales driven? Is it centralized or decentralized? Does the organization have a brand culture? Does it have a strong corporate brand? Remember the marketing manager at IBM that did not want to use the IBM brand to launch its laptop offering? What I remember is that he no longer worked for IBM after that recommendation. Having a strong internal brand champion is critical to the success of any brand architecture program. Earlier in my career, I worked on a brand architecture initiative where the CEO refused to participate in any aspect of the project. Imagine the impact his absence had on the success of the program. Not surprisingly, the organization was paralyzed to make any bold decisions or moves. Not Future Proof: Here today gone tomorrow. While brand architecture is meant to communicate an organizations portfolio at a given point in time, it must also take into consideration future offerings. Just because an organization employs a masterbrand architecture structure, does not mean future offering must leverage the masterbrand in its purest form. Yes, Disney has a strong masterbrand. And, yes, it must have been brand heresy to consider using any brand other than the Disney masterbrand. But fortunately, Disney was forward looking and realized the Touchstone brand had the potential, with its less than family-friendly content, to hurt the Disney brand. Good brand architecture must be developed with an eye to the future. It must allow for and accommodate the exceptions. It must contain rules and guidelines for how future offerings can be integrated into the current structure and minimize subjectivity in doing so. Business stops for no one and brand architecture is a powerful means to anticipate and prepare for change. It can and must help to minimize the recreating the wheel dilemma so often confronted when brand architecture is not forward looking. Brand architecture, while basic in its definition, is complex in its execution. Masterbrands, sub-brands and range-brands. Where does a brand manger begin? Start with the target and then work into the organization. Keep it flexible and simple. Use easy to understand language. Make sure it supports both the business strategy and the corporate culture and constructs. Last, but certainly not least, make sure it is forward looking. Only with these seven rules in mind can brand architecture be blunder proof. TOP 7 BRAND ARCHITECTURE BLUNDERS 4

5 Thank you. Contacting Us Natalie Ross: E natalie@brightbluepartners.com M TOP 7 BRAND ARCHITECTURE BLUNDERS 5