Brand Architecture is the high-level structuring of your brand’s offering. If you want to scale your brand without wasting time and money, then getting it right to start with is a must. It’s a process which affects product naming and informs your advertising. As a result it will determine how your corporate trade-mark will appear around your competitor’s brands and decide your differentiation. It can even influence your division names.
Brand Architecture is important
As critical as it is, brand architecture is typically overlooked. Even the savviest C-suiters will sweep it under the rug. Why? Because it can be hard to streamline your past, present and future offers. So if you can’t see into the future, then flexibility may be the way to go. In short, getting the brand architecture right takes a lot of clarification and commitment.
The cost of ignoring the architecture of your brand
Unclear branding is a compounding waste of time, money and brand equity. The more you live with it, the more you will probably suffer from:
- Diluted brand awareness
- Cluttered advertising
- Costly design inefficiencies
- Product naming inconsistencies
- Too many trademarks
Look at your competition
If your organisation has muddy branding, it might benefit your team to look at simple examples of good brand architecture. Even in parallel industries. For example, Apple recently changed Apple iPhoto to Apple Photos. As a result, this naming decision moved Apple towards an increasingly clean brand to put emphasis on the Apple trade-mark.
Be a Brand Architecture champion
Maybe Apple’s approach would benefit your organisation. Or maybe you need something different. Either way, there are many examples to draw from. Maybe one will give you the fuel you need to make brand architecture a bigger priority in your business. And maybe – just maybe – you’ll be one of the valiant few who have what it takes to lead the way.
At i23 Design we believe your brand is not just about reaching your target market to select you over the competition. It’s also about getting your prospects to see you as the sole provider of a solution to their problem or need. In essence, it’s a problem-solver.
Get in touch if you’re looking to take your brand to the next level, need a better looking website or printed materials, have a deadline which cannot be missed, or just want a chat about your options.
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