Brand architecture

This is how an organization structures its brand portfolio. According to Aaker, there are two major systems of brand architecture, one where brand dominates (brand-dominant) and one which articulates two brands together (dual brands).

In the brand-dominant system, a brand is considered at the intersection of each use with a consumer insight i.e. Côte d’Or, Milka et Toblerone, Kraft Foods’ chocolate brands. In this system we can have either product brands which sign only one product (i.e. Perrier);; range brands which sign several products related to the same technology (i.e. Samsung, Xerox);  or even umbrella brands that contain heterogeneous products (i.e. Bic, Virgin).

In the dual brands system, we find parent-brands coupled with sub-brands (i.e. Apple Touch, Apple Nano, Apple Shuffle).