Brand Architecture

Branding is a key element of a firm’s marketing strategy. Strong brands help establish the firm's identity in the market place, and develop a solid customer franchise (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 1997; Keller, 1998). Owning the number one or two brand in the product category provides manufacturers withas well as providing a weapon to counter growing retailer power (Barwise and Robertson, 1992). A strong brand name Theycan also provide the basis for brand extensions, which further strengthen the firm's position in the marketplace as well as potentially enhancing the brand’s value (
International brand architecture provides a structure and a rationale for branding decisions at different levels of the organization and for different geographic locations. In essence, this architecture provides the principles that guide the effective use of brands so as to develop a strong positional advantage in international markets.

Some elements of brand architecture (Aaker)
Brand portfolio: Includes all the brand and sub-brands attached to product-market offerings, including co-brands with other firms.

Portfolio roles: A systematic view of the brand portfolio, emphasizing roles such as Strategic Brand, Branded Energizer,
Flanker, or Cash Cow.

Market Context Roles: Branded offerings are communicated in a particular ‘product-market’ context such as Master Brand,
Endorser Brand, and Sub-brand.

Brand Portfolio Structure: Describes the relationship the brands in the portfolio have to one another, using techniques such as Brand Groupings, Hierarchies, and Network Models.

Brand Scope. The scope dimension “reflects the extent to which the brand spans product categories, subcategories, and markets,” and addresses the scope of a given brand in relation to other company brands, as well as its relation to competitor brands and