Your brand represents your values, products, and your services. As your business grows, your brand architecture may need to change to reflect your priorities and direction. How do you know when it’s time to look at your brand architecture? In this article, we will look at the triggers we see with our clients at BLVR® that indicate it might be time to assess brand architecture.
Your audience doesn’t fully understand your range of brands and products.
One of the most significant reasons to consider revising your brand architecture is when your audience needs to understand your range of brands and products fully. If your brand has grown and expanded into multiple product lines, it can be challenging for your customers to understand the relationship between them. This can lead to confusion, dilution of your brand, and even loss of sales.
To avoid these problems, you must consider a clear and concise brand architecture showcasing the relationship between your products and services. This can involve creating a clear hierarchy of brands, using sub-brands, or creating a new brand architecture that clearly differentiates your products from each other.
You want to enhance your ability to cross-sell various products or services.
Cross-selling is an effective way to increase revenue and build customer loyalty. However, to succeed in cross-selling, you must clearly understand your brand architecture. This will help you identify opportunities to create marketing efficiencies, cross-promotion, and upsells.
With a clear understanding of your brand architecture, you can identify products and services that complement each other and create bundled offerings. This not only helps you generate more revenue but also helps to build customer loyalty, as customers are more likely to stick with brands that offer a complete solution.
You want to leverage the equity of one of your existing brands to extend into a new business or product line.
Brand equity is the value that a brand brings to a business. It is the goodwill and reputation that a brand has earned over time. If you have a strong brand with significant equity, leveraging it to extend into a new business or product line can be tempting. However, before doing this, you must consider your brand architecture.
If your new business or product line is separate from your existing brand, you may need to create a new brand architecture to differentiate it. On the other hand, if your new business or product line is related to your existing brand, you can leverage the equity of your existing brand to create a new brand architecture that strengthens your overall brand.
You are in the process or have recently acquired a new brand and need to determine how it fits within your portfolio.
If you have recently acquired a new brand, it’s essential to consider how it fits within your existing brand architecture. Create a new brand architecture to showcase the relationship between your new brand and your existing brands. Alternatively, you may need to integrate your new brand into your existing brand architecture.
Before making any decisions, it’s important to consider the unique value proposition of your new brand and how it fits into your overall brand strategy. This will help you create a brand architecture that supports your growth goals while maintaining the integrity of your brand.
You want to be prepared for a potential sell-off of one or more of your existing brands.
Finally, if you are considering a sell-off of one or more of your existing brands, you need to evaluate your brand architecture to ensure that it’s optimized for this process. This may involve consolidating your brands or creating a clear hierarchy of brands showcasing each brand’s value in your portfolio.
By optimizing your brand architecture for a sell-off, you can maximize the value of your brands while maintaining the strength of your overall brand. This will help you achieve your financial goals while protecting the long-term health of your organization.
Knowing when to assess your brand architecture is key to ensuring your business stays relevant and competitive in the market. Whether you are looking to expand your product offering, reposition your brand, or consolidate your portfolio, evaluating your brand architecture can provide numerous benefits, such as increased efficiency, cost savings, and improved customer loyalty. By being proactive in your brand architecture strategy, you can position your business for long-term success and growth in a rapidly changing market.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Revising brand architecture may be necessary when the audience needs help understanding the range of brands and products, leading to confusion and loss of sales.
- Clear brand architecture enhances cross-selling opportunities by identifying complementary products and creating bundled offerings.
- When leveraging the equity of an existing brand to extend into a new business or product line, careful consideration of brand architecture is necessary to maintain differentiation.
- Acquiring a new brand requires evaluating how it fits within the existing brand architecture and potentially creating a new architecture or integrating it into the current one.
- Optimizing brand architecture is crucial when preparing for a potential sell-off, ensuring maximum value and maintaining the overall brand strength.
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