Complicated brands often need to be architected to be understood. If an organization has more than one brand or one brand with several sub-brands, they must be organized in a way that each portion of the brand maintains scalability, yet remain associated with the parent brand. There are three prevalent ways to structure a brand’s hierarchy and depending on the product or service involved usually one of these solutions provides the appropriate structure.

Individual brands that are loosely associated with a parent brand. Johnson and Johnson is a great example of how this brand hierarchy works. Owning several strong brands such as Tylenol, Listerine, and Band-aids, as well as several prescription drugs; Johnson and Johnson builds each as an individual brand and unless one was to investigate the packaging, they would potentially never know Johnson and Johnson was behind the product.

Individual brands that fall under the umbrella of a parent brand. Nabisco is a great example of this type of brand hierarchy. Each Nabisco product, though individually branded, has the red Nabisco logo in the upper corner of the package. Upon visiting the Nabisco website, each product is listed after the Nabisco url (www.nabiscoworld.com/wheatthins) where as a Johnson and Johnson product has its own unique url (www.tylenol.com)

A parent brand that has several sub-brands beneath it. Kraft is a good example of this brand hierarchy. Kraft has a line of products where Kraft is first and the individual product second; Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Kraft Singles, Kraft Original Barbeque Sauce.

When creating a new product or service, think about how this new extension of the brand should be handled. The three methods listed above should be considered in tandem with the organization’s overall branding strategy, individual product or service positioning, and marketplace/consumer group the product will serve.