Getting your brand house in order

“This doesn’t align with the parent company’s promise.”

“That sounds too much like our brand — stay in your lane.”

“Your campaign is infringing on their audience.”

“Know your role.”

“What exactly is our brand’s role?”

These frustrations are common in multi-brand organizations. They create internal friction, muddle marketing efforts, lead to poor portfolio decisions and hinder opportunities to grow brand equity.

The core issue? A lack of clear, cohesive brand architecture — resulting in hazy identities, undefined roles and misaligned strategies.

Often an afterthought, brand architecture is the foundation for effective marketing and business decisions. Without it, companies risk brand dilution, fragmentation, confusion and inefficiencies — triggering a ripple effect (and serious headache) across an entire organization.

Mythic has seen it all and solved for it — from crafting brand architecture blueprints for fast-growing organizations with new acquisitions to course-correcting brands dealing with internal confusion and external overlap.

What is brand architecture?

Simply put, brand architecture is a strategic framework that defines how a company’s parent brand, sub-brands, products, and services relate and interact. It clarifies brand roles, guides growth and ensures consistency across the portfolio.

Common types of brand architecture:

Branded house: A single parent brand governs all sub-brands, which share its name, values and guidelines. Example: Apple → iPhone, iPad, AppleTV

Endorsed brands: Sub-brands maintain distinct identities but leverage the parent brand’s reputation through endorsement. Example: Marriott → Courtyard by Marriott, JW Marriott

House of brands: Independent brands operate under a parent brand, often in different sectors, with unique audiences and identities. Example: P&G → Oral-B, Pampers, Febreze

Benefits of a well-defined brand architecture

A strong, well-defined brand architecture is more than just a structure — it’s the foundation that brings clarity, alignment and long-term value across your organization.

• Enhanced clarity: Strengthens each brand’s identity, minimizing confusion and dilution for customers.
• Internal alignment: Helps employees understand the distinct roles and relationships between brands.
• Brand equity growth: Increases recognition and perceived value, driving customer loyalty and higher sales.
• Cross-promotion opportunities: Opens doors for effective cross-selling and collaborative promotional efforts.
• Portfolio strategy: Guides decisions on when to refine or expand your brand portfolio for maximum growth.

Ready to get your brand house in order?

Every organization, category, and brand has its own unique makeup. Whether you’re a branded house, endorsed brands, house of brands or even a hybrid, your portfolio is one of a kind.

At Mythic, we’ve seen it all, and don't believe in one-size-fits-all. We dive deep into your brands and business to design a brand architecture that’s uniquely yours — strategic, precise and built for growth.

Let’s create a brand architecture as distinctive as your business. Ready to begin? Reach out to us at newbiz@mythic.us to start building something extraordinary.