What is Brand Architecture exactly?
In the same way that an architect will study the terrain prior to developing the concept or drawings, the Brand Architect will examine the market, competitors and trends.
Developing New Brands
For a new brand, a new DNA must be created based on the long-term vision for the brand, what attributes it will need to reproduce, regenerate, enhance or reduce over a period of time. Ideally it will be timeless with the ability to cross borders and market categories in order to sustain itself forever. It’s a bit like an Architect determining whether the building will be a skyscaper or a modular structure which could evolve into a village.
With brands however, we need to build in both a rational as well as an emotional and a spiritual element, almost as if we were creating a human being. Brands need a body, mind and soul. Its role is to compete. It needs you to fall in love with it!
Ideally, brand naming, logos etc should not be created before the DNA is in place. We now see the world’s best architects adopting Brand Architectural ways of thinking. Peter Marino is a case in point. Before designing a new Chanel or Louis Vuitton store, he goes deep into the existing DNA of the brand as well as into the minds of the people of the place. Only then does he begin creating the magical Peter Marino recipe within his client brand’s universe.
‘Bigging Up’ (Upgrading) the Brand
The starting point is to consider the role played by the House Brands and the Product Brands, their DNA structures, their seperability and elasticity. These are the aspects often overlooked by brand owners and the reason for the demise of many.
Unlike luxury brands, most mass brands were born as Product Brands normally to build one single reputation for one single product category reputation and usually the brand maker’s name was just a legally attached company trading name. This approach is no longer considered cost-effective and in fact is now considered with suspicion i.e why is the company hiding itself?
Broader Umbrella Branding under a House Brand name helps to grow the status and universe of the Product Brand. The Product Brand can then be seen to share the reputation of its family name and is no longer an orphan. The Dove Spa concept in the UK makes sense because it creates a family ‘Maison’ feel without having to expose that its origgins are in fact derived from a washing powder company. Dove Spa can then launch high-end facial skin care products with confidence.
Reviving Existing Brands
It is often far more difficult to revive an ailing brand than to create a new one, mostly because the tired brand already represents something that is being rejected or ignored. Think about how difficult it is to get someone who no longer loves you, to love you again?
Here is where the Brand Architect will start by looking at what ‘genetic modification’ the brand may need in order to reinvent itself. Here is where Anthropology and Psychology come into play. This is because a brand only exists in a person’s mind! The extent to which their perceptions change will depend on the modifications made. Rebranding a Nation Brand that may have a damaged reputation is even more complex.
What Brand Architecture is not
It is not simply a name, a design, a logo and a tagline!