PBL trigger 3

PBL session 3: Brand architecture and brand strategy

1.      Compare the brand strategies and architectures of different companies. How and why are they different? 

Definition of brand strategy according to business dictionary:

Long-term marketing support for a brand, based on the defition of the characteristics of the target consumers. It includes understanding of their preferences, and expectations from the brand

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/brand-strategy.html

One of the brand strategies I witnessed personally was the brand strategy of Red Bull. Red Bull is a big sponsor of many sports events and not only the well-known sports but also more extreme sports like space jumping and cliff diving. One of the lesser known sports sponsored by Red bull are the soapbox races. There was a soapbox race in Helsinki a few weeks ago and it was organized by Red Bull. There were multiple races simultaneously in countries all over the world.  I think this is the strategy of Red Bull. Sponsor lesser known sports to make them known to the bigger public. This also creates goodwill for Red Bull.

Coca Cola’s new strategy is also a world wide strategy now that they are using the ‘one-brand’ strategy. Coca cola launched the “taste the feeling” campaign in 2016. It undescores the commitment to choice, offering consumers different coca cola’s for different tastes, lifestyles and diets. A few examples are the cola light with no sugar but also the coca cola bottles without caffeine. Coca Cola wants to advertise that their product is for everybody.

Source: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/taste-the-feeling-launch

I think the main difference between these two brand strategies is the fact that coca cola wants to unify their customer groups and red bull focuses on the many different customer groups. Red Bull is sponsoring a lot of different sports and these consumers may also differ from each other but coca cola wants to promote their idea that all of their consumers can enjoy the same product together.

2    What brand architecture models do companies you know use?

 3    Which brand architectures are good for different products and services?

I think that the monolithic systems is a good system for companies with a reputation for being of high quality or high luxury. Porsche is a  good example of a monolithic brand. They use a single name for all of their products like sports bags, watches, blackberry phones, clothing, sunglasses, desk lamps, shoes, pens, leather gloves and even pocket knives.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-coolest-products-made-by-porsche-2012-11

The product architecture system is used by Procter and Gamble as the image above describes. Unilever is also a good example of this. Unilever has a lot different products with different uses and if one of these brands is performing poorly or is part of a scandal, the Unilever brand stays intact because Unilever is not directly linked to the product.

Endorsed systems are used by companies that are known for their quality in one or more branches. A good example of this is the Marriot. They are known for their quality and luxury hotels and they want to use that good name on their brands that are operating in the same business.

4    Analyze the brand strategy and architecture of a chosen company.

The brand strategy of Heineken is to create the feeling that drinking a Heineken is fun and it helps you relax after work or during a holiday. Their advertising campaigns focus heavily on the friendship between men and watching football as Heineken is one of the main sponsors of the champions league in Europe. 

The brand architecture used by Heineken is the product architecture system. Heineken bought a lot of different brewers and brand but Heineken still sells these drinks under their original name without a link to Heineken.