Slide
Branded House and House of Brands are two different brand architecture strategies that companies use to organise their brand portfolios.
In a Branded House strategy, the company has a single master brand that is used across all of its products and services. This master brand is usually very strong and well-established, and all of the company’s products and services are branded under it. Examples of companies that use this strategy include Apple, Nike, and Virgin. These companies have a strong, recognisable brand that is associated with quality, innovation, and style, and they use this brand to market all of their products and services.
A Branded House strategy is often used by companies that want to build a strong, recognisable, and trusted brand. This strategy is effective when a company has a clear and compelling brand value proposition that can be applied to all of its products and services. The Branded House strategy also allows companies to benefit from the brand equity that they have built up over time, which can help them to increase customer loyalty and drive sales.
Usually, in a Branded House, each sub brand takes direct design consistency from the parent brand or brand above in the hierarchy. Sub brands would therefore incorporate either typeface, colour, iconography, or a mixture of all three. Important questions for consideration here would be; does the brand sit neatly within the parent brand structure? Does it demand clear space within the hierarchy? Is it a clear service or product that shares the same brand promise as outlined in the parent strategy? When the answer is yes to one or all of these then a Branded House is a good option and the mechanics of setting up each sub brand can be straightforward and easily implemented.