Diagram: a master brand above four sub-brands, with Product C beneath Sub-brand C and Endorsed E beneath Sub-brand D. The nodes start scattered and settle into this hierarchy.
Capability 05Portfolio structure and naming
Brand architecture for a growing portfolio.
We audit the brands you carry, choose the architecture model, set naming rules and plan a phased migration. Customers can then find the right offer, and each new product has a place.
A-101Portfolio audit
Every brand you carry, mapped before any model.
Every brand, product and label you carry: what each costs, what it earns and where customers get lost. Each brand is plotted by awareness and role clarity, then given a proposed action: keep, endorse, merge or retire.
Portfolio · 9 brands · sized by share of revenue
IllustrativeA-102What we offer
Six deliverables, from audit to governance.
This work is for companies whose brands, products and acquisitions have outgrown the rules that connect them. Read the drawing from the ground floor up.
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L+05 06
Architecture governance
The new-brand testRoof: who approves new brands
Who decides when a new brand is needed, and the test each proposal must pass.
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L+04 05
Migration plan
PhasedCirculation: how you move from old to new
The order for moving to the new structure without confusing customers or breaking what works.
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L+03 04
Naming system
Naming rulesSignage: what things are called
Names for products, tiers and features, with rules for naming the next one.
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L+02 03
Relationship rules
Lockups · hierarchyConnections: how brands meet
How the master brand and each sub-brand appear together: lockups, hierarchy, spacing and where they stay apart.
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L+01 02
Architecture model
Model on evidenceFrame: the model everything hangs from
Branded house, endorsed, house of brands or a hybrid, chosen on evidence with the trade-offs written down.
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L+00 01
Portfolio audit
Every brand you carryFoundation: what exists today
Every brand, product and label you carry: what each costs, what it earns and where customers get lost.
A-103Choosing a model
Architecture models, compared on one portfolio.
Branded house, endorsed, house of brands or a hybrid, chosen on evidence with the trade-offs written down. Move along the spectrum, pick a situation and see what the agent recommends before your board decides.
Each brand leads with its own name; the parent vouches for it.
Situation
Architecture agentRecommends
Endorsed
Brand N has its own customers and recognition. Endorsing it keeps both while trust in the parent grows; a full rename can follow once equity has moved.
Trade-offs at Endorsed
- Cost to run
- 3/5
- Equity transfer
- 3/5
- Focus
- 4/5
The agent proposes a model and scores the trade-offs; the portfolio board decides and signs the decision record.
Interactive: a range slider moves the portfolio between four architecture models; situation buttons change the agent’s recommendation and trade-off scores; the decide button records the chosen position.
A-104Relationship rules
How brands appear together, in exact proportions.
How the master brand and each sub-brand appear together: lockups, hierarchy, spacing and where they stay apart.
Endorsed
- The endorsed brand leads; the parent sits beneath, never beside.
- Endorsement line at 42% of the lead name’s height.
- Parent colour only in the endorsement, never in the lead name.
Where they do not meetPack fronts under 40 mm: endorsement moves to the back panel.
Lockup builder: choose a relationship to see a generic lockup with its ratio, clear space, minimum size and rules.
A-105Naming system
Four questions decide whether a product earns its own name.
Names for products, tiers and features, with rules for naming the next one. Who decides when a new brand is needed, and the test each proposal must pass.
- Your brandMaster
- Sub-brandOnly if it passes
- TierCore · Plus · Pro
- DescriptorPlain words
Question 1 of 4Awaiting answer
Is it a new offer, rather than a size, version or variant of one you already sell?
Variants never get names of their own.
Outcome
Agent screens names for conflicts and meaning in every market. People choose the name and sign off the test.
A-106Customer navigation
The customer’s route through your portfolio, before and after.
When brands are arranged in the order they arrived, customers turn back and give up. Follow one customer looking for the right Segment A option, then switch the plan.
A-107Migration plan
A phased migration that moves each brand in an agreed order.
The order for moving to the new structure without confusing customers or breaking what works. Play the six quarters to see which brand moves when, with the risk and measure for each.
Migration timeline: step through six quarters; seven brands move between Keep, Endorse, Merge and Retire, with the risk and measure for each quarter.
A-108How it works
Three phases, each ending in a decision.
Map the portfolio, choose the model, then name and migrate. 8 weeks in total, with what agents prepare and what people decide in each room.
Wk 01–02 · 2 weeks
Map
Every brand and product you carry, how customers move between them and what each costs to maintain.
You keep
- Portfolio map
- Customer navigation review
- Cost of complexity
- Agents work
- Inventory every brand, name and touchpoint; cluster search and journey data into a first navigation map.
- People decide
- Interview brand owners and customers; confirm what each brand is for.
Wk 03–05 · 3 weeks
Model
Each model is tested against your growth plans and customer behaviour; one is chosen and its trade-offs recorded.
You keep
- Model options
- Decision record
- Relationship rules
- Agents work
- Score each model against growth plans and navigation data; draft the trade-off table for every option.
- People decide
- Leadership chooses the model in a working session and signs the decision record.
Wk 06–08 · 3 weeks
Name & migrate
Naming system, lockup rules and a phased migration plan with its order, risks and measures.
You keep
- Naming system
- Lockup rules
- Migration plan
- Agents work
- Screen candidate names for conflicts and meaning in every market; draft the migration order and its dependencies.
- People decide
- Choose the names, set the phases and approve each gate before anything moves.
A-109What you get
Each document answers one question about your portfolio.
Documents are numbered, made in formats your teams already use and dated to the week they are signed.
IllustrativeIssue weeks follow the eight-week plan; each engagement sets its own.
| Sheet | Title | Format | Answers | Issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-201 | Portfolio map & audit | FigmaSheet | Which brands exist, what each costs and earns, where customers get lost. | Wk 02 |
| A-202 | Architecture model & decision record | Document | Which model, why and what was traded away to choose it. | Wk 05 |
| A-203 | Relationship & lockup rules | Guidelines | How any two brands appear together, and where they never meet. | Wk 05 |
| A-204 | Naming system & nomenclature | Document | What the next product, tier or feature is called, without a debate. | Wk 08 |
| A-205 | Migration plan · phased | Roadmap | What moves when, in what order, with which risks watched. | Wk 08 |
| A-206 | New-brand test | One page | Whether a proposal deserves a brand at all. | Wk 08 |
Agent keeps the register current and checks every sheet against the decision record. People sign each sheet before it is issued.
A-110What changes
What gets simpler once the structure holds.
Progress is measured against the baseline taken before migration: navigation, search share and brand recall.
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S-01
Customers find their way
The structure follows how people buy, not how the org chart grew.
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S-02
Fewer brands, more equity
Each brand you keep has a clear role, so investment builds fewer, stronger names.
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S-03
The next launch has a home
New products get a name and a place from agreed rules, without last-minute debates.
Services & packages
Brand architecture services for growing portfolios.
Start with a portfolio audit or one naming decision, or commission the full model and a phased migration. Each recommendation comes with its evidence and trade-offs in writing.
- Categories
- 04
- Services
- 16
- Packages
- 04
How to buy
- 01Pick services. Enquire about one, or add several to a brief.
- 02Choose a package. A sprint, a fixed project or an ongoing team.
- 03Send the brief. We reply within one working day.
How we work with you
Ways to engage, from a question to an RFQ.
Ask a quick question, send a project brief or issue a formal RFQ. The lead for the work reads each one in full, and any services already in your brief go with it.
Or book a thirty-minute call-
01
For a first conversation, a press request or anything that does not need a scope yet.
You get A reply from a named lead
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02Recommended
Goals, audiences, a budget band and timing, so our first reply can outline the work.
You get Options and a first scope after one call
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03
Your documents, deadlines and the procurement and security rules the work must meet.
You get Receipt confirmed and a named bid lead
How it is priced
Each package shows its pricing model. Work starts once a written scope and quote are agreed.
Opens a project brief with this package chosen.
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In your brief
- Typical length
- 1–3 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed fee
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In your brief
- Typical length
- 4–12 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed price
-
In your brief
- Typical length
- 3–9 months
- Pricing
- Fixed price per milestone
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In your brief
- Typical length
- 6–18 months
- Pricing
- Programme fee · by statement of work
Compare what each package includes
| Package | Every engagement includes | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| SprintA short, fixed-scope engagement that answers one defined question. |
|
Discovery, a diagnostic, a prototype or a decision you need to make soon |
| ProjectA defined scope, delivered for a fixed price. |
|
Work you can describe up front: an identity, a platform or a set of tools |
| MilestoneA larger build in phases you approve and pay for one at a time. |
|
Programmes too large for one contract, where you want control at each step |
| EnterpriseA multi-workstream programme with a dedicated team, governance and agreed service levels. |
|
Large organisations running change across markets, portfolios or business units |
A-111Questions
What leaders ask about brand architecture.
Questions leadership teams bring to the first meeting, each linked to the deliverable that answers it.
When your portfolio confuses customers or your own teams. Typical triggers are a new product nobody agrees how to name, two offers customers mix up or an acquired brand to integrate.
See sheet A-201 · Portfolio map & audit
Only where a current name costs you customers or equity. The migration plan sets when each rename happens, so customers can follow the change.
See sheet A-205 · Migration plan
We test each model against your growth plans and how customers navigate. Your leadership chooses, and the decision record lists the trade-offs so the choice holds when people change.
See sheet A-202 · Decision record
Yes. The model decides where an acquired brand sits, and the migration plan sets when and how it moves.
See sheet A-205 · Migration plan
A question not answered here?
Book a callA-112Brand Design · Brand Design
Six Brand Design capabilities, bought alone or together.
Brand Architecture is one of six Brand Design capabilities. The two marked are the ones an architecture brief most often needs alongside it.
Brand Architecture
Growth Strategy
The customers and markets to pursue next, chosen from research and market data. B-02Brand Identity
Visual identity, tone of voice and brand guidelines for every touchpoint. B-03Brand Foundation
Positioning, values and principles, written as the brand platform every team works from. B-04 · PairBrand Systems
Design tokens, templates and rules that let a brand adapt and stay recognisable. B-06Brand AI Tools
Automated brand checks on every asset, before a named person approves it. Gatehouse · EntranceBack to Brand Design
Tell us what you need built.
You will speak to a lead who would run the work, and get a straight answer on fit.
Three ways to start
Every engagement starts with a written scope and a quote agreed before work begins.
Choose one of the three ways above