range architecture - the blueprint for brand success

Just as great buildings need good foundations and a clear structure, brand and product architectures are no different in how they should be approached (writes Lawrence, MD).

Brands have a life span. For many it's short, but others flourish and generate meaningful income. Consumers’ relationships with brands also have a life span, driven by generational changes or more quickly by changes in habits, taste and lifestyle.

For brand owners, reacting to these changes can be a challenge, and this often results in brand and product portfolios becoming bloated and poorly focused with little differentiation. Ironically, it's often easier to add another product to a brand's range than it is to change or delist an existing product. This is partly due to brand owners hedging their bets, and partly due to a production-led management strategy. Consequently, these bloated portfolios are more likely to confuse consumers and cause them to lose engagement with the brand they once cherished. And they become expensive to support.

The answer to this set of problems lies in range architecture
A range architecture review should begin at the point that will effect the best commercial outcome, which means exploring the brand's connection to the company's business and product strategy.

Range architecture should always refer back to commercial priorities, meaning fewer distractions from the softer science of tactical qualitative research, good guesses or an over reaction to market changes.

Of course, many businesses have extended their brands’ product portfolios over recent years. Good brands are powerful assets and consequently are seen by their owners as having the capability to accommodate more products, beyond those they might be recognised for. But this needs to be carefully managed.

Examples of good and not so good
In health and beauty, for example, Johnson’s has managed to retain brand integrity across its entire portfolio as it moved from its core offer of baby care through to women's face and body care. Branding maintains its authority across the portfolio whilst the use of colour, graphics and message hierarchy effortlessly enables the brand to reach across the categories.

However, I find Nivea much more difficult to deal with. Anti-wrinkle, firming creams, firm and natural body lotions, Nivea Visage, Nivea Soft, Nivea Pure, Nivea Sun through to Nivea Men... between them creating a plethora of range names and sub brands that makes it difficult to decipher what I am being offered and how I should find what I actually need.

And there are many more examples. Biscuits, for instance, are becoming ever more diverse, and Fox’s does a good job of presenting its variety of biscuits by using design to reflect the different styles of each one.

And whilst Old El Paso in the Mexican wraps category does a terrific job on consistency and stand out on shelf, I’m left wondering what’s inside the boxes and the wrappers!

Getting the range architecture right ensures that the platform is there for branding, design and message to be used to convey product or brand differentiation to optimum effect. Get it right and you’re away. Get it wrong and even a small range can create confusion.