Brand architecture: Rise of the meta-monolithic brand

Brand architecture "organises and structures the brand portfolio by specifying brand roles and the nature of relationships between brands".

Rise of the meta-monolithic brand

Once thought a dying species, the mono-brand is being reinvented by users who version their own idea of the brand to meet their own belief systems, writes James Withey

The most authoritative definition of 'brand architecture', by the author David Aaker, is that it “organises and structures the brand portfolio by specifying brand roles and the nature of relationships between brands”.

A monolithic brand architecture is a system in which only one brand is specified, to cover all products or services offered, and to cater for all audiences. In truth, few brand architecture systems are...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands