Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about masterbrand strategies

Article • WARC Best Practice, February 2019

Explores the current writing and thinking on the subject of masterbrands and the strategies that propel them: a dominant, overarching frame in which various products, services, and brands, operate.

What we know about brand architecture

Article • WARC Best Practice, December 2018

Explores key insights on brand architecture, or the organisation of a brand portfolio, highlighting methods and techniques to maximise the value of a portfolio while keeping clarity for consumers and employees.

Trust and staying local forged India’s Amul, the original disruptor brand

Article • Anil Thakraney, Event Reports, Zee MELT, May 2019

Amul credits its humble beginnings as a cooperative body and focus on both the consumer and producer for its enduring success as India’s leading diary brand.

How FMCG marketers can make smarter media investments in Asia

Article • Amit Chaubey, Sachin Sharma and Dhruv Chadha, WARC Exclusive, May 2019

FMCG marketers in APAC can use marketing science to extract more efficient investments in digital media, especially when resources are constrained.

A consumer-based brand performance model for assessing brand success

Research Paper • Sebastian Molinillo, Yuksel Ekinci, and Arnold Japutra, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 61, No. 1, 2019, pp. 93-110

The aim of this study is to introduce a Consumer-Based Brand Performance Model (CBBPM) to measure brand success.

Bringing back the Captain: how Birds Eye refreshed its brand with an old asset

Article • Emily Barley, Event Reports, Festival of Marketing, October 2018

Following changes of ownership and positioning, frozen food brand Birds Eye had seen its sales across drop alarmingly; it needed to do something radically different.

Asia's new thinking about brand architecture

News • 12 October 2018

Asian companies are moving away from a fixed approach to brand architecture, whether that’s the “branded house” or the “house of brands”, in favour of a hybridisation strategy, according to an industry figure.

Three steps to the best brand architecture strategy

News • 08 October 2018

Brand architecture needs to be rooted in consumer behaviour but is too often constructed around internal organizational constraints and objectives, according to Professor Kevin Lane Keller.

Brand architecture for the customer-first era

Article • Anna Miley, Admap, October 2018

Explores how organisations can optimise their brand architecture in a way that focuses on putting the customer first.

The evolving approach to brand architecture in Asia

Article • Jay Milliken, Admap, October 2018

Discusses the changing approach to brand architecture from brands in Asia.

Brand architecture in the digital age: Admap summary deck

Article • Admap, October 2018

A summary of new thinking and best practice on brand architecture in the digital age from Admap.

Parent, master, umbrella? Brand architecture explained

Opinion • Lena Roland, October 2018

The first Admap in its new format, as an online report on WARC, is dedicated to one of the most challenging aspects of marketing management: Brand architecture.

Mastering brand architecture in a hyper-competitive digital era

Article • Kevin Lane Keller, Admap, October 2018

Looks at the hyper-competitive digital environment, which changes the application of the principles of brand architecture in a number of important ways.

Brand architecture: new solutions to old problems

Article • Dr. Erich Joachimsthaler and Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam, Admap, October 2018

Examines the shift from the hierarchical organisation of a classic brand architecture to a network-type structure built on the foundation of technology, data and analytics.

Brand architecture for business growth

Article • David Taylor, Admap, October 2018

Suggests a practical approach to brand architecture, which can be a valuable tool to help grow a brand and business, and has benefits for both the company and consumer.

How to expand your brand architecture: strategies for successful brand launches

Article • Jenni Romaniuk, Admap, October 2018

Discusses the factors to consider when creating the identity of a new brand launch.

Amazon streamlines ad products under one brand

News • 07 September 2018

SEATTLE: Amazon, the e-commerce giant that is witnessing rapid growth of its ad business, announced this week that it will make it easier for advertisers to navigate its disparate ad products and platforms by bringing them together under one brand.

AT&T benefits from 'elastic' brand

News • 10 January 2018

NEW YORK: AT&T, the telecoms and entertainment company, found in research that it has high consideration levels for categories it does not currently trade in, a positive outcome for an “elastic” brand active in a growing number of ...

AT&T finds new ways to extend its “elastic” brand

Article • Stephen Whiteside, Event Reports, BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable US Brands, January 2018

AT&T has successfully extended its brand portfolio beyond telecoms to include a growing range of digital services and media properties.

Marketing is complex, not simple

Article • Giles Lury, Market Leader, Quarter 1, 2018, pp. 32-35

The marketing industry has become unhealthily obsessed with oversimplification, and marketers should not be afraid to challenge this orthodoxy.

Behind the masterbrand: A New Zealand story

Article • Anna Hamill, WARC Exclusive, October 2017

New Zealand created a business-orientated masterbrand which broke stereotypes and went beyond the country's reputation as a tourism destination.

Transforming B2B marketing: Six steps forward and three paths to take

Article • Julie Schwartz, Bev Burgess and Vincent Rousselet, Market Leader, Quarter 4, 2017, pp. 46-49

This article examines three paths for B2B companies to take if they want to adapt to the digital age.

The 3 A's of masterbranding: Ambition, Audience and Adaptability

Article • Nick Liddell, WARC Exclusive, December 2016

This article explores the topic of Masterbrands, a point of reference from which subsidiary brands flow, and a guiding architecture for the outlook of the company.

General Mills overhauls its structure

News • 07 December 2016

MINNEAPOLIS: General Mills, the Minnesota-based food giant, is undergoing a comprehensive restructure that will see the creation of a new global CMO role as well as four worldwide business groups.

Million-Dollar Snackables: Money talks! Driving investment decisions with new experience metrics and snackable outputs

Research Paper • Catherine Moger Rickwood, Caroline Smiley, ESOMAR, Congress, New Orleans, September 2016

This paper explains how the US-based Delta Air Lines introduced Snackables, a new report format, in order to change the perception of research within the organisation and provide increased value, without increased research spend.

Brand models, architecture