Brand architecture

The map of how a parent brand, its sub-brands, and its products are named and visually related, so a customer can tell what belongs to what. Three classic models. Branded house: one master brand with descriptive product names (Google Search, Google Maps; FedEx Ground). House of brands: the parent is invisible and each product stands alone (Procter and Gamble behind Tide, Pampers, Gillette). Endorsed: the child has its own name plus a visible parent signature (Courtyard by Marriott). Most real companies run a hybrid and should admit it.

Reach for it when you launch a second product, absorb an acquisition, or notice your pricing page lists five names nobody can say out loud. The decision is as much budget as design: every standalone brand needs its own awareness spending, and every sub-brand you hang off the parent narrows what the parent is allowed to mean later.

Gotcha: a tier ladder is not architecture. Acme, Acme Pro, and Acme Pro Max are packaging names for one brand. Architecture is the question of whether the new thing carries the parent's equity at all, and the answer has to show up in the logo lockups, the domains, and the navigation, not only in a slide.