If you’re running a business with more than one brand, you’ve probably felt the juggling act: how do you keep everything under control without confusing your audience or watering down your message? That’s where brand hierarchies come in.
Think of a brand hierarchy as a family tree. It shows how your parent brand and sub-brands connect to each other, who leads, how they present themselves and how everyone fits together.
In this article, we’ll walk through the different types of brand hierarchies, how to set them up, the challenges you might face, and some tips to keep everything feeling clear, consistent, and strong.
Understanding Brand Hierarchies
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to brand hierarchies. The right structure depends on your goals, your audience, and how you want your brand to show up in the world. Here are the three most common models:
Branded House
In this option, the parent brand does most of the heavy lifting. Sub-brands share its name and identity, so the connection is obvious.
Examples:
- Google → Google Drive, Google Maps
- Virgin → Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Hotels, Virgin Money
- Western Integrated → Western Integrated Home (designed by Red Rocket Creative)
Why use it:
- Brand equity carries across offerings: Every new product or service benefits from the recognition and trust of the parent brand.
- Efficiency in marketing: You invest in building one strong brand instead of spreading resources across many.
- Clarity for customers: It’s easy to understand the relationship—everything clearly comes from the same source.
- Faster market adoption: New products gain traction more quickly under the umbrella of an already trusted brand.
- Consistency: Stronger alignment across voice, visuals, and values.
Best for companies that want a unified identity, need to move fast, or want to maximize the strength of their parent brand.
House of Brands
In this approach, the parent brand takes a backseat and each sub-brand stands on its own with a distinct identity.
Examples:
Why use it:
- Targeted positioning: Each brand can speak directly to a different audience or market segment without overlap.
- Risk management: If one brand takes a hit, the others are insulated since they don’t share the same identity.
- Flexibility: Sub-brands can have completely different personalities, designs, and strategies.
- Room for acquisitions: Easier to bring new brands into the portfolio without forcing them to align with the parent.
- Premium vs. budget play: Allows you to position brands at different price points without diluting each other.
Best for large, diversified companies with products or services that serve very different markets or customer needs.
Hybrid Models
The hybrid model is a mix of the two approaches—sometimes leaning into the parent brand, sometimes letting sub-brands stand independently.
Examples:
So, when should you create sub-brands? Usually when you’re trying to reach a new audience, introduce product tiers, expand into new markets, or highlight a specialized service.
Why the hybrid model:
- Balance of equity and flexibility: You can leverage the strength of the parent brand where it helps, while giving independence where it’s needed.
- Portfolio strategy: Allows both “flagship” offerings that reinforce the parent brand and niche brands that play in different spaces.
- Scalable for growth: As the business expands, you can decide which new offerings should be tightly branded and which should stand apart.
- Mergers & acquisitions friendly: Acquired companies can keep their existing equity while gradually aligning with the parent brand if needed. For example, when Optima Living acquires a new senior living home, they can choose to keep the name if the community is already familiar with the brand and it has strong brand equity.
- Customer clarity: Helps to segment offerings (e.g., luxury vs. mainstream) while still keeping the parent brand visible. For example, the Marriott group includes over 30 distinct brands categorized into Luxury, Premium, and Select tiers, such as The Ritz-Carlton (Luxury), Sheraton and Marriott Hotels (Premium), and Courtyard and Fairfield Inn (Select). Premium hotels can share the Marriott name, while luxury and budget hotels can have their own distinct names that speak to their target audiences.
Best for organizations that want the flexibility to support diverse offerings but also want to keep a strong parent identity in play.
How to Create a Brand Hierarchy
If you’re building or cleaning up a brand hierarchy, here are some steps that can help:
- Start with the parent brand’s purpose. This is the anchor for everything else.
- Define each sub-brand’s role and audience. Is its role functional, emotional, or market-specific? Are the audiences the same as the parent brand?
- Decide on the level of connection. Does it borrow heavily from the parent brand, or does it need its own space to shine?
- Map it visually. A simple diagram can make the structure clear for everyone.
- Create naming rules. Descriptive, creative, or alphanumeric—whatever works, just keep it consistent.
- Test with real people. Make sure customers actually understand the relationships between your brands.
Key Design Considerations for Sub-Brands
Design is where things really come to life. Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Consistency vs. flexibility: How much creative freedom do sub-brands get?
- Colour strategy: Do they share the parent palette, or get their own?
- Logos & typography: Are you using lockups, shared marks, or stand-alone logos?
- Tone of voice: Sub-brands should still sound like they’re part of the same family.
- Digital presence: Websites, socials, and navigation should clearly show how the pieces fit together.
Common Challenges in Managing Brand Hierarchies
Even the best-laid plans can hit bumps. Some of the most common issues include:
- Brand dilution: Too many sub-brands can weaken the parent brand.
- Audience confusion: Customers can’t tell how brands are related.
- Resource drain: Spreading marketing efforts across too many brands.
- Inconsistency: Teams applying brand rules differently.
- Legacy brands: Older or acquired brands that don’t quite fit the new system.
Best Practices for Success
To avoid those pitfalls, here are a few golden rules:
- Keep the parent brand strong—it’s the foundation.
- Don’t create sub-brands unless you really need them.
- Use one set of brand guidelines and make sure everyone follows them.
- Audit your brand portfolio regularly to see what’s working (and what isn’t).
- Always think long term, not just what solves today’s problem.
Conclusion
A clear brand hierarchy will help your audience navigate your offerings and help your team stay aligned. Without it, things can get messy fast.
So here’s the takeaway: review your brand structure. Does it make sense? Is it easy to follow? If not, now’s the time to simplify, clarify, and set your brand family up for long-term success.