Businesses often begin with one parent brand and then develop a family of companies, or sub-brands, which inevitably creates a challenge to choose the best name, logo and website design that will clearly communicate their unique organizational structures.

A uniform system is necessary to help people distinguish between your brands and various products and service offerings, and to help them make informed decisions.

Right from the drawing board, an architect analyzes all aspects of a design against project objectives and benchmarks, including the viewpoints of customers and other stakeholders.

Take Microsoft for example, which reorganized its marketing department earlier this year with several key appointments. This huge conglomerate is taking a more holistic view of its overall branding and marketing strategy.

In February, the company re-organized their marketing and creative leadership departments, promoting key leaders within its structure.  Under the new structure, the marketing team works horizontally across all campaigns to build the Microsoft brand, and it takes a more collaborative approach with its agency partners.

As a best practice, a holistic vision for your brand architecture will define and order the relationship of your sub-brands. This applies to any size business. As you build sub-brands, a portfolio of products or services, this type of strategy helps prepare for growth, innovation and changes with your business and in your marketplace.

Consider your ideal brand portfolio from an integrated, holistic perspective — from names to brand identities, and from print and packaging to website design, and more.