When an organisation acquires new businesses, choosing the right brand architecture influences market perception, internal alignment and future growth. The two common approaches are branded house and house of brands, each offering distinct advantages and challenges depending on strategic priorities.
What Is a Branded House
A branded house is a corporate branding structure in which multiple offerings share a single master brand identity. Products and services are united under one strong corporate name, creating consistency and cumulative brand equity.
For example, companies like Virgin apply the master brand across diverse sectors such as travel, media and financial services to leverage recognition and trust.
What Is a House of Brands
In contrast, a house of brands is a portfolio approach where acquired businesses maintain independent brands, each with a unique identity. The parent company may be rarely visible to consumers, instead allowing each brand to compete in its category on its own merits.
Procter & Gamble and Unilever are well known for maintaining distinct brand identities such as Pampers and Dove, which operate with minimal apparent connection to the parent company.
Key Differences After Acquisitions
Brand Equity Consolidation
Branded house invests in building one central brand, meaning the reputation of acquired businesses contributes directly to and depends on the corporate brand. House of brands allows acquired companies to retain legacy equity, insulating other brands from reputational risks.
Marketing Efficiency
A branded house can achieve cost efficiency through unified messaging and shared marketing assets. A house of brands often requires separate campaigns for each brand, increasing complexity and budget requirements.
Customer Perception
Branded house fosters a unified customer experience, helping customers transfer trust from one offering to another. House of brands supports tailored positioning for distinct target audiences without the risk of brand dilution.
Organisational Alignment
Using a branded house requires internal cohesion around one identity. House of brands gives autonomy to individual business units, which can accelerate innovation but also complicate governance.
When to Use Each Approach
According to Rachel Cornish, founder of agency ExtraDigital.
“The best branding strategy depends on strategic goals, market differences, and customer expectations. A branded house is typically best when the acquired business aligns closely with the parent company’s identity, values and customer base, enabling brand equity to flow across the portfolio. In contrast, a house of brands may be preferable when the new business has substantial standalone equity, a distinct market position or a different customer segment, allowing the acquired brand to retain its recognition and value.”
In some cases, organisations may adopt an endorsed brand architecture post-acquisition, where the acquired business retains its identity but is visibly connected to the parent brand (e.g., ‘X, part of Y Group’). This approach can serve as a transitional strategy, allowing customers to maintain trust in the existing brand while gradually introducing the parent brand. ExtraDigital has supported several clients in using this phased model to move from endorsed branding to a unified branded house.
What should organisations prioritise when choosing between a branded house and a house of brands after an acquisition
Organisations should prioritise strategic alignment with long-term business goals, the strength of existing brands, customer expectations, and the cost and complexity of managing multiple identities. If synergies from unified branding outweigh the risks of diluting a strong acquired brand, a branded house may be appropriate. If preserving distinct brand equity is crucial, a house of brands approach is likely better.
Strategic brand leadership is critical following acquisitions. As McKinsey notes in its 2020 report The future of brand strategy:
It’s time to go electric, brand strength depends on the interplay of science (insights and measurement), art (creativity), and craft (consistent execution). While this framework does not address brand architecture directly, it reinforces the importance of cohesive brand management in post-acquisition contexts.
From Strategy to Implementation
Turning Brand Architecture Strategy Into a Scalable Digital Platform
Whether you operate a branded house or a house of brands, your website infrastructure needs to support clarity, governance and growth. For many organisations, WordPress Multisite provides a flexible and cost-effective way to manage multiple brands, regions or sub-sites from a single, scalable platform.
At ExtraDigital, we help marketing leaders use WordPress Multisite to support different brand architectures, balancing consistency with autonomy while maintaining strong SEO, performance and governance standards.
If your brand strategy involves multiple sites, audiences or markets, the right WordPress setup can simplify delivery and accelerate growth.
Explore WordPress Multisite Solutions
Conclusion
Choosing between a branded house and a house of brands after acquiring new businesses requires clear strategic intent. By understanding differences in equity consolidation, marketing efficiency, customer perception, and organisational alignment, leaders can make informed decisions that support long-term growth.
