Brand Architecture

Brand architecture is the concept of organizing the different layers of our company’s brands. At Bayer, our corporate brand and our product brands are among our most valuable assets, forming a foundation for our reputation and business success.

Brand architecture – what is it?

Our brand architecture is the hierarchy of different types and levels of brand used within the Bayer brand universe. It describes how to organize brands in the context of marketing and communication materials and visual appearance.

Brand architecture – why do we have one?

Across all our communications, there are many situations where the Bayer corporate brand interacts with our product brands. Our product brands offer different levels of independence and individuality to suit the various market segments in which Bayer is active. The uniqueness, strength and competence of our corporate brand adds a significant uplift, driving customers’ willingness to engage with us, buy from us, and recommend us.

The brand architecture helps ensure the Bayer brand acts as an amplifier of the product brands, jointly driving business success.

Our aims for the brand architecture are to:

• Keep brand management clear and simple, enabling the best possible awareness and recognition of our brands
• Strengthen the corporate Bayer brand and prevent it from dilution or erosion
• Utilize Bayer brand equity in the best possible way
• Overcome brand overload and logo inflation

How to decide whether something deserves to become a brand

Before you start to create a new brand, you should think about:

• What the decisive criteria are that determine whether a product, service, solution, initiative, etc. has the potential to become a true brand, to get a brand name and/or a brand logo

• As there are certain investments needed to build and manage a brand, it is only fair to ask how they will pay off eventually

• It should be made clear and explained:

  • How the potential brand in question contributes to the company’s success

  • How the potential brand in question strengthens the overall corporate brand

  • How our company benefits from the potential brand in question.

Brands need a long-term strategy that can yield measurable results for the company. That should be demonstrated in advance before making any further investment in names, symbols, and visuals that are intended to make up a brand.

Potential areas and aspects where brands really can create measurable value for the company are:

• Business (sales, profit, market share, margins, etc.)
• Equity (awareness, reputation, trust, retention, Net Promoter Score (NPS), etc.)
• Society (responsibility, engagement, commitment, etc.)

In the end, a true brand brings value to our company and our corporate Bayer brand. 

The different kinds of brand in the Bayer universe

Bayer is a strong corporate brand and an asset that creates value for the company. Bayer’s contribution to a better life, and our promise to deliver high quality, drive a significant amount of trust in our product brands. Both our company brand and product brands drive Bayer’s reputation and business success. They are both key parts of our brand communication.

From corporate brand to product brand, here are the different levels of brand used within the Bayer brand universe:

Our brand architecture is the coordinated system of names, symbols, and visuals with brand character. At the top is the company brand, Bayer. It is the roof of the branded house, which includes all product brands or brands delivering measurable added value for Bayer. 

A brand is not only a name or a logo. A brand is also the recognizable feeling these assets evoke. On the other hand, organizational structures are not a brand. We should avoid giving them any kind of branded approach. Please check out our Verbal Identity section for guidance on how to communicate organizational structures: https://idnet.bayer.com/en/company-and-divisions 

Brands need a clear business strategy and investment in communication activities. Giving organizational structures and units a logo can lead to the dilution of our corporate brand and weaken its perception. This is also true for a lot of internal initiatives, and the logos created around these. For more information, please read: https://idnet.bayer.com/en/symbols-and-secondary-or-custom-logos