Alphabet’s Moving In: Google’s Rearranged Brand House

Yesterday Google announced big changes for the company. Since Google is one of the best known brands in the world, this change has caused a bit of an uproar. People are used to the way things were.

Things are different now.

These changes not only include leadership roles, but also in the rearrangement of architecture for Google and it’s brands.

As Google has grown, they’re house of brands has evolved. The originally started with several sub branded entities like Google Maps and Google Search. This kept their brands simply sub categorized within the Google name.

As the company matured they acquired YouTube, added Google Fiber, acquired Nest… this list goes on. This changed the dynamic of their brand architecture to a combo platter of sub brands in addition to housed brands within the Google family.

As announced yesterday, Alphabet Inc. is now the holding company for Google, it’s sub brands, along with Google’s peer brands. Since people are so used to the way things were, it’s no wonder why some people are confused.

However, there’s no doubt that this change in leadership and brand architecture was well considered.

Now, Alphabet Inc. has become a house of brands. Within that house of brands exists Google. Within Google, there exists a combination of sub brands and housed brands. Get it? Phew!

Below is an infographic case study explaining Google’s evolved brand architecture in comparison to Alphabet’s new brand architecture.

Alphabet Google Brand Architecture
Google’s old brand house included sub branded Google brands, as well as separate brands such as YouTube, etc.

To help explain further, I’ve included an infographic on typical brand house types.

Brand Architecture Types
In reality, most brands are a combo platter of a couple to a few of these brand structure types.

What do you think? How do you feel about the change for Google and it’s brands?

I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave your thoughts, comments, and feedback in the comments below.

~ Christine