4 rules for every new brand manager

Step one: Establish a brand.

Step two: Immediately stress out about your logo, settle on something, and call it a day.

You couldn’t be more wrong.

If you want to have a successful brand, you must determine a clear direction—beginning with how you’ll market it.

Brand architecture: One brand or many brands under one roof

Decide whether to use one brand, such as Ford, or a host of brands, as in the case of Unilever.

The advantage to the former is you’ll manage only one brand. The latter requires the flexibility to multitask and see the bigger picture.

With just one brand, you won’t be able to differentiate. With several brands, you’ll have a broader scope of targeting possibilities, including a variety of products and marketing segments.

Which is right for you? Consider the following:

1. Focus

If you have several products that do not directly relate to one another—think motor oil and soap—selling them under the same brand name isn’t going to work.