Heard of guilt by association? How about brand by association? We call it co-branding. No one understands this concept better than Barack Obama this week, securing the support of politico extraordinaires, the Kennedy family. In this case, their press announcement [read the Yahoo! announcement]was more than an endorsement—that’s Chuck Norris campaigning for Huckabee. This was the transfer of equity from one celebrated American hero to the next generation. This is saying there isn’t just a semblance of Kennedy in Obama’s tone, message and values; JFK’s own family thinks he’s the next best thing. This week marks, in our opinion, some of the best co-branding in American political history.

If you’re contemplating your company’s own version of the Kennedy family announcement, consider these questions:

What does this brand bring you in terms of awareness, distribution and credibility?
Does this potential partner bring more baggage than it does advantage?
How do we continue to build our own brand equity with customers in this partnership?

 -Briana Marrah