Brand alliances as signals of product quality

When two or more branded products are integrated, like IBM and Intel or Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola, they are perceived as linked, or jointly branded. The authors present a rationale for why such alliances may sometimes be an appropriate strategy. They develop a managerial decision template to analyze the costs and benefits of joint branding, and discuss the implications of such decisions for different types of allies. They conclude by calling for multidisciplinary empirical examinations of brand alliances.