What's Your Brand's Gravitational Pull?

What is the context that your brand, product or service exists in?  The answer is easy - LIFE.  Regardless of what you make or do, your reputation (brand) exists with the context of life.  Everything from Occupy Wall Street to the latest grumblings on Twitter influence the mindset of those who determine the fate of your product.
It may be comforting to simplify the world by creating pie charts that eliminate all the influences on your brand other that competive issues, but it's not a real view...and by doing so you miss so many opportunities to leverage....well, to leverage life and culture.
We live in a world where brands are rock stars and rock stars are brands.  CEOs write books and as Jay-Z says, "I'm a business, man."  (the comma is important)   In this blurry world, consumers align themselves to brand and entertainment icons equally to create their own cultural tribes out of the combination.  Brand relevance and appeal can be greatly influenced by aligning your brand with the right cultural influences.  A star's relevance can also be boosted by aligning with the right brand.  Ideally it works equally both ways.  A good example of that  equal benefit was when I helped create the BlackBerry/U2 relationship a number of years ago.  BlackBerry was looking to move into pop culture and U2 needed to be part of the contemporary dialogue again.  In a way they were equal "brands" getting equal amounts of leverage.
When looking at how best to align with cultural icons it helps to consider "Gravitational Pull".  Some brands or icons have a way of pulling other brands and icons up to their status. Understanding who has the gravitational pull helps define the nature of the relationship and how the roles should play out.  Ideally it's best when everyone wins and the relationship feels natural to the consumer.
So the question to ask is - are you looking for gravitational pull from another "star"?  Are you providing the gravitational pull? Or, have you identified a wonderful opportunity where everyone, including the customer benefits?  
This philosophy also applies to the world of Social Media where people "friend" brands all the time.  But, do brands "friend" each other?  Why not?  I'm sure consumers would actually like to see the brands they align with aligning with each other to form a true tribe.  That's the way life works.