Bob Cook

No matter which team — the Indianapolis Colts or the New England Patriots —wins what is being hyped as a mid-season "Super Bowl" on Sunday, opposing quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning both will come out winners.

Sunday’s game at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, ostensibly a mere regular-season matchup, has taken on epic proportions. That is not only because the Colts and Patriots are intense rivals who both enter the game undefeated, but also because it features two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks at the top of their football and marketing games, sports marketers say.

Brady's and Manning’s already off-the-charts advertising appeal is enhanced each time they play each other, say sports marketers. Every time they meet, the two quarterbacks build upon their strong and practically unassailable brand names, which then makes the NFL brand practically unassailable.

“I would not only say their images reflect on behalf of the NFL, but I would also say their play does,” said Ken Seligman, vice president of operations for STRATEGIC, a New York-based sports and entertainment marking company.

It might seem hard to believe that Manning and Brady, both plenty busy pitching products, could become even more desirable to advertisers. But that’s exactly what sports marketers say is happening this week. In fact, Brady added to the marketing hype by adding one more endorsement to his portfolio Wednesday, when Glaceau, a division of Coca-Cola, announced he would be endorsing its Smart Water drink for $3 million over the next three years.

Among Smart Water’s other endorsers is Jennifer Aniston, which highlights the differing marketing games Manning and Brady are both playing, and winning.

Brady’s persona is Mr. Hollywood, with the smoking good looks and dating life filled with actresses and supermodels. Manning’s persona is Mr. Regular Guy, a goofball who is apt to give you, and himself, a noogie.

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Brady is, in the language of advertising, aspirational, while Manning is more of a peer. Brady pushes Cadillac cars, Movado watches, Stetson cologne and other items for a sophisticated night on the town. Manning pushes MasterCard, DirecTV, Sprint and other items for guys who spend a lot of time in their sports-themed basements. Brady is the man of modest background who fought his way to the top of the heap. Manning is a man of (football) royalty who wants to let you know he’s got a sense of humor.

“Peyton Manning feels much more like a friend,” Seligman said. “Tom Brady feels more like someone you would ask advice from.”

Brady and Manning are competing on the field, but they are not competing in advertising. By working their separate niches, both quarterbacks have found plenty of opportunities to enhance their images as quarterbacks and as celebrities, setting up their post-football images and careers, sports marketers say.

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Scott Becher, president of Hollywood, Fla.-based sports marketing agency Sports & Sponsorships, said the two athletes are effective marketers because they are great players, and they are nice guys who remain true to themselves in their advertising. When Brady and Manning endorse a product, people listen and believe, he said.

“Consumers can sense disingenuous behavior in a heartbeat,” Becher said. “So they have different personalities, and it’s terrific that they’ve both found their own voice.”

The Brady and Manning brands are strong enough to beat back any whiff of scandal, as well.

In Brady’s case, that was the news over the summer that he had fathered a child out of wedlock with actress Bridget Moynihan, whom he had already left for supermodel Gisele Bundchen. But any criticism of Brady didn’t last because, after all, “it was an actress and model,” Becher said. The situation did nothing to detract from Brady’s Hollywood image, and might have helped buff it, marketers said.

In Manning’s case, the whiff of scandal was his brother Eli and father Archie strong-arming the San Diego Chargers not to draft Eli first in 2004, then forcing a trade to the New York Giants. Peyton Manning had to deal with backlash to the whole “Manning family brand,” Seligman said, and did so by laughing at himself more in his advertising.

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