Peyton Manning brand playbook: New Jersey native Donald Brown learning ropes as a Colts rookie

BY JOE FAVORITO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

ON N.J. SPORTS MARKETING

This Sunday, the nation will be fixated on the Indianapolis Colts and their mega-star Peyton Manning as he tries to lead the Colts to their second Super Bowl title, this one against the New Orleans Saints.

Manning has done a masterful job of crafting an image that has transcended sport ... Oreo, Direct TV spots, a steady slew of additional endorsements, all showing that the University of Tennessee product has just as strong a brand stance as he does a throwing stance.

Manning has also helped explode the myth that you need to be in a major market to be a consistent and influential endorsement figure. In these days of open access, viral marketing, sports radio and sport-specific networks, the ability for a star with a compelling story, onfield success, an understanding of the media and a smart and effective sales team can overcome so much. Simply put, you don't have to play before the bright lights and in the big city to be both a solid spokesperson and a solid citizen.

The ability to be a transcendent star away from the lights of Broadway will get another test this summer when LeBron James and Company lead the NBA's best free agent class in a while, with the Knicks and the Nets oohing and ahhing each of the group with dollars and the idea of bringing hoops supremacy back to Gotham.

So while Manning continues his brand growth in the Midwest, it is interesting to see a Jersey product start to craft his own brand position on the same field - and sometimes in the same backfield as Manning. He is running back Donald Brown, the Colts' first-round pick from Manalapan and understudy for the year to Joseph Addai in Indianapolis.

Now Brown may not yet be a household name outside of the Jersey Shore area, Storrs, Connecticut (where he starred at the University of Connecticut) and Indianapolis, but he has formed a solid program for social responsibility that, as his career grows, will provide for a good foundation for brand growth.

Brown created a program last year for Shore area high school football players (he attended Red Bank Catholic) to reward student-athletes who excelled both on the gridiron and in the classroom, eventually bringing a group to see the Jets play the Colts in Indy...on his dime...just after Christmas.

He will continue to mentor those young people, as well as others in the Shore area, over the next few years. Brown also spent a year learning the Colts' system, filling in when needed in the backfield, and doing whatever the team needed of him both on and off the field. He was not flashy or looking for attention when it was not warranted, never filled the airwaves with uncalled for rants or boasted about off-field exploits on Twitter, making Brown both a good teammate and a solid citizen.

He is also well spoken, well read and respectful ... in short, a solid start to a brand waiting to be built. Now whether Brown can realize his athletic potential is up to Donald Brown himself and the opportunities the Colts' system can present as Addai moves on and Brown becomes more accustomed to the rigors of the NFL.

Should the football part take care of itself, the Donald Brown brand may be a good one to watch. He has already started to craft the message and the platform of off-field success that companies would crave, and he certainly has the look, the maturity and the social responsibility to be a quality spokesperson. He also has the added cache of being from a major market, which can easily open up offseason and hometown branding opportunities over time.

Add in a Super Bowl ring in his rookie year, and it could be, just maybe, the New Jersey product can have a brand launched that could rival his Hall of Fame quarterback somewhere down the road.

Joe Favorito has over 23 years of strategic communications/marketing, business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business. Visit him at JoeFavorito.com.