Indianapolis-based audio products company Klipsch President & CEO Paul Jacobs said that he "passed on signing deals with numerous NFL quarterbacks" before making Colts QB Andrew Luck its spokesperson in August, according to Anthony Schoettle of INDIANAPOLIS BUSINESS JOURNAL. Jacobs said, "Andrew Luck is one of the nicest, most sincere guys I've ever met. He's just so humble." Jacobs' experience with other "high-profile athletes hasn't been as pleasant." He said, "We were approached by one of the flashiest quarterbacks in the league, one that was slapped all over the headlines. I sat face-to-face with him in Chicago, and walked out of that meeting and said 'No way.' We just didn't agree on our philosophies in life. And if you don't agree on your philosophies on life, you're going to have difficulties agreeing on your philosophies on business." Klipsch also has deals with Colts DE Robert Mathis and Pacers C Roy Hibbert. Jacobs: "We want (our endorsers) to be brutally honest with us and tell us what they'd really like to see come to market" (IBJ.com, 10/16).
BUCKING THE TRENDS: BLOOMBERG NEWS' Mason Levinson wrote Broncos QB Peyton Manning brings his "own economy along with his record-setting passing game" when the team play. The Marketing Arm Managing Dir Matt Delzell said that Manning has "as much influence with consumers as Bill Gates and actor Tom Hanks." Baker Street Advertising Senior VP & Exec Creative Dir Bob Dorfman said that Manning's willingness to "poke fun at himself and his adeptness at delivering lines while picking suitable scripts has created 'something very accessible about him.'" Manning as of Oct. 1 ranked 95th in the Davie Brown Index, putting him "on par with people such as" Jackie Robinson, Jack Nicholson and Elton John. Manning ranks "10th in the degree to which consumers believe a celebrity is an influence in today's world, on par" with Gates, Hanks, President Obama, Will Smith and Betty White (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 10/17).
HOMECOMING: ESPN.com's Darren Rovell noted more than 10,000 tickets to the Broncos-Colts game Sunday night "have been sold on StubHub, more than half the number of tickets sold in the past month alone." Fans have "paid a median price of $250 for each of those tickets, a number that ticket aggregator TiqIQ is calling the most expensive seat" to a Colts home game since '10. Fanatics.com data showed that this past week, more Manning gear "was sold from addresses in Indianapolis than Luck merchandise." However, sales of Luck's jerseys "are up more than 250 percent compared to the first six weeks of last season on Fanatics.com." Manning jerseys "are up 170 percent." Manning's return to Indianapolis has "resulted in the city selling out every hotel room." The Colts are selling a shirt that "features both Manning and Luck with the words, 'If you build it, Luck will come'" (ESPN.com, 10/17).
