Patriots QB Tom Brady "may be sent to the sidelines for a while" with his four-game Deflategate suspension, but marketing experts believe he "is far from permanently sacked when it comes to endorsement deals," according to David Gianatasio of ADWEEK. DBMediaStrategies President Doug Bailey: "There will be a lull. Perhaps a concerted effort to hold him out of the early-fall ads and endorsements while the news lingers." Octagon First Call Managing Dir David Schwab: "If his partner brands had plans to use him in a marketing campaign in September, I would expect the campaign would be delayed until he is playing again and winning." Bailey said Brady's alleged transgression "just doesn't rank up there with the gun-toting, spouse-abuse, hit-and-run scandals of some of his colleagues. It's certainly survivable for both man and brand." Schwab: "If you were a brand where reputation was a core value, then Tom wouldn't make sense in the near future as a new partner." Even if Brady does serve his suspension, experts "don't expect him to stay on the endorsement sidelines for long." Bailey: "The nature of this scandal and Brady's solid marketability probably means this will be a small bump in the road. Once Brady gets back in the game, and assuming the Pats continue their winning ways, I think it will blow over" (ADWEEK.com, 7/28). FORBES' Patrick Rishe does not believe Brady will lose any of his current endorsements, which include Under Armour, UGG Australia and Movado, though it is "highly doubtful in the short term that any new companies will wish to affiliate with his brand" (FORBES.com, 7/28).
APOLOGY NEEDED: Ervin Hill Strategy President Dan Hill said of how the destroyed-phone aspect of Deflategate affects Brady's marketability, "It shows a willfulness to the actions that occurred, and it undermines whatever credibility or goodwill he might have had. I would say, as quickly as possible and as soon as he has come to terms with his actions, he needs to come forward and apologize and take ownership of it, and try to put this behind him" (L.A. TIMES, 7/29).
