Pepsi ousts Sachin as brand ambassador

10 July 2008

Mumbai: Pepsi joins Fiat, TVS and Airtel, in the list of companies that have preferred to move on in their quest for a brand ambassador.

The cola company and "youth brand" Pepsi has decided to send its brand ambassador of 10 years, ace cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, back to the pavilion. Sachin's contract with Pepsi ended in May, and is not being renewed.

Industry sources say that Sachin would well be the second highest run-getter in the history of cricket, but lacks appeal with the younger generation. What's more, is that Pepsi feels his annual estimated charges were excessive, not value for money, and quite unaffordable, specially as he could no longer bring in their target 'youth' segment. Preceding Sachin to the pavilion were former cricket captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who are fine batsmen, but no longer appeal to the youth as defined by Pepsi.

Pepsi is dead-on about its brand positioning, perferring to target India's youth through young cricketers who are in vogue and charge much less as well. Case in point, the 'Yeh hai youngistan meri jaan' campaign with Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma.

Market estimates suggest that Tendulkar could well be the most expensive cricket brand of his generation, having charged around Rs4-5 crore per annum for a brand endorsement. The same sources, however, say MS Dhoni could have well surpassed him already. PepsiCo's snack foods arm FritoLay signed up Dhoni as its brand ambassador along with Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan recently.

Industry sources suggest that his recurring injuries, and his age are working against him in his brand ambassador career. Moreover, the high endorsement fee remains an issue, with the playing field having expanded, and a number of recognised faces available as brand ambassadors.