A story in today's Times of India talks about the little mater, Sachin Tendulkar's dipping brand value going to his major slump in form. While the story goes on to talk about how imaging brand, Canon has already decided to do away with him as their ambassador, it also talks about how his other brands including Adidas and Toshiba may follow suite. Manish Porwal, MD, Alchemist, a talent management agency did highlight the possibility of this little rough patch being the lull before the storm. He believes that this could be a result of the uncertainty around his decision to retire.
The story was insightful but a quote from Dr. Alok Bharadwaj, Vice President, Canon India did open up possibilities of the Sachin Tendulkar brand dying owing to multiple reasons apart from Sachin his not so great performance on the field.
Brand Sachin is heavy on the pocket: Being the second highest paid cricketer in the world next to India skipper M.S Dhoni, the man commands a huge sum to share his reptation with any other brand. At a time when organisations are finding it a task to feed their own people, affording the little master may just be completely out of reach.
Brand ambassadors don't work anymore: Many experts believe that brand ambassadors are not worth the money that is spent on them. They believe that the culture of having a celebrity face associated to a brand doesn't work anymore. The possibility that Sachin's brand value is not the highest could be a factor of the dying culture of brand ambassadors.
He isn't 17 anymore: With the majority of decision making powers moving to the youth, many brands have employed strategies that give them a fresh and young positioning. With the little man's age tipping age tilting towards 'the not so young,' creating a youth appeal through him is far harder for a brand who has the option of signing a young and glamorous star from Bollywood.
Sachin Tendulkar has been the face of Indian cricket for over the past 20 years and writing him off as a successful sportman, a team player or a valuable brand is highly unfair. With cricketing greats including Ganguly and Dravid backing him, it is imperative for the Indian sports fan to support their favorite star at a time when he needs it the most. After today's fine innings of 76, Sachin has shown clear signs of returning to form and for the sake of Indian cricket may this be just one of the great knocks that are still yet to come.
