Brand Sachin to prevail after retirement

Brand Sachin Tendulkar will continue and there will be no void even after his retirement - this was the unanimous opinion of senior marketing professionals at the India Today Group's Salaam Sachin Conclave.

The master-blaster, who is all set to bid adieu to the cricketing world after playing his 200th test match, endorses over 15 brands (Adidas, Coke,  Jaypee  Cements , Aviva Life Insurance etc.) His endorsement income is known to be close to $22 million. He has 12 million active followers on Facebook, which is supposed to be the highest fan following that any Indian celebrity has across categories.

"The greatest attribute of Sachin is the longevity of his career which will go past his retirement," said Vinod Naidu, General Manager, World Sport Group, which manages the Sachin Tendulkar brand.

Naidu said that since his retirement was talked about for quite a while, they had the opportunity to lay out a well thought-out brand management strategy post retirement.

"The Sachin story will continue. Not only have we built a range of private labels in partnership with brands such as Addidas, we also have a lot of factual content on cricket that we will monetize," added Naidu. Apart from this, Tendulkar also supports a host of charitable causes which will help him keep his brand value alive.

"I am quite sure there will never be void in brand Sachin's journey," said, Sunil Bhalla, Co-Founder and Director, Lava Mobiles.

Industry leaders firmly believe that brand Sachin will outlive the test of time. This is because of the way he has inspired the Indians. "His personality reflects what the country has gone through," according to Nair of World Sport Group. Tendulkar was self-made and later went on to conquer the world -- and this, according to marketing professionals, is the perfect ingredient for building an everlasting brand.

"When you sell Tendulkar, you sell inspiration," added Bhalla of Lava Mobiles.