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.

As companies typically appoint a brand ambassador for around three years, brand managers have started to question whether Tendulkar has that much of a career ahead of him. With half of India aged below 30, Tendulkar's, and a number of other brand ambassador's age is at loggerheads with a number of target markets, specially with the advent of Dhoni and Ishant Sharma from the cricket field, and the likes of Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapur from Bollywood.

 However, Tendulkar still has an impressive list of brands in his kitty, including Adidas, Aviva, Britannia, Boost, Canon and Visa. These companies clearly still find Sachin's appeal more than relevant, as the fit between their brand value and the value of brand ambassador Sachin is more important than the money that may weigh upon their decisions.

It all boils down to one thing. Age. That is something that 'young' India is yet to realise – the maturity that age brings with it is rather unequal. With age, some things turn to manure, while some to wine. Bat on, Sachin; clearly, its time to chuck out the empty calories and the fizz, for at least half of India that is on the right side of 30.