Vodafone, RCom spar over Sachin

Sachin Tendulkar's voice may not be as great as his batting, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming a bone of contention between Vodafone Essar Ltd (earlier known as Hutchison Essar Ltd) and arch rival Reliance Communications.

Vodafone Essar has complained to the International Cricket Council (ICC) that Reliance Communications is using the voice of Tendulkar, its brand ambassador, for cricket updates and is using his pictures prominently on hoardings and TV commercials to promote their service.

Accusing Reliance Communications of "ambush marketing," Vodafone Essar has demanded that the company remove the ads and the programme immediately. ICC has promised that it would look into the issue.

Sources in Vodafone said that the company had bought the ground rights from ICC for the World Cup (which include mats on the ground, ad space around the stadia etc) in the telecom space, under which none of the players participating in the event can endorse a competing brand through a TV channel, press advertising, hoardings or in ground advertising as long as the World Cup is on. Cricketers have signed agreements with the local cricket bodies (in India, with the BCCI) to ensure that they would abide by this rule.

A Reliance Communications spokesperson declined to comment on the issue. The company has tied up with Nazara.com, which is the sole licensee for using Tendulkar for value added services. The sources said that the company does not compete with any ICC sponsor and has the right to promote and advertise its content before and during the World Cup through any operator.

This is not the first time that Vodafone-Essar has been the target of ambush marketing. A few years ago, Tata Indicom, which had signed up Irfan Phatan and Sourav Ganguly, had undertaken a campaign when the ICC tournaments were going on.