Sachin is Aviva Life brand ambassador

Aviva Life Insurance, a joint venture between UK's biggest insurer Aviva and Dabur, has roped in master blaster Sachin Tendulkar as brand ambassador and named its new child insurance policy after the cricketer's title - Little Master.

Announcing this in Prague, Aviva India managing director Bert Paterson told reporters, "Sachin is the most popular icon in India for all age-groups and his popularity transcends the boundaries of religion, caste and region. Our new product - Aviva Little Master - is a tribute to our brand ambassador."

The company will be launching a nationwide campaign featuring Tendulkar soon, Paterson said. This is for the first time that Aviva India has gone for a brand ambassador to increase its market presence, currently pegged at little over four per cent.

When asked why the company has chosen a cricketer as its brand ambassador even after the Indian team performed dismally in the World Cup, he said: "It (the World Cup) is over now."

Tendulkar, who attended the event through video conferencing said, "Aviva Little Master is a great opportunity for forward thinking parents to secure their children's future." Aviva Little Master, the 20th product from Aviva India, is a unit-linked plan designed for parents to secure their child's future. The policy is available for the child up to 17 years and the parent's age should be between 18 to 45 years.

The policy, with minimum annual premium of Rs 15,000 for a 10-year term or above and Rs 25,000 for less than 10 years, provides accidental death benefit, a comprehensive health benefit and income benefit, the company said.

Five years into operations in India, Aviva has so far pumped in Rs 750 crore (Rs 7.5 billion) as paid up capital in the country.