MAM
Mindshare launches emerging markets growth hub – FAST
MUMBAI: Mindshare APAC has launched FAST Hub (Future Adaptive Specialist Team) in Singapore, supported by EDB, to enable brands to benefit from the growth opportunities appearing in emerging markets.
FAST brings together the best of WPP as well as industry leading companies and products including GroupM, Kantar, WPP Data Alliance, CrayonData and Jivox, to build sector specific solutions to enable marketers to use real time insights to drive real time marketing and media actions, including hyper-targeted content creation and distribution.
The launch is a response to the increase in data availability and the parallel rise in data and technology led marketing opportunities such as programmatic and performance advertising that leverage this data.
Targeting the consumer packaged goods (CPG), banking, consumer healthcare, telecoms and automotive sectors, FAST will allow clients to adopt and implement adaptive marketing strategies covering programmatic, performance marketing, customised data alliances, digital analytics, data management platforms (DMP) and real-time marketing.
The Singapore FAST hub is anticipated to grow to a 63 members outfit over the course of the next three years, and the six teams will lead the product development for this suite of services for all growth and emerging markets for Mindshare’s clients, wherever they are in the world.
Mindshare Asia Pacific COO Gowthaman Ragothaman said, “The industry is still grappling with a deluge of data. We want to help simplify this for our clients and provide them a bespoke solution that solves their business problems. The role big data plays for a CPG company is totally different to the influence it has on the banking sector or auto industry. Our ability to provide customisation is one of the key differentiators for FAST.”
Mindshare AMEA, Russia & Emerging Markets chairman & CEO Ashutosh Srivastava added, “The talent to drive these services is scarce, but Singapore provides FAST with a thriving ecosystem for learning and development. Together with EDB’s support, this will immensely benefit Mindshare and our clients, help brand marketers find more effective and profitable opportunities for growth, and also develop young Singaporean talent for the data-driven marketing world. For the young talent, this is a great opportunity to work together with some of the brightest minds in the business, and do the best work of their career.”
Commenting on this partnership, Singapore Economic Development Board assistant managing director Kelvin Wong said, “When you look at how mobile, social and e-commerce are changing the behaviour of Asia’s consumers, it is clear that brand owners are turning to their agencies with a very different set of needs. Mindshare, by centralising a suite of data, technology and domain-centric capabilities, is well poised to serve global clients who require specialised expertise in the growth and emerging markets. We welcome the establishment of Mindshare’s FAST hub, and look forward to building Singapore’s digital marketing ecosystem from strength to strength.”
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
