MAM
Cannes Lions 2014: India adds 8 more Lions to its kitty
MUMBAI: Looks like Indian digital work is leaving a good mark at global platforms. At Cannes Lions 2014, JWT’s work for Nike India won a Silver Lion along with two Bronze Lions in the Cyber category. The campaign titled ‘Make every yard count’ was a digital film created by the agency that was then splashed across social media platforms.
The agency crowd sourced 225,001 images of cricket enthusiasts out of which 1,440 were used in the film. Athletes were invited, via social media and Nike Cricket’s official website. Around 108 travel photographers went around playgrounds, streets, gullies and cricket pitches across the country.
An interesting soundtrack was composed using chants, breaths, appeals, screams and sledges that one usually hears during a cricket match. The video received over 2.5 million impressions during the online campaign period.
In the same category, O&M India’s work for Akansha Foundation bagged a Bronze Lion. Three Grand Prix were awarded in the category, Iconoclast Paris, Forsman & Bodenfors Gothenburg and Creative Artists Agency-Los Angeles won for ‘Pharrell Williams – 24 hours of happy’ campaign, ‘Live Test Series’ for Volvo Trucks and ‘The Scarecrow’ for Chipotle Mexican Grill.
Under the Design Lions, O&M’s Cleft to smile campaign for Operation Smile India bagged a Gold Lion. The campaign that aimed to spread awareness around issue of cleft using Twitter as a platform. In all, over 20,000 tweets were received with the support of celebrities on the platform. According to the agency the campaign reach was 30 million. The symbol :{to:) that stands for cleft or ‘:{‘ to smile or ‘:)’ became the world’s most tweeted logo.
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McCann’s campaign for Perfetti Vans Melle fetched a Bronze Lion in the same category. The entries submitted for this campaign are titled as ‘Mango’, ‘Pear’ and ‘Tangerine’.
The Grand Prix went to Adam&EveDDB London for its campaign for Harvey Nichols.
Grey Worldwide India won a Gold Lion in Press lions for its campaign for P&G’s Duracell Batteries. The agency submitted three entries ‘Choo-choo’, ‘Remote Control’ and ‘Camera’ under this category.
JWT received a Bronze Lion for its Press campaign for Godrej Security Solutions; the three entries submitted in this category were ‘House’, ‘Antique Store’ and ‘Music Store’.
It can be noted that a total of 95 Press Lions, 68 Design Lions and 145 Cyber Lions were given away. However, no Indian entry picked up any award in Radio Lions.
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.
