MAM
Red FM takes outdoor route to create election awareness
MUMBAI: With an aim to encourage people to vote in the general elections 2014, Red FM has associated with the Election Commission of India. The idea behind the association was to motivate people to vote in the upcoming general elections. Red FM has been supporting the Election Commission of India in urging people, especially the first time voters, to come out on the polling day, and press the button of the voting machines to elect the 16th Lok Sabha.
Red FM has been running campaign titled, “Dabaa Ke Bajaa” to reach out to the masses. Dabaa Ke Bajaa has Red FM RJs represent themselves as youth ambassadors of the Election Commission of India, in their respective cities. One RJ per city who is the youth ambassador takes up the responsibility of the entire population in his or her city and gets them on board as a part of the electorate who will pledge to vote this time. A series of on-air and on-ground activities are being done to engage with the listeners on the same.
For the outdoor leg of the campaign, Red FM took DDB MudraMax on board to handle their OOH innovation. They have installed huge hoardings with integrated digital LED pledge-meters that reflect the number of people who have pledged to vote. The hoardings are located at strategic junctions. The number keeps changing real-time, and is a cumulative of the number of pledges received on SMS, calls, Facebook application and the tablet application that volunteers are taking to people.
The meter which keeps ticking, denotes the exact number of people who have pledged to go. These hoardings have been taken in five locations including, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Pune.
Commenting on this innovative marketing initiative, Red FM, GM- marketing, Rajat Uppal, said, “Dabaa Ke Bajaa is our attempt at channelizing the energy of people in all parts of India into one simple, and yet difficult act- pressing the button on the voting machine! We have partnered with the Election Commission of India to increase the voter turn-out in the upcoming General Elections. The digital hoarding and the pledge-meter have proved to be highly successful in getting people to pledge to vote, and in reminding them of their responsibility till the D-day. As a brand we have always tried to innovate and this is yet another innovation which stands out amongst the clutter of OOH. DDB MudraMax has executed the project very well. We have also been amplifying the campaign with several on-ground initiatives across the country.”
“We have been proud of creating spectacles which generate word of mouth for RED FM constantly. This was an important one to get the country to stand up to a cause. An Important cause”, mentioned, DDB MudraMax OOH, retail and experiential, president, Mandeep Malhotra.
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.
