MAM
Constant Contact offers Indian SMBs affordable tools to grow
MUMBAI: Constant Contact, an Endurance International Group company, has announced the launch of its email marketing services in India. Constant Contact aims to support this market fully and help small businesses in India build successful, lasting customer relationships. Constant Contact hosted a networking lounge at ad:tech.
India had approximately 350 million Internet users at the end of 2015, with 730 million expected by 2020[1], making this market ripe for new small businesses. To help these small and medium businesses (SMBs) and digital marketing professionals, Constant Contact’s launch in India will be highly localized to meet the needs of the Indian market – taking the best of a technology that currently serves the U.S. market and optimizing the product for India. Constant Contact will offer its customers in India use of a version of the product for free – with the option to move to a paid plan based on their usage patterns and needs.
In addition to email marketing solutions, Constant Contact will have a dedicated India website, which has been updated and enhanced for Indian users to offer a better experience. Keeping in mind the user and purchase decision behavior of local customers, the company will also offer local payment options as well as sales and support staff. Constant Contact will also offer training and onboarding, campaign setup and templates, as well as analysis tools that will enable users to measure the efficacy of their campaigns.
“India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and has one of the most burgeoning small business and start-up ecosystems. Boasting the second highest search volume for email marketing of any country in the world in the first half of 2016, India is a critical growth market for us,” said Endurance International Group EVP and GM – international markets Pankaj Gulati.
“The best way to have happy customers in India is to provide fully localized solutions with local payment methods and local support. With this infrastructure already in place and with the global brand recognition of Constant Contact, we are demonstrating our commitment to serve the business community in India.”
As part of the Endurance family of brands, Constant Contact is able to extend its reach and be a better partner to small businesses across the globe. Leveraging the current Endurance International Group footprint in India, Constant Contact has unique access to new customers, especially emerging small businesses that are just getting started with web hosting.
“Endurance is committed to investing in global markets and the success we’ve seen with BigRock in India has given us the insight to expand our presence there with email marketing,” said Endurance International Founder & CEO Hari Ravichandran. “We are thrilled to bring Constant Contact to India, a market that has been hungry for a localized professional, reliable email marketing solution.”
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.
