MAM
BBH India appoints Ashwin Palkar as ECD and head of experience
Mumbai: BBH India, a leading creative agency within Publicis Groupe India, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ashwin Palkar as the executive creative director (ECD) and head of experience. Palkar’s mandate involves working across brands handled by both offices of the agency and reporting directly to BBH India chief creative officer Parikshit Bhattacharya,
Welcoming Palkar to the BBH family, Parikshit Bhattacharya stated, “Ashwin’s appointment aligns with our objective of building a high-talent-density team. He is one of the best talents globally, and we are pleased that he will be playing for us. His enviable body of work, boatload of awards, and that easy smile make him an ideal creative leader for us. His ability to craft engaging brand experiences is precisely what we want for our clients. With Ashwin, Swati, and Arvind, we are nearing the formation of an optimally skilled creative leadership team. Here’s to some great Tiki Taka between them and a significant advantage for our clients.”
A seasoned creative leader with 17 years of experience in advertising, Palkar is among the most awarded professionals in the industry. As a digital-first thinker, he excels at leveraging digital platforms to infuse creativity and technology, creating ideas at the intersection of internet culture and consumer brands. Palkar has led and mentored creative teams, art directors, designers, and animators whose work has been recognized at national and international award shows, including Cannes Lions, One Show, and D&AD. His portfolio includes impactful work for brands such as Flipkart, Google Pay, Vice Media, Uber, Swiggy, IKEA, Google Merchants, WeWork, and Airtel among others.
For his work on “The Unfiltered History Tour” with VICE World News, he was ranked as the world’s top creative director at Cannes Lions 2022 and the world’s top executive creative director at the One Show Awards. Palkar appreciates brands that embrace bold creativity and marketing.
His most recent role was on the brand side working at Singapore-based FMCG company Believe Pte Ltd, where he led the Creative & Digital teams for a portfolio of brands including Zayn, Myza, and The Lafz.
Speaking about his new role, Ashwin Palkar said, “I have always been a fan of BBH’s vast global body of work. It is diverse, culturally rich, and filled with meaningful creativity. After my stint on the brand side, this was exactly what I was looking for. So, when this opportunity presented itself, I was certain I wanted to be part of the team. I am truly grateful to Parikshit for giving me this opportunity, and I am incredibly excited to work with him and the rest of the team at BBH. As Sir John Hegarty says, ‘All roads lead to the work.’”
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.
