MAM
Brave New World’s Women’s Day for Project Eve-Song for the Strong
MUMBAI: Project Eve by Reliance Retail is a premium retail brand unlike any other. Its unique concept ensured that independent, sophisticated women between 25 and 40 would be treated to a destination store built to provide everything a woman would need – from clothes, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, in-house salon, personal stylist – to look and feel fabulous. Today Project Eve is going strong with 20 stores and counting across all the big Indian metropolitans.
This season, Project Eve is honouring a woman's softer strengths: her loving nature, her graciousness, her elegance, her willpower, her tact, her drive with the Soft is Powerful campaign.
To celebrate International Day and being a brand by women and for women, Project Eve envisaged that that the celebration needed to come from a place personal to the brand, something one would take real pride in. This meant celebrating every woman for all her strengths and putting a smile on her face.
"The power of music to strike the right chord never goes out of fashion. Add to that the charm of fact over fiction and personalization over carpet-bombing and you can create cost-effective, content-smart ideas. While the charm of heavily produced content still causes thumbs to stop, we're living in an age where simplicity and authenticity have more power than ever before. With such a hungry and dynamic customer environment, it's important to earn the attention of an audience by connecting, creating, and contributing." says Joono Simon- Founder of Brave New World, the agency behind the campaign.
Extending the brand’s celebration of these qualities, Brave New World designed Songs for the Strong, a Women's Day campaign where a platform was given, to tag the special ladies in their lives on the brand’s social handles, explaining why they are unique and what their soft strengths are.
Over the course of four days leading up to Women's Day, the best comments were hand-picked. And together with Kenishaa Francis – the Instagram-famous singer-songwriter, original songs were reproduced with lyrics inspired by comments, which included the names of the nominees and their special qualities. The lyrics were brought to life with tunes that suited each nominee's personality – some upbeat, some mellow and some downright charming.
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.
