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Faber-Castell art business grows by 300% y-o-y during Covid2019
NEW DELHI: Faber-Castell is a name most children grow up with. As one of the leading manufacturers of wood-cased pencils with a varied range of products for writing, drawing, and creative design, as well as decorative cosmetics, it also found Covid2019 challenges and is now changing its strategy.
Faber-Castell marketing director Sonali Shah says, “When the country was in complete lockdown, schools were shut, stores were shut, we were completely shut. But we saw a lot of latent demand coming from e-commerce. And when stores started opening, we saw that a lot of people started putting their attention towards DIY (do it yourself) products and art which helped us gain demand for our products.”
Self isolation, work from home and study from home options led to a growth in demand for art and other stationery supplies. Faber-Castell tied up with Swiggy Genie to make stationery available at the doorstep for its consumers.
“Demand for products including highlighters, text liners, which are generally used for office purposes, now because of digitisation, people actually want to do hands-on things. Our art business has grown by 300 per cent over last year and we have recently launched our liquid paint. Art is divided into dry medium and liquid medium. Dry medium products include crayons and coloured pencils and liquid medium is acrylic paints, fabric paints, poster colours and watercolour. Our liquid paint business has grown by 84 per cent,” she shares.
Faber-Castell had restrained from any overt advertising during the pandemic. “I thought it's quite insensitive for us to do it. But what we continue doing is putting up tutorials on different techniques that people can use to do art and crafts and DIY techniques and how they can spend their time at home. So, that was something that we had done during the lockdown. Now that things are opening up, we will probably look at launching eco-friendly products, make in India products because that’s the need of the hour. So, we are launching our paper pencil and eco pencil. For now, we have taken a conscious call to not do any overt advertising as such, but we will try and put as much content out there to help people get through this tough time,” she shares.
With the thrust being given to Make in India products and eco-friendly items, Faber-Castell will refocus its attention and fast-track its product developments to meet the demand.
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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.
