MAM
Goafest 2013: The Amir Kassaei manifesto on clients, digital and creativity
VARCA,GOA: Digital is not is not a media; it is not even a channel; it is the new infrastructure of the world, believes DDB Worldwide chief creative officer Amir Kassaei, a speaker at the Goafest 2013.
“Digital is the electricity of the 21st century. In the next 15-20 years everything that can be connected will be connected. This will completely change the way we work, communicate, get information or get entertainment. The way we innovate, or collaborate, the way we do business or define quality, usage, design.”
According to Kassaei digital can be used as a tool but a marketershould not confuse it with an idea. Technology cannot replace an
idea,a marketer will always need that “idea”. One should make technology a device to implement an idea. Use digital infrastructure to come up with an idea that produces a brand experience in a completely different way than the way it was. Also, one must remember to keep the idea simple.
“Creativity is “effectiveness.” It lies in producing results,” Kassaei highlighted. He went on to stress that if a creative person thinks that he is an artist, he is probably in the wrong business. A creative person is the one who proves to his client that his solution is the best and can provide the desired results.
Talking further on the aspect of problem solving, he mentioned that in order to solve a problem one needs to define it correctly – whether it is awareness, brand loyalty or something else. It helps one to be more effective and more creative.
In his opinion, one can never ever be in the advertising business alone.
Explaining his statement he says, “We are in the business of making the product, services of the brand of our clients relevant. That‘s the business we are in. The goal should be to use your creative talent to help your client and change the world for your client.”
Kassaei illustrated the importance of a brand‘s relationship with the consumer. He said that a marketer should start to see the people who are out there not as a grey mass or some defined target groups but as ‘friends.‘
“We should look at them and ask ourselves what can we do for them to make their life better, easier, more efficient and beautiful? What do they really need in their lives? What could help them to overcome a bad situation? How can we start to build for them something that they will recognise as something with a meaning?,” says he.” By thinking that way everything will change. Because your goals are suddenly not numbers, sales figures or market share but to produce value, to develop goodness.”
He accentuated on the fact that a brand is the sum of all the experiences that one has. A marketer as a brand has many responsibilities. “If you are promising happiness you should deliver happiness. If you are promising freedom, you should deliver freedom. I am not talking about disrupting your business but I am talking about how you can expand and also change the life of the people,” explains Kaasaei.” People will find out if you are not being truthful to them. They become very skeptical about wrong promises, about the false values and starting to rethink for themselves what is important and what not. They start to redefine value, wealth, meaning and happiness.”
He pointed that the best advertising does not look like advertising.
He gave an example of McDonald‘s train station campaign. On the right side of the train‘s schedule at the station, it mentioned the amount of time left for a train to arrive and what a consumer can order from McDonald‘s, and yet punctually get on the train.
People don‘t want to be involved in advertising. They are interested in what‘s interesting and that‘s what the marketers have to develop, he expressed.
“Also, the marketer needs to create relevance and not just awareness because if he is not relevant, awareness will mean nothing”, he concluded.
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.
