MAM
IAA crowns Sam Balsara as Media Agency Head of the Year
MUMBAI: The International Advertising Association (IAA) India chapter on Saturday crowned Madison World chairman and MD Sam Balsara as the Media Agency Head of the Year in the first edition of IAA Leadership Awards.
IAA leadership Awards were given away in 18 categories in Mumbai. The awards recognised and honoured “outstanding” individuals in the fields of marketing, advertising and media.
Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and national creative head Piyush Pandey was bestowed with the Creative Agency Head of the Year Award.
Star India EVP and communication Gayatri Yadav won the award in the Media & Entertainment category.
On the client‘s side, Cadbury India: Regional category head APAC (developing) executive director Chocolates & Biscuits Chandramouli Venkatesh bagged the IAA Leadership Awards in FMCG-food and beverages category while HUL vice-president – Skincare Arun Srinivas won the award in FMCG-Personal Care category.
Samsung Electronics CMO Rahul Saigal was given the IAA Leadership Award in Consumer Durables Category. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank head marketing Sujit Ganguli got the marketer of the year award in the banking category.
LIC India executive director Rita Bhattacharya received the marketer of the year award in insurance sector and Vodafone Sr VP, Brand Communications, Insights and Online Anuradha Aggarwal bagged the marketer of the year award in telecom products & services category.
Hero Motor Corp SVP Sales and marketing Anil Dua was given the IAA Leadership Award in auto-two Wheeler category, while Maruti Suzuki COO Mayak Pareek collected the marketer of the year award in auto-passenger vehicle category.
Force Motors GM Cyriac Jacob was bestowed with the marketer of the year-auto commercial vehicle award while Makemytrip.com marketing head Manish Kalra collected the marketer of the year award in travel & hospitality category.
Asian Paints vice-president sales and marketing Amit Syngle won the IAA Leadership Award in household products & services category. ITC chairman YC Deveshwar got the award in the best CEO of the year category.
IAA had also constituted special six categories for editor of the year that was won by TOI executive editor Jaideep Bose, News Anchor of the year award by IBN-18 editor in chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Media person of the year award by Hindustan Times chairperson and editorial director Shobhana Bhartia, brand endorser of the year – male award by Salman Khan, best endorser of the year award by Katrina Kaif and the IAA Hall of Fame award by former president and director of Bennett, Coleman & Company and former CEO of Zee Pradeep Guha.
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.
