Brands
Marketing maestro Varun Thakar lands top brand gig at Razorpay
MUMBAI: High-flying marketing strategist Varun Thakar has nabbed a plum position as director of brand marketing at fintech powerhouse Razorpay, after catapulting travel major Cleartrip into the second spot in India’s cutthroat online travel market.
The Cannes Lion winner, who took up his new role this month, brings a blistering track record of brand transformations and marketing wizardry to the payment processing giant.
During his three-year stint at Cleartrip, Thakar worked marketing miracles, masterminding a spectacular brand relaunch that sent top-of-mind awareness rocketing.
The marketing maverick, who wielded a hefty budget at Cleartrip, orchestrated the company’s first-ever big billion day campaign, roping in celebrities for a multi-channel blitz that delivered the brand’s highest-ever share of voice.
“Thakar’s magic touch was evident in the wildly successful #ORTRAVELONCLEARTRIP campaign, which saw brand mentions surge by an eye-watering 2000 per cent,” said an industry observer.
Before making waves in the travel sector, Thakar cut his teeth at beverage behemoth AB InBev, where he drove Budweiser’s brand power growth to record levels and spearheaded four 360-degree campaigns with a wallet-busting budget.
The Goa Institute of Management alumnus also spent five years at adhesives giant Pidilite, managing its pipe joining portfolio and delivering impressive top-line revenue growth.
As Razorpay looks to cement its position in India’s digital payments landscape it will be banking on Thakar’s proven knack for sticking his brand messages where they count and brewing up advertising campaigns that leave competitors feeling distinctly flat.
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.
