MAM
Merkle Sokrati achieves unique feat on YouTube for Performance
MUMBAI: Merkle Sokrati, the data-driven performance-marketing agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has been recognized for its achievement on YouTube for Performance reaching a 100% client adoption rate.
Over the last few years, YouTube has emerged as a strong performance platform, with the launch of several new formats including TrueView and Universal App Campaigns (UAC). TrueView for Action uses prominent Calls To Actions (CTAs) and headlines, encouraging audiences to visit websites and explore the product or service, share their contact information, and take other actions valuable to the business. Through machine learning, UAC provides a simple and easy solution to reach the right audience across all of Google’s channels. Google can combine signals, data, and performance metrics to automatically make adjustments to campaigns quickly, and take advantage of buying opportunities.
During the last four months, Google India and Merkle Sokrati combined efforts to accelerate adoption of YouTube for Action in the Indian market. Anubhav Sonthalia, CEO Merkle Sokrati added, “We are committed as always to lead the way in incorporating any innovation that can help our customers. Over the last year, we have seen YouTube emerge as a strong performance platform. As the leading performance agency in the country, we wanted to ensure that all our clients are leveraging the full power of innovative formats like TrueView for Performance, and we are excited to see 100% of our clients are already betting on this format.”
Commenting on this, Aditya Swamy, Head of Agency Partnerships, Google India said, “We collaborated closely with the Merkle Sokrati team to set up integrated client onboarding with custom performance creatives from IgnitionLabs using the Search-Up approach, and bespoke measurement solutions. It’s exciting to see the speed at which Merkle Sokrati’s clients have adopted YouTube for Performance, and I am looking forward to seeing our teams redefining performance video advertising excellence.”
Merkle Sokrati was also recently awarded the Google Premier Partner Award 2018 for Video Innovation.
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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.
