MAM
Milestone Brandcom introduces measurement matrix for outdoor
MUMBAI: While marketers are still looking out for a measurement mechanism to understand RoI for the out of home segment, Milestone Brandcom has gone ahead to create one. The outdoor agency has come up with an audience measurement eco-system called ‘Milestone Optimizer’ that will make planning, buying and evolution processes transparent.
The agency has invested over Rs 5 crore in developing this apparatus and has covered top 10 cities in India which they believe accounts for 75 per cent of outdoor advertising spends. The cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Ludhiana. The agency will cover additional 25 cities in the next 18-20 months. The system has registered 25000 site details of these 10 cities. The tool right now will be used by the agency for its own clients. In the long run, the agency is looking at gaining confidence of the industry to make ‘Optimizer’ as a standard mechanism.
“We wanted to move away from site level discussions,” says Milestone Brandcom MD and founder Nabendu Bhattacharya. The Optimizer introduces a new measurement matrix Gross Impression Points (GIP) which will help measure the reach and frequency of an outdoor campaign. Bhattacharya believes that the outdoor business is expected to grow to 12 per cent this year and he thinks this will happen because of the stability of new government in power and positive economic growth that is expected in the coming months.
“In the world of hyper local targeting it has become difficult to customise campaigns at the micro level especially in outdoor. With Optimizer we are sure to develop outdoor campaigns even with very specific briefs,” adds Bhattacharya.
Milestone Optimizer was developed with the support of industry veterans, media owners, marketing and brand managers across categories and brands. IRS iLAP (Hansa Research); TGI (IMRB Research), Traffic Study (Gfk Mode); Technology Partner (Unikov Technologies) are a few credible databases used in developing a robust scientific planning OOH tool.
Through GIP, outdoor campaigns can also be compared with the more conventional forms of advertising such as print, TV and radio. It will also allow brands to evaluate category benchmarking and market threshold level of activity giving a whole new dimension to media planning. The agency will soon focus on developing digital out of home campaigns.
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.
