MAM
Movie producers spend 35% of marketing budgets online
MUMBAI: Long gone are the days when people decided to go for the movies based on the life-size posters of their favourite ‘stars’ acting in them or watching 90-second long trailers on television. Today, the buzz around a movie starts even before it goes on the floor, all thanks to the ‘good friend’ social media, which allows the producers, directors, and actors to stay in constant touch with the fans through heightened social media activities. Starting from the photos of scripts on actor’s tables to snapshots from reading rooms, to release of the looks and names of the character, to teaser and trailers for not just the movie but individual songs as well, everything has found its way online, grabbing every eye that the movie can even before it goes off the floors.
Indiantelevision.com interacted with TheSmallBigIdea CEO and co-founder Harikrishnan Pillai, whose agency was associated with the digital promotions of National Award winning movie ‘Badhai Ho’ last year. More recently, it is making yet another Ayushmann Khurrana film—Bala—a talking point across every social gathering through amazing marketing activites.
Pillai says that the producers of today are very proactive when it comes to marketing their movies across all platforms, including digital. They are involved in every aspect of the movie promotions, beginning from the time their movie is announced.
“They are spending somewhere around 35 per cent on digital activities for promoting their movies, as digital gives them the opportunity of better mass targeting amongst a very interesting audience base. The activities online are interactive in nature and hence give them a better measurability of the ROI they get through marketing,” Pillai said.
On being questioned how controversies around such campaigns impact the execution online, as the audience reactions are real-time, Pillai said that the core strategies remains intact, while certain tactical moves maybe taken basis social sentiments.
TheSmallBigIdea has done promotional digital campaigns for a number of movies including Judgementall Hai Kya, Junglee, Jabariya Jodi, Dream Girl and is gearing up to take several more projects from big production houses.
Pillai belives that acumen around digital has also increased in the past few years and that gives the agencies to perform better online. “Earlier it was just a digital agency, that used to follow what the mainline agencies were doing, but today digital is leading. Also, brands are taking a leadership role. They are aware about the digital world and they know how it can help them,” he said.
Pillai is positive that marketing for movies on digital is going to only increase in the future with producers getting aware of the impact a strong social media strategy has on it.
He also added that the story is taking centre-stage in promotional campaigns than just the actors as production houses are now aware that the audience is willing to watch good stories and not just ‘stars’. According to him, the complete shift in focus from actor to story will still take some time, but a good start has been made in the industry.
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.
