MAM
Ola ropes in Leo Burnett Orchard, Indigo Consulting to lead marketing
MUMBAI: Ride-hailing company Ola has roped in Leo Burnett Orchard and Indigo Consulting to lead the mobility brand’s marketing mandate in the country. The mandate includes brand strategy, new launches, content strategy, and digital communications, and was awarded post a competitive multi-agency pitch. The account will be managed by the agency’s Bengaluru office.
Leo Burnett managing director – India and chief strategy officer – Asia Dheeraj Sinha said, “Ola is one of the few brands born in India that are defining the fundamentals of how we live. The brand is changing the rules of mobility for India, while enabling respectable livelihoods for over a million driver-partners. As an agency, we are really chuffed about this mandate, as this is an opportunity to take the story of a revolutionary Indian brand into their next stage. We are thrilled to partner with Ola and leverage the strengths of Leo Burnett Orchard and Indigo Consulting teams to build a unified brand platform.”
Leo Burnett Orchard chief operating officer Prashanth Challapalli added, “Ola is a home-grown brand that has now become a global force in mobility. Very few brands can take pride in the deep impact they create, like Ola would, on its entire ecosystem of consumers, partners, and cities at large. We look forward to building a strategically sound platform for the brand that will help cement its leadership position. This is also a testament to the incredibly powerful ‘Power of One’ philosophy that we follow.”
Ola senior director, marketing communications Anand Subramanian commented on the occasion, “We look forward to this partnership with Leo Burnett Orchard in our mission to build mobility for a billion people. Over the past eight years, the Ola brand has evolved to become one of the world’s largest mobility platforms, impacting the lives of millions of customers and partners alike. We are confident that this new partnership will help resonate the brand’s voice amongst Ola’s 150 million+ users and beyond.”
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.
