MAM
Saatchi & Saatchi Direct bags fourth place in the International ECHO awards
NEW DELHI: The direct marketing division of Saatchi & Saatchi India, Saatchi & Saatchi Direct has bagged the fourth place in the DMA International ECHO Awards for its HP Deskjet printers campaign in the IT multimedia/integrated media category.
The DMA International ECHO Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Orlando, Florida on 12 October later this year.
Though Saatchi & Saatchi Direct missed out on the top three finish by a whisker, the mood is upbeat in the agency. “This is the first time Saatchi & Saatchi Direct has entered an international competition and it is a real feather in the cap of the team, which created the baby campaign as it is popularly called. We are thrilled as we did not expect to reach this far,” says agency’s executive vice president Malavika Harita.
The Echo Award jury, which scrutinises entries from 40 countries across 12 business categories, nominates five pieces of work for the final ceremony. “The top three are announced on the day of ceremony but the fourth and fifth are informed in advance. We have won the `leadership award’ for the fourth place and we and the client will be receiving plaques for our effort,” adds Harita.
For eligibility, the jury considered direct marketing campaigns produced, printed and/or aired, and had response results tabulated between 1 January 2002 and 31 March 2003. The jury goes through three rounds, evaluating agencies on the basis of strategy, creativity and results.
“It is an exhaustive process, which not only goes by strategy and creative work but also takes into consideration the results managed in the marketplace in terms of customer response. The campaign helped HP manage a 46 per cent increase in sales over the previous quarter as well as a month-by-month increase in the three months that the campaign ran on TV, periodicals and at the point of sale and was remarkable by any standards,” says Harita. The campaign was launched in May last year.
According to the agency, the three-month period during which the campaign was released, was not just the traditionally dull season for office equipment but also a recessionary period that the hardware industry was going through. “We had people coming to the retail outlet asking for the HP Baby Printer, which proved the effectiveness of the campaign,” says Harita.
The campaign depicts a situation where a baby is weeping while the mother is away. When baby is shown the image of his mother, a print out from HP Deskjet printer, he falls asleep.
Saatchi & Saatchi Direct was briefed to position HP as a leader in `image quality’ rather than just market share. Accordingly, the agency moved out of the technological space and worked on building an emotional bond with the buyer. “The baby neutralized the tech feel and provided the acid test for the photo-realism,” according to the agency.
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.
