MAM
The Muthoot Group goes bullish on OOH for ‘Gold Loan is Good’ campaign
NEW DELHI: The economy has been hit by Covid2019 due to which not only has spending declined but the loan market also took a hit. Banking on this, The Muthoot Group’s recent campaign ‘Gold Loan is Good’, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, looks at chasing away apprehensions associated with gold loans and encouraging more people to make use of the gold stored in their homes. Surprisingly, it is one of the few brands that chose to focus on OOH.
The Muthoot Group’s general manager- marketing and strategy, Abhinav Iyer says that the primary objective of launching this campaign was to increase the overall gold loan category. “There is over 26,000 tons of gold with Indian households and less than two to three per cent of this is monetised. Hence, there is a huge market opportunity that remains untapped. Secondly, the objective is to dispel the various misplaced apprehensions associated with gold loans that often come to the minds of first-time gold loan takers and finally, but most significantly, to project gold loans as a 'Good Smart Option, as against being the Last Option' for seeking financial credit.”
It is live on television, digital, print, OOH, transit media and select forms of BTL promotions. However, Muthoot Finance went big on OOH though people are mostly still indoors. Executed by Brandscope throughout India, the hoardings are visible across 50 cities on more than 200 sites.
“If you look at it in silos, outdoor may come across as an outlier. It is important to see our OOH investment in conjunction with our overall media mix. Our OOH investment is part of our larger integrated marketing campaign for Gold Loan is Good. It is one of the five to six mediums handpicked to launch our new advocacy-based communication. In actual terms, the investment is substantial considering current times, but from a percentage share to overall media investment perspective; it is modest. Having said that, our digital investments, too, have grown notably post-Covid2019 to cater to the rising digital media consumption trends,” says Iyer.
“Besides traditional OOH, we have also included a few DOOH sites and some interesting innovations. Outdoor is a great recall medium and with phased unlocking measures, people have started stepping out and since we received some great deals, we chose to leverage this medium as well, to the maximum possible extent,” he adds.
The company has also launched a mega radio campaign called ‘Muthoot Finance Sunheri Soch’ exclusively on Red FM. Sunheri Soch is a series of inspiring, real-life stories of courage, hope and positivity. Narrated by Bachchan, these are stories of common men and women who took a gold loan from Muthoot to achieve their dreams and progressed in life. An especially made Sunheri Soch anthem has also been launched with Bachchan and RedFM’s top RJs saluting the courage of successful people who have achieved their dreams in highly challenging circumstances.
Iyer claims that since the time of the pandemic a number of financial services players have shifted their focus to gold loans. “Overall, the media landscape is certainly under stress but we have great partners who stitched some good deals thereby helping us get maximum value for our investments,” he shares.
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.
