MAM
Virat Kohli turns mentor to freshers in Great Learning’s new campaign
Mumbai: Byju’s Group-backed edtech company for higher education Great Learning has rolled out its new campaign featuring brand ambassador Virat Kohli. The campaign titled ‘Great Learning for Great Careers’ is targeted at freshers and young professionals and throws the spotlight on the degree and certificate programs offered by the online platform via two sad films.
Conceptualised by The Script Room and produced by Dreampunk films, the ad spots use the cricket pitch as a metaphor for the corporate ‘career game’ and highlight the need for upskilling to play brilliant innings on that field. Kohli donning the brand’s cricket jersey portrays the expert mentor on the field as he steers a troubled corporate employee and a fresher away from potential blunders in their respective career games.
“This is a new emerging category, with lots of news and advertising happening around. Usually in this category people seem to take a more serious approach. It was important for us to crack a tone of voice that can help break the clutter,” said The Script Room founder Rajesh Ramaswamy. “With all the complications of COVID and Virat in a bio-bubble, we did manage to pull off this idea along with the director Shekhar Kamble and team.”
The campaign integrates Kohli into the film from the place he rules – the cricket field. The highly relatable narrative in both ads emphasises the importance of quality learning amongst freshers and young professionals and its critical role in empowering them to build great careers.
“We had to find common ground between the brand spokesperson Virat and the fact that Great Learning can help you get the right skills to land a great job,” shared The Script Room writer Ujjwal Kabra. “Since most of us are always thinking about running away from our job and Virat being a great runner between the wickets, the connect was not too hard to find. The marketing team also related to the sentiment and the idea of two worlds, corporate and cricket, meeting at the centre of an esoteric pitch, to have a life-altering conversation, was sold.”
“Great Learning offers degrees and certificate programs from the world’s leading educational institutions, that enable aspirants to learn industry-relevant skills. This campaign is sure to hit the sweet spot with our target audience as it revolves around very common situations which many of us have experienced at some point in our careers,” stated Great Learning CMO Aparna Mahesh.
The campaign will run through TV, digital media, and the company’s social media assets for a period of five weeks starting 10 September.
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.
