MAM
How Fox Networks Group won big at Promax BDA Awards
MUMBAI: For promo producers and creators, the Promax BDA Awards are the gold standard, the pinnacle of recognition for a job well done. So, when you are called on stage to receive 13 metals, it clearly means that your work is a standout.
Fox Networks Group (FNG) – with just two brands under its umbrella, National Geographic and Fox Life – and more than a handful of awards is , therefore, is in a celebratory mood. The awards won by FNG include nine gold and four silver for National Geographic and FOX Life properties.
FNG swept the Best Original Logo Design category with Dark Hours and The Legend of Jagannath, and the Best Lifestyle Promo category with Kalki’s Great Escape and Bikini Destinations. They also bagged awards for BSF (Best Program Title Sequence), MARS (Best Outdoor), Dark Hours (Best promo not using programme footage) and NGC FY17 ‘Belong’ (Best Marketing Video), Nat Geo Gold Opener (Best CG Animation), Sound Trek (Something for nothing), He Named me Malala (Most outstanding marketing initiative), Soundtrek (Best Themed campaign) and Science and tech Idents (Best On Air Idents Design– In-house).
There is very limited local content on both the channels, with most of it being imported. So what are the challenges the FNG on air promotions team faces while conceiving the promos? “The biggest challenge is to make the content locally relevant to our consumer and make the product work for them,” says FNG vice president creative services Sanjay Ramachandran, while speaking to indiantelevision.com
“Some promos such as Bikini Destination were executed very fast (in around six hours) as compared to Dark Hours,which took over a month to get ready.” Ramachandran points out that the emphasis of the team is on ideation. He states: “Its challenging to get the objective correct and, to make a good promo, we need to have a clear understanding of the idea, communication and some basics of promotion. We should know our audience, brand and product to achieve something. We believe clarity and simplicity is key in giving our audience what they come for – a great experience.”
And, he reveals that he encourages members to be trained in multidisciplinary skills. “The multidisciplinary approach gives each one of us the experience of learning every thing and by using each others’ strengths we create a product which is very effective,” he says in parting.
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Apple bites back: the $599 MacBook Neo is the cheapest Mac ever made
The tech giant unveils a budget laptop that packs a punch — and a lot of cheek
CALIFORNIA: Apple has never been shy about charging a premium. So when Cupertino rolls out a MacBook at $599 (approx. Rs 55,000) , it’s worth sitting up straight.
The MacBook Neo, unveiled Tuesday, is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date — undercutting its own MacBook Air and taking a sharp swipe at the budget PC market in one fell swoop. It starts at $499 for students, which, for a machine with Apple silicon inside, is frankly a steal.
At the heart of the Neo is the A18 Pro chip — the same muscle that powers the latest iPhones. Apple claims it is up to 50 per cent faster for everyday tasks than a rival PC running Intel’s Core Ultra 5, and three times quicker on on-device AI workloads. Fanless and featherweight at 2.7 pounds, it runs silently and promises up to 16 hours of battery life. Try doing that on a Chromebook.
The 13-inch liquid retina display clocks in at 2408-by-1506 resolution with 500 nits of brightness and support for billion colours — sharper and brighter, Apple says, than most rivals in this price band. It comes dressed in four colours: blush, indigo, silver, and a zesty new citrus, with matching keyboard shades to boot.
Connectivity is modest — two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 6 — but this is a budget machine, not a pro workstation. The 1080p FaceTime camera, dual mics with directional beamforming, and Spatial Audio speakers round out a package that punches well above its weight class.
Apple senior vice-president of hardware engineering John Ternus alled it “a laptop only Apple could create.” That’s the kind of line that makes rivals wince — because, annoyingly, he might be right.
The Neo runs macOS Tahoe, with Apple Intelligence baked in for AI writing tools, live translation, and the sort of on-device smarts that keep user data away from the cloud. It also boasts 60 per cent recycled content — the highest of any Apple product — for those who like their bargains with a side of conscience.
For $599, Apple isn’t just selling a laptop. It’s selling an argument — that good design and real performance needn’t cost the earth. The PC industry had better have a decent comeback ready.
