MAM
BBC World Service launches major e-marketing campaign
MUMBAI: The BBC World Service is launching its first major direct e-marketing campaign. This builds on the success of its e-newsletters sent to thousands of listeners across the world.
From Friday 6 May, the newly-designed World Service E-Network, promoting the BBC’s international English language radio and online output, goes weekly. Subscriptions will be driven via puff-boxes on BBC’s online site bbcworldservice.com/schedules, and supported by online and on-air advertising.
The BBC World Service E-Network offers subscribers the benefits of personalised content based on four key genres – World Affairs, Arts and Culture, Science and Sport – and is available in text or html formats. Subscribers will also receive links to live online listening, access to interactive debates and the chance to enter monthly prize draws.
BBC World Service controller marketing communications and audiences Alan Booth said, “For the first time, listeners will be able to get in their inboxes an update every week on what’s coming up on BBC World Service. In today’s fast-changing media environment, people are bombarded with choice. While there is a strong BBC brand loyalty among our international audiences, we feel it’s important to keep them up-to-date and focussed on the programmes we know they will enjoy.”
BBC World Service has appointed the UK-based digital agency, Broadsystem, to handle the email delivery service and the micro-site creation. The marketing campaign for the re-launch is being handled in-house.
BBC World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages and is available on radio and online. It has a global audience of 146 million listeners. It is available globally on short wave; on FM in 140 cities; and selected programmes are carried on around 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world. The BBC World Service claims that its websites receive around 280 million page impressions every month.
Broadsystem creates, manages and delivers customer and audience communication strategies. It is the UK’s leading provider of outsourced marketing communications, providing data-driven customer contact services focussing on three main areas of expertise: customer relationship management, contact centre services, and media services.
Brands
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.
