MAM
NGC, NGCI ask viewers to “Live Curious”; roll out brand campaign
MUMBAI: National Geographic Channel US (NGC) and National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) announced their first ever global tagline “Live Curious” and brand campaign.
The effort will be rolled out between 15 November, 2009 and March 2010 in 166 countries and 34 languages with customizable elements for regional audiences.
The declaration is the latest manifestation of an enhanced strategic asset-sharing process between NGC and NGCI (both joint ventures between Fox Cable Networks and National Geographic Ventures) following David Haslingden‘s appointment as global CEO in 2007. The collaboration in developing a consistent and cohesive message for worldwide use follows the adoption last year of a universal National Geographic Channel logo and on-air look, along with an increase in global programming co-productions. “Live Curious” was developed after a worldwide consumer research conducted to identify common values that reflect the essence of the National Geographic brand promise. The tagline aims to resonate and translate effectively across regions in Europe, Australia, Asia, Latin America and the United States. “‘Live Curious‘ is at the heart of National Geographic‘s DNA, and the National “Live Curious” will be the basis for a global brand campaign, currently in production, that will promote the network, its programming and talent. The campaign will first be introduced in the India, United States and Netherlands and will eventually reach 315 million homes in 166 countries. In addition to fully produced spots of varying length, the toolkit will include core elements around which each region can add local footage, talent, messaging and non-traditional tactics to build diverse campaigns for their specific audiences. To continue the process of global collaboration and collective inspiration, these localised campaigns will be shared with all other regions as the basis for ongoing generations of the campaign worldwide. The National Geographic Channels in Australia, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain, Turkey, U.K. and the United States are expected to be the first to create local campaigns bridging off the central global concept. The brand campaign will promote key programming as well as talent from shows shared around the world, including Sean Riley (World‘s Toughest Fixes), Cesar Millan (Dog Whisperer), John Garcia (DogTown), Chris Fischer (Expedition Great White), Batso and Johnny O (Rescue Ink Unleashed) and Zeb Hogan (Hooked). The tagline will be reflected in a full range of consumer and trade advertising platforms, including broadcast, print, outdoor and digital. Ad sales extensions are also in development, along with digital consumer touch points such as a microsite, social networking applications and games. NGCI EVP creative and marketing Rafael Sandor and NGC US EVP marketing Kiera Hynninen jointly oversaw the development of the tagline and brand campaign. Italian production company Mercurio Film and creative consultant Patrizio Marini were commissioned to execute the primary 60 and 30 second brand spots; US-based Click 3X is creating program-centric extensions for the global campaign and various other extensions are being produced internally. “‘Live curious‘” is about exploration, pioneering and questioning, which captures National Geographic‘s shared spirit,” added Sandor. “The campaign aims to connect on a human level so no matter what country you live in or language you speak, this message to ‘Live Curious‘ hits close to home.”
Geographic brand is one of the most familiar and powerful global brands, transcending borders and cultures,” said Haslingden. “And with the National Geographic Channels continuing to increase momentum worldwide, it has become increasingly important to create a common voice that would resonate in every language, while at the same time leaving space for each region to maximize local relevance.”
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
