MAM
Vatsal Asher joins DMA: India as CEO
MUMBAI: Direct Marketing Association: India (DMA: India) has appointed Vatsal Asher as chief executive officer. In his new role at DMA: India, he will be responsible for strengthening DMA: India’s presence as an apex body for advocacy of direct marketing practices.
Asher said, “With multitude of choices, Indian consumers are becoming more discerning about their brand preferences and where they spend money. Considering this consumer behaviour and the increasing media clutter, it is imperative for marketers to create data driven customer centric campaigns. From traditionally being defined as ‘response generating’ domain, direct marketing is now used for ongoing customer engagement. By emphasising on global best practices for marketing services providers and marketers, I aim to carry forward DMA: India’s vision of establishing industry standards and promote the direct marketing community.”
Direct marketing has gained popularity in past few years with emphasis not just being laid on measuring the returns on marketing spends but also campaigns being created to initiate a dialogue with the customer. With advent of new media and innovative usage of technology to engage with customers, spends on direct marketing have also increased significantly.
Prior to DMA: India, Asher was associated with Deepak Fertilisers’ consumer facing VARE division as VP. He has also worked with Reliance Retail, Tata Teleservices and RPG group.
He comes with over 15 years of experience in domain of marketing communications across brand management, sales and promotions, loyalty and customer experience. With understanding of consumer behaviour and approach to engage with consumers, he has strategised and executed marketing campaigns.
Vatsal added, “Thanks to direct marketing going digital, it now considered as targeted and customer specific media rather than an intrusive form of marketing. In coming months I look forward to promote new trends and technology in direct marketing, besides creating platforms for knowledge sharing and innovation. We envisage instituting forums with active stakeholder participation in form of industry councils and regional chapters. We shall be organising webminars, periodic meet ups and an annual colloquium modelled on global format to meet the objectives. Emphasis will also be laid on protecting consumer’s interest, thereby strengthen their belief in direct marketing.”
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.
