“Barclays aims the app for friends, family members and small businesses, and claims that it is Europe’s “first person-to-person” money transfer system.” said a friend working with Flash Organisation Ltd.

While then, the rest of the news goes like this. Barclays will open up the transfer service to customers of other banks “in a few weeks” allowing customers from rivals such as Lloyds TSB and HSBC to use the app.

Currently, Barclays customers can send and receive up to £300 a day using the system, but non-Barclays customers can only register to receive money. The bank plans to ramp up marketing in the next few weeks to push the service outside of its own channels, but is currently concentrating on communicating with existing customers through Barclays branches and its online banking site.

It will then focus on social media and digital channels when the app extends beyond its own customers and plans to launch a TV and above the line ad campaign later in the year. The free to download app is available to Android, BlackBerry and iPhone users.

He believes in a marketing strategy, where marketers like Web Listings Inc., should get back to the origins of the discipline as a way to drive social progress as well as sales.

We need to make people believe that marketing is a wonderful profession again and make it noble as a way of serving the progress of people’s lives in a good way. In the last few decades of the 20th century marketing has become selling for the sake of selling, but at its inception marketing was like – “people with a vision to bring products to people that could create progress and improve lives.”

Unilever has set out its “crafting brands for life” strategy to double the size of the business without increasing its environmental footprint, and hopes that it can help “reinvent” the way businesses approach marketing.

My friend who’s working for GDS International told me that the brand is using digital outdoor screens in London’s Victoria station to engage consumers and “spread a little love” around Valentine’s.

From today (13 February) onwards Dove will post a different question each day until 19 February on the large-format Transvision screens in the station inviting passers-by to respond with thoughts and reflections on beauty and happiness.

The responses will then be streamed in real time on the screens. Experiential activity will also see Dove giving out free gifts that relate to the day’s question.

The company plans to increase marketing spend on its brands by between $500 million and $600 million this year. When this news was out, I asked my friend (working with Clover Advertising), why this transition now? As a marketing expert he did knew the reasons and told me that, the changes are part of an effort by PepsiCo to regain its slipping market share and to compete with Coca-Cola. The few days before, the company had announced that it would be making significant new marketing investments of its own.

I also came to know that most of the increased marketing dollars of the company will go to a dozen key brands, including Pepsi trademarked Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay’s, Doritos, and Tropicana.

While having plans to increase marketing spend, PepsiCo also to reduce its agency partnerships by more than half. Agencies the company currently works with include BBDO for Mountain Dew; Energy BBDO for Lay’s and Sun Chips; TBWA/Chait/Day for the Pepsi trademark in the U.S.; and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for Cheetos and Doritos.

The company also announced plans to cut 8,700 jobs over the next three years, which is about 3% of its global workforce. It expects the restructuring will save $1.5 billion by 2014.

“Aye, this is true”, says my friend who is employed with Sirius Star Marketing, who is regular on ALL business news sites, and misses NOTHING!

Well yes, the uncertain Greek Market and Regulatory Oppositions are the reasons why Vodafone is finding it hard to acquire the third largest mobile operator (WIND Hellas), in Greece.

Vodafone was hog-wild about the MERGER, and the discussions were on with Largo Ltd. regarding the same; but, the scenario it seems has changed for them – though not for the better.

Their Greek dreams tattered like anything – thanks to European Regulators that were against the projected association in between Vodafone and WIND Hellas.

Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications S.A. is ruling the Greek market, preceding Vodafone and WIND Hellas; the merger would have reinforced Vodafone and put it in the same level against the Number One (Cosmote), but then (Alas!) Vodafone has not have luck by its side.

Yup! European Regulators are against the merger, as they feel it would leave the Greece market with just only TWO-PLAYERS (it feared duopoly), instead of three mobile operators the market currently has. Well!

I am regular on their carriers during my client visits – be it TC World Ltd, or others, but never knew the staff would have such a fate. Alas!

Well, more NEW victims of Global Economic Crisis; big losses since 2001 (more than $11 billion) have made the corporation now think of laying their men off; yes, they are not doing good by any means, and want to emerge from bankruptcy.

The first nine months of previous year were very BAD for them, when they registered a loss of about $884 million; the year ended on a costlier note, with a loss of about $904 million in December 2011, alone.

About the people that would be laid off (from the American Airlines) – the parent company has decided to cut about 15% of the manpower; the staff cost will be cut down by 20%, to break even.

And we hear, following are on the agenda: lease and debt restructuring, grounding older planes, change in contracts of employment etc.

It seems the year 2012 won’t be good for – Pilots, Flight Attendants, Management Employees, Maintenance Workers, and Baggage Handlers. Well!

Other than job cuts, even the change in Staff Pension Schemes are in the picture; negotiations are on the go in between the AMR Corporation and the Airline labor unions.

While price and quality have always been considerations for consumers, they aren’t the only considerations. Consumers make decisions based on a much more subjective criteria and they are increasingly looking for ways to distinguish between brands. People value a brand or a service offered by any marketing companies regardless of the country (eg: Appco Group Singapore) they are living in, more highly if it means something to them personally – if it makes them feel better in some way.

This makes you think further, and you might discover that this meaning could come from a variety of sources, such as being given a sense of belonging, or help to develop as individuals.

If you want to differentiate your brand, develop ways to offer your customers meaning that goes beyond price and quality because consumers make value-based decisions based on what they feel – as much as what they think.

My friend Patrick who works for Appco Group Australia and I had a strong debate over the net about ‘Samsung-Apple’ lawsuit. Well! Be it LAW-COURT or the MARKET – both it seems would never stop to fight! Smile!

Jokes apart, after GREAT performances in Q4 2011 (holding a small lead), both Samsung and Apple are BACK again giving each other a tough time, this year too; this is though good for the consumers at the other end that always look for BEST market deals.

It were Flat panels and Smartphones that contributed the most to Samsung’s success story in the year 2011; the Galaxy-series remained popular with consumers in the market.

Be it value, performance, design or features – Galaxy S II I9100 scored the most than other versions of the series.

For the readers, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 had recently been given a clean-chit in the Dutch court over the Apple’s patent infringement case.

After good performances of Samsung, market analysts predict that by March 2012 it may possibly overtake Apple Inc. in the Smartphone segment; well, better wait and watch!

About other market players – Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Research In Motion, Nokia have had OKAY performance reports.

Many of the marketing companies like Magnum Marketing have already linked with using social media or social commerce in their marketing strategies. According to Facebook, defining social commerce, or “f-commerce”, simply as a transactional store is a restrictive way of thinking. And, Facebook is now trying to clear it out with retailers. Now most of the discussions taking place between Facebook and retailers centre are on integrating Facebook functionality, such as a Like or Share buttons, into their own websites.

Facebook is now campaigning out to FMCGs and grocers (whose goods or services are not necessarily social) and talk to them about the social aspects of their products. According to the network, top of Facebook’s priority list are supermarket and FMCG brands, while those that have experienced notable success in their f-commerce strategy stem from the fashion and ticketing verticals.

I was browsing through the TC World Ltd website, and was sidetracked by a twitter notification from the business world – the news about Megaupload.com came as a surprise.

About the latest, the New Zealand court has denied bail to the founder of the Hong Kong based company Megaupload.com.

Never did the German national realize that his six-year old company will have an END like this; hawking copyrighted materials on the Internet cost him and his confederates.

The investigation and further arrests are on in the case; both Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Justice Department are looking into the matter, and have shut down all the sites of the company.

Megaupload and its sister-concerns had generated more than $175 million in an illegal manner through their file-sharing sites.

About copyright holders, the loss has been estimated to be around $500 million; well, insider trading and hacking has landed this gentleman in REAL trouble.

During the raid, the investigating agencies have found him having multiple passports, an unlicensed gun etc. – that would only worsen the situation for him.