Summer sweepstakes are kicking into high gear and savvy marketers know to make mobile a focal point, but recent efforts suggest consumer packaged goods brands are taking a formulaic approach that could turn off more consumers than it wins over. Marketers are increasingly embracing the idea that the best mobile efforts reach consumers with entertaining snippets of content as they go about their daily activities. However, recent efforts appear to offer little of value to consumers. Nor are they unique or interesting enough to gain attention. 

Capital One is letting customers on Apple iPhones use the bank-holding company’s revamped mobile application to personalize how they manage their finances with a single sign-in for all accounts and easier cross-account movement. Mobile users now can view and manage accounts from one place, including home and auto loans, banking accounts and credit card statements, and navigate and organize transactions and payments by category to track spending. While Capital One’s new digital experience is available on iPhone, it will be supported via Watch OS and Android devices in the future, as the company responds to consumer demands for easier ways to …

With Peapod seeing nearly one-third of its orders take place exclusively on smartphones or tablets, the online grocer has redesigned its mobile experience and set its sights on grabbing an even bigger share of wallet from the on-the-go shopper. The new application features high-resolution photos and tools designed to streamline the shopping process for on-the-go consumers who may not have the time to visit a supermarket in-person. The brand’s ability to enable its users to peruse the digital aisles and filter products by dietary and nutritional needs suggests that more grocery marketers will allocate funds to making the mobile shopping process a …

Unilever’s Axe is leveraging an in-store partnership with Walmart designed to attract the brand's young male audience with relevant music downloads on mobile as a reward for purchasing products. Consumers may download rewards platform Snipp to partake in the campaign, which runs through December 31. The free download promotion will likely appeal to Axe’s main demographic of younger males, proving that offering attractive, instantaneous rewards is a strategy that more consumer packaged goods brands should consider implementing.

While Uber’s controversial battle with politicians and car service companies may give some brands pause about teaming up with the ride-sharing application, the key issue is whether its service satisfies target audiences. Marriott International, Capital One and Samsung are just a few of the brands in a range of industries that have partnered with Uber, even as it generates controversy with its leveraging of mobile to transform local transport services worldwide, from taxis to carpools to fast-food delivery. Setbacks for the company after lawmakers in several countries took steps to ban it have raised questions about the degree to which Uber …

SMS marketing pioneer Hipcricket’s acquisition by Sito Mobile for a mere fraction of the price of its purchase by Augme four years ago points to both the unpredictable speed of shifts in the ad technology field and a challenging environment for companies in the SMS space. Sito, a mobile engagement platform provider, said it acquired the mobile advertising business from Hipcricket for $3.7 million, including $2.4 million in stock and $1.3 million in cash. In 2011, Augme bought the company for $44.5 million.

American Express seeks to bring even more convenience to mobile payments with its Amex Express Checkout system that allows its millions of members to automatically make online purchases via a platform that needs only their existing login information. Amex Express Checkout lets members with AmericanExpress.com accounts quickly make online purchases using their American Express logins, differentiating itself from Google Wallet and Master Pass, which require customers to create a new login and link up credit cards. The Amex service points to an effort to satisfy consumers’ mobile-accelerated demands for easier-to-manage processes in important financial matters.

Commerce generated on e-commerce platforms on mobile devices, called mobile commerce or m-commerce, is expected to surpass $638 billion by 2018, a recent study forecasts. Ease of use, availability of various commerce applications on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets fueling this growth, the joint study by Deloitte and Assocham today revealed. Cash on Delivery (CoD) is the most preferred mode of payment in India with 45% of the shoppers using it while 21% shoppers opt for debit cards and another 16% go for credit cards. The report said the CoD mode has many issues ranging from high direct and …

PayPal has announced that it has successfully acquired Xoom Corp., a digital money transfer service provider. This may represent yet another step toward PayPal’s plans to become a more prominent entity in the mobile commerce space. Xoom is currently considered one of the world’s leading remittance companies. The company allows consumers to use their mobile devices to send funds, and pay bills, using their mobile devices, making the process more convenient. PayPal believes that expanding into the international money transfer and remittance space will open up new opportunities in the coming years. PayPal has become one of the most influential organizations in …

Top pizza chain Domino's Pizza recently partnered with the Indian Railways to serve pizzas to passengers on their train seat. It also launched a mobile application for taking orders in its constant bid to reach out to all segments of consumers. ET caught up with Ajay Kaul, CEO of Jubilant FoodWorks that operates Domino's Pizza stores in the country, to talk about the company's new initiatives as well as the opportunities and challenges they bring along.