Mondelez International launches Mobile Futures
Mondelez International has launched a mobile marketing initiative. The new program. Mobile Futures, aims at igniting the company’s consumer connections by working and collaborating with some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the mobile space – start-up entrepreneurs. The program will pair Mondelez International’s power brands with select start-ups to not only accelerate and scale existing mobile innovations, but also incubate brand new mobile ventures, each in just 90 days.
"American consumers spend more than 23% of their daily media consumption on a mobile device. Yet most marketers dedicate less than 1% of their media spend to mobile. This is a huge gap, and it’s driving us at Mondelez International to think differently about consumer engagement and path to purchase," says Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International. "We are planning to invest 10% of our global marketing budget in mobile activations and channels across the entire consumer journey. Our goal is to become one of the top mobile marketers in the world. And Mobile Futures demonstrates how committed we are to get there."
The first phase of the program is about understanding and embracing the start-up entrepreneurial spirit. Selected start-ups will work one-on-one with Mondelez International’s brands, such as Oreo, Trident, Ritz and iDGum, to scale and activate pilots into market within 90 days. Brands will also spend one week working alongside their start-ups, immersing the company’s marketers into start-up culture.
Next, the company will bring the start-up spirit inside the organisation and spark "intrapreneurship." With the help of the program’s start-ups and incubator PreHype, brands will create and incubate completely new mobile ventures. At the end of 90 days, Mondelez International will pitch those new venture concepts to angel investors and venture capitalists with the hopes of securing seed funding.
"Mobile Futures is a first of its kind program because it begins and ends with startups. Startups are the innovative lifeblood for the digital world and we are committed to supporting them," continues Bough. "At the same time, this program will further drive innovation within our own organisation and create a culture of ‘intrapreneurship’. Out of that new culture will emerge new, innovative ideas that will shape the future of mobile."
"Mobile Futures is so exciting for us because it offers a chance to unlock an emerging platform. Every brand is searching for the right way to use mobile to enhance consumer engagement. This initiative harnesses true experts to accelerate our growth in this space," says Cindy Chen, director of marketing for Oreo at Mondelez International.
"This initiative demonstrates to the world the level of mobile innovation and scale that can be delivered through an organisation of Mondelez International’s size," says Greg Stuart, global CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association. "The value of mobile as a communication channel can no longer be challenged with mobile offering endless opportunities for brands to connect with consumers in a more powerful and personalised way. Mondelez International’s Mobile Futures program is truly raising the bar for the rest of the industry to follow and shaping the future of media with mobile leading the charge, and the MMA is thrilled to help."