Mondelēz expands its marketing bets on generative AI with a new platform

Diving brief:

• Mondelēz International seeks to better harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing with the launch of a new platform backed by Accenture and Publicis Groupe, according to a press release.
• The offering aims to provide faster, more efficient production of personalized assets such as text, images and videos that will help the marketer of Oreo and Ritz keep pace with rapidly evolving consumer trends.
• Accenture, a long-standing partner, has built a “digital core” for collecting and processing data to inform Mondelēz’s AI efforts, and will evolve the platform through training and employee adoption. Publicis is responsible for bringing AI to life in creative executions.

Dive overview:

Mondelēz joins other fast-moving consumer goods companies in investing in generative AI to improve marketing efficiency and production at scale. As other brands jump into emerging technology, the distributor of iconic products like Oreo and Chips Ahoy is making an ambitious bet to revamp its approach to personalized marketing and areas like testing and measurement through a new platform backed by Accenture and Publicis Groupe.

The offering will expand Mondelēz’s work with both generative AI – a newer category that has seen explosive growth thanks to advanced software like OpenAI’s ChatGPT – and older forms of technology used for data marketing for years. Mondelēz said it will adhere to a responsible AI framework that ensures ethical and legally compliant use of the technology. These are two of the main concerns about generative AI tools that rely on scraping and ingesting existing media to work and have be subject to stricter regulatory control.

“Harnessing the power of generation AI will allow our people to play a proactive role in how our brands present themselves in the marketplace,” said Jon Halvorson, senior vice president of global consumer experiences and digital commerce at Mondelēz , in a press release. “This drives real value for the business by creating, personalizing and distributing on-trend creative not only at a rapid pace, but also safely and with brand integrity.”

Accenture helped Mondelēz establish a digital core for the platform that is based on real-time data and can produce new insights to share with decision-makers across the CPG organization. The consultant will also help Mondelez employees get up to speed on AI training and adoption.

Publicis, for its part, is leveraging generative AI to inform Mondelēz’s creative and content production. The ad holding group, which managed Mondelez functions around media, creation and production for several years, is expanding its scope to assist in tasks such as measurement, activation, design of guidelines and technologies in AI responsible. Publicis relies on its integrated Power of One strategy. The agency network is committed to investing hundreds of millions in generative AI every year to accelerate its own transformation.

Deeper partnerships around generative AI are increasingly common in the consumer products space. The Coca-Cola Company, an early adopter of the technology, last year entered into a pact with Bain & Company and OpenAI around AI in marketing.

Generative AI could give traditional marketers an advantage as they battle new competitors and consumers who struggle with price sensitivity. Mondelez saw net revenue down 1.9% in second quarter while its underlying volumes declined by 2.2%.