Mondelēz International launches mobile marketing initiative Mobile Futures Australia – open to startup entrepreneurs in the mobile space
Mondelēz International, the maker of iconic brands including Cadbury Dairy Milk and Philadelphia cream cheese, has today announced the Australian launch of breakthrough mobile marketing initiative Mobile Futures.
The initiative, launched last year in the US and Brazil, aims to ignite the company’s consumer connections by collaborating with some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the mobile space – startup entrepreneurs.
The program will pair five of Australia’s biggest and most loved brands – Cadbury Dairy Milk, Marvellous Creations, Cadbury Favourites, Philadelphia cream cheese and belVita breakfast biscuits – with five startups to accelerate and scale existing mobile innovations in just 90 days.
Says Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelēz International: “Around half of Australian consumers’ online activity occurs via mobile or tablet devices, but there’s a big gap between that mobile usage and where companies are investing their ad budgets.
“Digitally savvy markets like Australia will play a lead role in our plan to invest 10 percent of our global marketing budget in clever and engaging mobile activations that span the entire consumer journey.
“Our goal is to become one of the top mobile marketers in the world, and Mobile Futures is one very exciting program that will help us get there.”
Mobile Futures – Shaping the Future of Mobile in 90 Days
The program is about understanding and embracing the startup entrepreneurial spirit. Selected startups will work one-on-one with the five brands to customise and accelerate their mobile platforms, and activate pilots within 90 days. Brands will start by spending one week working side-by-side with their startups and the startup’s headquarters, immersing the company’s marketers into startup culture.
Says Bough: “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’re committed to supporting them.
“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.”
Says Amanda Banfield, managing director Snacking Australia, Mondelēz International: “Mobile Futures is so exciting for us because it will step-change our thinking around how we engage with consumers in the mobile world that we live in. Mobile Futures will also encourage all of us at Mondelez International to adapt our daily marketing responsibilities to be more entrepreneurial – resulting in better, faster, and more efficient decisions for our brands.”
The Mobile Futures Network
The Mobile Futures partner network is comprised of leading organisations in the tech startup ecosystem, including incubators, accelerators, shared work spaces, plus more, allowing us to tap into the most talented technologists and entrepreneurs to submit a startup application to the competition. Members include: Evol8tion, Pollenizer, LBMA, Hub Australia, MMA, BlueChilli, TechBeach Manly, Spacecubed, Startmate and ATP Innovations,Inspire9 and Angelcubed.
Says Phil Morle, Pollenizer CEO: “The world is changing fast and startups have learned how to make businesses that can keep up. The disruptive nature of these businesses enables brands to adapt faster, meeting the needs of their consumers while giving startups access to a large consumer bases which is normally unreachable.”
Says Joseph Jaffe, CEO and co-founder of Evol8tion, the innovation boutique managing the Mobile Futures programs in the US, Brazil, and now Australia: “Any brand that professes to be truly consumer-centric simply has to emulate the level of technology adoption in the market. Mondelēz International has put its money where its – or rather its consumers – mouths are…and these days, this is squarely in mobile.”
For more information on Mobile Futures, startups can visit www.mobilefutures.com.