Modelez is to hive off a chunk of its marketing budget in a bid to crack mobile.
The holding company behind some of Australia's biggest brands is bringing its mobile start up accelerator to Australia to boost innovation around brands including Philadelphia and Cadbury.
The company says its aim is to “ignite the company’s consumer connections by collaborating with some of the brightest and most innovative minds in the mobile space”.
Five of its brands, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Marvellous Creations, Cadbury Favourites, Philadelphia cream cheese and belVita breakfast biscuits will partner with five start-ups for a 90-day program to speed up and scale existing mobile ideas.
Mondelez has already launched its Mobile Futures concept in the US and Brazil. Australia is the third market off the blocks. Last week, Steve Chantry, head of marketing for Cadbury told AdNews that the Australian business is on the priority list of markets to benefit from global investments in innovation and digital. Read more about Cadbury in this week's print edition of AdNews.
Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International, said: “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.”
“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 is a first of its kind program because it begins and ends with start-ups. Start-ups are the innovative lifeblood for the digital world and we’re committed to supporting them.”
The brand and start-up pairs will work on-to-one for 90 days to customise and accelerate their mobile platforms and activate pilots within 90 days.
Mondelez marketers will work at the start-up's offices to immerse themselves in the entrepreneurial culture.
Globally Mondelez plans to invest 10% of its marketing budget in mobile innovations and hopes the Mobile Futures scheme will encourage a culture of “intrapreneurship” within the organisation that will shape its approach to marketing.
Mondelez is holding events this week to launch the scheme and is calling on Australian start-ups to submit applications online. Applications are open until 1 June.
The Mobile Futures network includes accelerators groups such as Evol8tion, Pollenizer, LBMA, Hub Australia, MMA, BlueChilli, TechBeach Manly, Spacecubed, Startmate and ATP Innovations, Inspire9 and Angelcubed.
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