Mondelēz expands generative AI marketing bets with new platform

Dive Brief:

• Mondelēz International is looking to better harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing with the launch of a new platform supported by Accenture and Publicis Groupe, according to a press release. 
• The offering is focused on delivering speedier, more efficient production of personalized assets like text, images and videos that will help the marketer of Oreo and Ritz keep pace with fast-changing consumer trends. 
• Accenture, a longtime partner, built a “digital core” for collecting and processing data to inform Mondelēz’s AI efforts, and will scale the platform through employee training and adoption. Publicis is tasked with bringing the AI to life in creative executions.   

Dive Insight:

Mondelēz joins other fast-moving consumer goods companies in investing in generative AI to realize greater marketing efficiency and production at scale. While other brands are dabbling in the emergent technology, the marketer of iconic products like Oreo and Chips Ahoy is making an ambitious bet to revamp how it approaches personalized marketing and areas like testing and measurement via a new platform supported by Accenture and Publicis Groupe.

The offering will expand Mondelēz’s work with both generative AI — a newer category that’s seen explosive growth thanks to advanced software like OpenAI’s ChatGPT — and older forms of the technology that have been used for data-marketing purposes for years. Mondelēz said it will adhere to a responsible AI framework that ensures ethically and legally compliant use of the technology. Those are two of the chief concerns surrounding generative AI tools that rely on scraping and ingesting existing media to function and which have come under sharper regulatory scrutiny. 

“Harnessing the power of gen AI will empower our people to play a proactive role in how our brands show up in the market,” said Jon Halvorson, senior vice president of global consumer experiences and digital commerce at Mondelēz, in a statement. “This drives real value for the business through creating, personalizing and distributing on-trend creative not only at pace, but also safely, securely and with brand integrity.”

Accenture has been aiding Mondelēz in establishing a digital core for the platform that is based on real-time data and can produce new insights to be shared with decision-makers across the CPG’s organization. The consultant will also help Mondelēz employees get up to speed on education and adoption of AI.

Publicis, for its part, is leveraging generative AI to inform Mondelēz’s creative and content output. Publicis is leaning on its Power of One integrated strategy. The agency network has pledged to invest hundreds of millions in generative AI annually to accelerate its own transformation.    

Deeper partnerships around generative AI are becoming more common in the CPG realm. The Coca-Cola Company, an early adopter of the tech, last year formed a pact with Bain & Company and OpenAI around AI in marketing.

Generative AI could give legacy marketers an edge as they contend with upstart rivals and consumers that are grappling with price sensitivity. Mondelēz saw net revenue slide 1.9% in Q2 while its underlying volumes declined 2.2%.