Mondelez Inks Deal With Google to Accelerate Online Videos
Mondelez International – whose iconic brands include Oreo, Nabisco, Cadbury and Trident gum – has signed a global agreement with Google focusing on online video as part of its strategy to invest more of its media spending in digital and, in particular, online video.
Representing its largest investment in digital media to date, the deal is part of Mondelez's shift of 10 percent of its advertising budgets to online video in 2014.
"We believe video will be a key growth driver for our brands, and programmatic buying will play an important role in accelerating that growth," said Bonin Bough, VP of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International. "Today, 58 percent of consumers turn to digital platforms for their daily media consumption. Although we've adjusted our media spending to reflect that behavior, there's still a gap. The deal with Google will enable us to close that 'digital divide.'"
'Showcasing Cutting-edge'
When discussing its largest-ever digital media investment – which includes a substantial global upfront advertising commitment and which is strategically aligned with Mondelez's goal to allocate resources to accelerate expansion of global innovation platforms, "power brands" and breakthrough technologies – Bough said its online video venture with Google, "showcases a cutting-edge approach to video that will make media buying, creative production, data and analytics work together in real time and at a fraction of the cost.
"Online video is crucial for our brands as it enables us to achieve higher unduplicated reach and ROI. By shifting more of our spending to online video, we'll significantly increase our ROI and this will help fuel growth for our power brands," Bough added.
Noting the heightened "caliber of creative work that brands are creating on YouTube," Lucas Watson, Google's VP of global brand solutions, said the Mondelez partnership "represents a significant commitment for our companies to accelerate digital brand building."
In addition to the advertising commitment, Mondelez International and Google are partnering on content pilots through YouTube's Brand Partner Program. Together with global youth media company Fullscreen, Mondelez International is piloting this new model of high-quality, low-cost video content featuring influential digital stars with Sour Patch Kids in the U.S. and is evaluating expanding the approach across brands and geographies.