Mondelez International's Mobile Futures Makes Progress

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Mondelez International Inc. is moving full steam ahead with its Mobile Futures Network. The locally-based candy and snacks company has brought several of its mobile pilots to market in 90 days.

As CSNews Online exclusively reported on Jan. 3, Mondelez International's first-of-its-kind network aims to shape the future of mobile by teaming power brands with some of the brightest entrepreneurial minds in the mobile marketing field.

"The Mobile Futures program has been an extraordinary experience for all of us at Mondelez International. It has given us the opportunity to work with and learn from leading mobile innovators to enhance how we engage with our consumers," said Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez International. "Working with our start-up partners, we were able to successfully launch new mobile pilots in just 90 days -- something we would never have imagined for a company of our size."

During the first phase, eight brands teamed with seven nine start-ups.

• Stride gum and Waze, a crowd-sourced traffic and navigation app, were the first to launch a pilot in February, bringing users unexpected coupons for Stride gum at nearby retailers while on the go.
   
• Chips Ahoy! and social video start-up Shelby.tv launched the first-ever brand page on the platform, chipsahoy.tv. Centered on March Madness, the Sweetest Bracket program allowed college students to see March Madness through the eyes of Chips Ahoy!
   
• Nabisco's Wheat Thins, Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, and Oreo all partnered with Endorse, an iOS and Android application that brings consumers a daily flow of offers that deliver them cash back on their favorite products.
   
• Halls partnered with Dailybreak to create a custom gaming challenge, while introducing consumers to the suite of Halls products and their cooling benefits.
   
• Trident gum is leveraging Roximity's place-based proximity notification technology and database to drive impulse purchases of Trident.
   
• Trident gum is also working with Lisnr to give consumers exclusive music content via both TV and social media.
   
• Sour Patch Kids and Kiip, a mobile network that enables brands to reward in-app achievements, is bringing rewards to consumers in places and moments unique to Sour Patch Kids and Kiip.
   
• Oreo is working with Banjo, a SoLoMo app that curates social feeds based on location to create streams of real time, social content.
   
• belVita Breakfast Biscuits partnered with inMarket, a startup in developing mobile applications used in store and at the shelf, to understand the impact of mobile technology on shopping conversion.

The company also plans to launch two additional mobile pilots in the next month.

During the next phase of the program, the brand teams and their start-up partners will work together again to formulate ideas around broader business challenges. Based on the outcome of the ideation process, Mondelez International can select the best ideas for incubation by the teams, with the hope of securing seed funding from angel investors and venture capitalists after 90 days, according to the company.

"Mobile Futures is a truly unique opportunity to infuse the start-up entrepreneurial spirit into our organization. With this second phase, we're going beyond launching pilots to create entirely new mobile ventures," Bough said. "This is where our brand teams get to truly act like start-ups and help deliver on our mobile-first strategy."

Among the members of the Mobile Futures Network members are convenience retailers Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based QuickChek Corp. and West Des Moines, Iowa-based Kum & Go LC.