Reuters, October 24, New York Snack maker Mondelez (MDLZ.O) is using a new generative AI tool to cut marketing content production costs by 30% to 50%, a senior executive told Reuters.
According to a new tab, the packaged food manufacturer began developing the tool last year in partnership with the IT company Accenture (ACN.N) and the advertising firm Publicis Groupe. The tool should be able to produce short TV ads that could be prepared for the 2027 Super Bowl and even the upcoming holiday season, according to Jon Halvorson, senior vice president of consumer experience for Mondelez worldwide.
Halvorson claims that the Cadbury chocolate company has already invested nearly $40 million in the equipment, and the savings will rise if it is able to produce more intricate videos.
In the face of tariffs and dwindling consumer spending, Mondelez, like other consumer goods companies, is looking to use AI to lower advertising agency fees and speed up the development and launch of new products.
Competitors have also been experimenting with AI for ads, such as Kraft Heinz (KHC.O), which produces macaroni and cheese, and Coca-Cola (KO.N), which opens a new tab. In 2024, Coke released AI-generated holiday commercials, but some consumers criticized the computer-generated characters for lacking emotion.
Currently, Mondelez’s AI-generated content does not feature human likenesses.
It uses the new tool to produce social media content for its Chips Ahoy biscuits in the US and Milka chocolate in Germany. In an eight-second Milka video, waves of chocolate ripple across a wafer, with different backgrounds depending on the target consumer Mondelez wants to reach.
Halvorson said that animation “is in the hundreds of thousands.” “This kind of configuration is orders of magnitude smaller.”
Oreo will open new tabs in the US in November and use the strategy for product pages on Amazon (AMZN.O) and Walmart (WMT.N). In the coming months, Mondelez plans to use the method for Cadbury in the UK and Lacta chocolate and Oreo in Brazil, according to Halvorson.
The company’s vice president of digital enablement and data, Tina Vaswani, stated that humans will continuously check the program’s output to make sure there are no mistakes. Mondelez has policies against encouraging unhealthy eating habits, vaping, excessive consumption, emotionally manipulative language, and the use of derogatory stereotypes, according to a document made public by the Chicago-based company.
