'Mobile Futures' makes Mondelez a startup, brings in nimbleness & flexibility

Mondelez has been supporting and collaborating with startups since 2012, when it had launched a program called 'Mobile Futures'. As the name suggests, Mobile Futures brought brand managers from the organisation to work with startups on mobile marketing concepts. Mobile Futures has helped in shaping the company's future in two ways, a Mondelez International spokesperson tells us. One, it has made the organisation more startup-like: nimble, flexible, not afraid to test, fail, and learn in the process. Two, it has allowed Mondelez to go beyond working with startups to work "as startups." "We incubated two ventures (Betabox and Prankstr), which we pitched to VCs. We ended up selling Betabox to VaynerMedia, a major digital marketing agency in the US," the spokesperson says. Mondelez also used learnings from Mobile Futures when it first launched a direct-to-consumer business in the US with Oreo Colorfilled cookies. "We were able to launch it in two-months time instead of two years," adds the spokesperson.