The Mondelez conglomerate (MDLZ) is investing more than $40 million in a proprietary generative AI tool, with the goal of dramatically cutting marketing production costs. Savings on marketing content are expected to be between 30% and 50%.
The project, which has been in development since last year in partnership with agency Publicis Groupe and Accenture (ACN), is a strategic response to the increasing cost pressures resulting from, among other things, customs duties and weakening consumer purchasing power.
The tool is already up and running. Mondelez is using it to create social media content for Chips Ahoy biscuits in the US and Milka chocolate in Germany. Halvorson gave the example of an eight-second Milka clip showing waves of chocolate on a wafer with personalised backgrounds. The cost of such an animation, traditionally calculated in ‘hundreds of thousands’ of dollars, is ‘several times less’ thanks to AI. In November, the system will also support the creation of Oreo product pages for Amazon and Walmart in the US.
However, the ambitions go much further than social media. Mondelez expects the technology to be able to produce short TV commercials ready for broadcast as early as next Christmas. There is even a spot in prospect for the Super Bowl in 2027.
The manufacturer is not alone. Rivals such as Kraft Heinz and Coca-Cola are also testing AI. However, the latter has faced criticism from consumers, who scoffed at the ‘lack of emotion’ in the computer-generated characters in the 2024 Christmas campaign.
Mondelez is taking a more cautious approach – for now, it avoids generating human images and ensures that content created by AI will always be vetted by humans to avoid slip-ups. The company has also implemented internal policies prohibiting, among other things, the promotion of unhealthy eating habits, the use of manipulative language or offensive stereotypes. This is a balanced calculation in which the potential for savings must go hand in hand with protecting the brand’s reputation.
