Mondelez Bets on Generative AI to Revolutionize Marketing and Slash Costs

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In a bold move to modernize its marketing strategy and reduce expenses, global snack and confectionery giant Mondelez International, the maker of popular brands such as Oreo, Cadbury, and Chips Ahoy, is embracing the power of generative artificial intelligence. The company has begun deploying a new AI-driven tool that is expected to cut marketing production costs by 30% to 50%, marking a major shift in how traditional consumer-goods advertising is created and managed.

A Collaboration with Tech and Advertising Titans

Mondelez started developing the generative AI tool in 2024, in collaboration with global advertising company Publicis Groupe and IT consulting powerhouse Accenture. The partnership brings together marketing expertise, advanced analytics, and cutting-edge AI technology to transform the creative process behind advertising.

According to Jon Halvorson, Mondelez’s Global Senior Vice President of Consumer Experience, the company envisions that the tool will be capable of producing short television commercials as early as the 2026 holiday season, with ambitions to generate Super Bowl-ready ads by 2027.

The company has already invested more than $40 million in developing and refining the AI platform. Halvorson noted that the real financial benefits will expand as the tool evolves and begins generating more complex, high-quality video content without the traditional production costs and time constraints of manual editing and post-production.

AI Meets the Snack World

The packaged-food sector has faced several headwinds in recent years — from rising tariffs and inflationary pressures to declining consumer purchasing power. In this challenging climate, Mondelez’s move reflects a broader industry trend: the growing use of AI automation to reduce advertising agency fees, shorten product development cycles, and accelerate go-to-market strategies.

The company’s new AI system has already begun generating promotional materials for its popular brands. For instance, in the United States, AI-created content is being used in social media campaigns for Chips Ahoy cookies, while in Germany, the tool has produced visually rich short clips for Milka chocolate.

One notable eight-second Milka ad features mesmerizing waves of chocolate rippling over a wafer, dynamically changing the background based on the target audience’s preferences — an example of how AI can bring personalization and efficiency together in a visually compelling way.

“The cost to do animations like this used to be in the hundreds of thousands,” Halvorson explained. “Now, this type of AI-powered setup is orders of magnitude cheaper, and production time is dramatically reduced.”

Beyond Ads: AI in Retail and E-Commerce

The innovation doesn’t stop at video ads. Mondelez plans to integrate its AI tool into e-commerce platforms to enhance product listings and digital displays. Beginning in November 2025, the company will use AI-generated visuals and descriptions for Oreo product pages on Amazon and Walmart.

Further rollouts are expected soon — with Lacta chocolate and Oreo in Brazil, and Cadbury in the UK — as Mondelez explores new ways to combine brand storytelling with generative creativity.

Balancing Creativity and Responsibility

Despite the growing influence of AI in marketing, Mondelez emphasizes that human oversight remains essential. According to Tina Vaswani, Vice President of Digital Enablement and Data at Mondelez, every piece of AI-generated content is carefully reviewed by human teams before it is published.

“We will always have humans in the loop,” Vaswani affirmed. “Our goal is to use AI as a creative assistant — not a replacement.”

Mondelez has implemented strict ethical and creative guidelines for its AI system. These rules prohibit the use of content that promotes unhealthy eating habits, vaping, excessive consumption, emotionally manipulative messaging, or offensive stereotypes. The company also refrains from using AI-generated human likenesses to avoid the uncanny and emotionally flat results that some competitors have faced.

For example, when Coca-Cola ran AI-created holiday advertisements in 2024, many viewers criticized the digital humans for appearing unrealistic and emotionally hollow. Learning from such experiences, Mondelez has decided to focus on product-centric creativity rather than synthetic human actors — at least for now.

The Broader AI Marketing Trend

Mondelez’s foray into AI marketing aligns with a global wave of digital transformation in the consumer goods sector. Rivals such as Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo are experimenting with similar technologies to gain efficiency and personalization advantages.

Even tech companies are pushing boundaries. Reports suggest that Meta aims to fully automate advertising with AI by 2026, a vision that could reshape how companies of all sizes plan and deploy campaigns across social media platforms.

Generative AI’s ability to create text, images, and videos on demand has opened vast opportunities for marketers. It allows for rapid content prototyping, real-time customization, and localized storytelling without the heavy costs of conventional production houses. However, it also brings new challenges — including the need for brand safety, intellectual property protection, and ethical content regulation.

From Factory Floor to Digital Frontline

For Mondelez, the shift to AI-powered marketing is part of a larger mission to digitize every layer of its business — from supply chain management to consumer engagement. The company already uses data analytics to monitor consumer trends, optimize distribution routes, and test product variations. Now, AI is extending that efficiency to the frontlines of brand communication.

Industry experts believe that such a move could significantly democratize advertising, enabling even mid-tier brands to produce world-class creative assets without massive budgets. As the technology matures, the role of marketers may evolve from content producers to creative directors, overseeing intelligent systems that execute campaigns at lightning speed.

Looking Ahead

If Mondelez’s AI initiative proves successful, it could set a new benchmark for how large consumer brands operate in a post-digital economy. The company’s vision — where AI can design, optimize, and deploy content across global markets in real time — represents a future where speed, personalization, and efficiency are the defining pillars of marketing success.

Still, Mondelez executives insist that the human element remains irreplaceable. “AI can help us work smarter,” said Halvorson, “but creativity and empathy are what make brands truly connect with people. That will always come from humans.”