How Pepsico and Mondelez are tackling their biggest challenge to date - turning marketing into a revenue center

"In the past six months two of the world's highest spending advertisers have come to the same radical solution to their marketing problems; that to survive in world where ad blocking is rising while attention spans dwindle they must now be in the business of creating content that is so good that they can actually sell it. PepsiCo's marketing boss predicts that the days of paying any and all platforms to shove adverts down people's throats are quickly drawing to a close."

"And so it, and fellow FMCG-behemoth Mondelez, have realised that the future lies in acting like a publisher. But like any good publisher, the ultimate goal needs to be finding a long-term solution to monetizing that content. Mondelez has chief media and ecommerce officer Bonin Bough while PepsiCo has president of its global beverage business Brad Jakeman forging the path; two senior marketers who have been given the remit to ask: 'If we are a growth company, then where is the growth coming from?'."

PepsiCo and Mondelez are shifting from traditional media spending toward producing entertainment-led branded content designed to be monetized. Rising ad blocking and shrinking attention spans are driving the move to act like publishers and seek long-term content revenue models. Strategies range from in-housing capabilities and partnerships to mobile apps, online games, live-action stunts, and TV-style series, all intended to make brands fund their own marketing. Senior marketers Bonin Bough and Brad Jakeman are leading efforts to identify growth opportunities and leverage billion-dollar brands to produce content that can generate sellable revenue and finance further marketing.

Read at The Drum