Mondelēz global media innovations director Pete Mitchell departs after two years in the role
Pete Mitchell has vacated his role as global media innovations director at Mondelēz International after just under two years with the company.
The Brit joined the snacking giant in his first client-side role from media agency Mindshare in the US where he led the digital business for BP.
He joined with a brief to evaluate the firm’s media activity in all markets across all brands – which include Oreo, Trident and Toblerone – and find ways to innovate in the channels that it uses. It was a rare client-side global media role based in Asia.
Mitchell’s departure was based on a “mutually agreed decision,” he told Campaign Asia magazine.
Mitchell’s job changed slightly following the appointment of Sindhuja Rai as associate director, media and consumer engagement, APAC earlier this year. The global media innovation role changed to focus on Mondelez’s gum and candy arm.
In September last year, Mitchell spoke out against the practice of arbitrage in programmatic trading, where media agencies do not disclose the margins they make on deals. Media agencies needed to “grow up,” he said.
“Media agencies can’t do this [arbitrage] over the long term, when all media buying is done by machines, and expect clients to accept it,” he told Mumbrella. “In what other industry does the supplier keep its client in the dark about its margin? It’s ridiculous.”
“Media agencies need to grow up and think about their long term relationships with clients,” said Mitchell, who has spent much of his career working for media agencies including UM, Initiative, Neo@Ogilvy, MEC and Carat.
Robin Hicks
