DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Mondelez International, maker of biscuits, chocolate, gum and candy, has acquired Betabox LLC by VaynerMedia LLC, a social media and digital marketing agency led by entrepreneur and investor Gary Vaynerchuk.
Betabox enables brands to target product samples at specific consumers by distributing through reputable e-commerce partners. It engages sample recipients with a mobile platform that brands can customize to promote content, special offers and social sharing incentives. The digital platform also enables brands to measure the effectiveness of their product sampling campaign.
Born out of Mondelez's Mobile Futures initiative, which aimed to create and incubate new mobile ventures in 90 days, Betabox was developed in partnership with Prehype, a venture development firm. Mondelez employees generated the original idea for Betabox and further developed and incubated it in collaboration with venture developers at Prehype, who helped build and launch the product.
"As part of the Mobile Futures program, we empowered our employees to be more entrepreneurial and provided them with a unique opportunity to launch their own startup," said Bonin Bough, vice president of global media and e-commerce at Mondelez. "The fact that our startup piqued the interest of a leading marketing agency such as VaynerMedia is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit we were able to spark within our organization."
"I'm delighted that Betabox has found a new home with VaynerMedia," said Hadley Schafer, senior associate brand manager for Mondelez, who participated in the idea generation. "Their entrepreneurial spirit and growth outlook made them a natural fit."
"As a retailer at heart, sampling has always been an area of interest to me, and Betabox is a great platform for us to leverage so we can expand our sampling capabilities," said Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia. "With our winning digital and social media work, our agency has demonstrated it has the intelligence, agility and speed to find the fastest and most effective ways of getting products in front of consumers who'll become the next wave of brand loyalists, all in ways that are native and natural to them."
The companies did not disclose the financial terms. As a result of the transaction, VaynerMedia will be the sole owner of the Betabox assets. Sonny Byrd, the founder and CEO of Betabox, joined VaynerMedia as the head of this new business division.
VaynerMedia, based in New York, is a social-first digital agency that focuses on storytelling across platforms. It builds creative campaigns that drive actual business results from insights gained through micro-content that it produces.
Deerfield, Ill.-based Mondelez International is a global snacking company with 2014 revenue of $34 billion. Its billion-dollar brands include Oreo, LU and Nabisco biscuits; Cadbury, Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; Trident gum; Jacobs coffee and Tang powdered beverages.
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