NEW YORK: Snack foods giant Mondelez is partnering with social networking site Twitter in a move aimed at further developing its real-time marketing expertise.

The deal will see Twitter employees working alongside Mondelez staff in various territories, including Brazil, India, the UK and the US.

Mondelez will also commit itself to an unspecified level of ad spending and in return gain access to preferential rates as well as custom research and "brand boot camps".

"The whole point here is being able to react to what is being talked about in culture in the moment when it is being talked about," Bonin Bough, vice-president of global media and consumer engagement at Mondelez, told the Financial Times.

"Twitter is constantly evolving their platform and technology. Being able to be close to that is a huge opportunity for us," he added.

Mondelez has already gained plaudits for its real-time marketing following activity by one of its brands during a blackout in last year's Super Bowl, when Oreo, the cookie, tweeted "You can still dunk in the dark".

But Oreo had been working on this area for some time and had developed the mindset of a daily newspaper when approaching content development, with agency stakeholders and brand stakeholders all meeting every morning like an editorial newsroom.

Adam Bain, Twitter's president of global revenue, remarked on speed at which consumers were moving to mobile and said: "Companies must plan for the moment to ensure their brands remain relevant and in touch with the interests of consumers."

The importance of getting it right, however, was highlighted by some ill-judged Twitter activity on the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Advertising Age reported that AT&T was forced to apologise after posting a picture of a picture of the beams of light shooting up from the Twin Towers site, captured in the screen of a phone poised to take a photo, which many saw as an overt ad.

Bough indicated that further big changes were imminent as the real-time trend moved beyond social media. He predicted he would soon be buying television ads in real time and crafting commercials in a fraction of the time it currently takes.

"We have to prepare ourselves for a bigger shift toward that," he said.

Data sourced from Financial Times, Advertising Age; additional content by Warc staff