MONDIA GROUP
DIGITAL REPORT 2021
Connecting Markets Through Digital Experiences
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Connecting Markets Through Digital Experiences www.mo nd ia . com
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We hear how collaboration, people and data are the keys to unlocking global ecommerce in emerging markets
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rom Dubai, Brad Whittfield, Group Chief Financial Officer at Mondia Group, oversees a global network of regional offices span-
ning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Today, however, he has been packing his suitcase. Later this week he will fly to Europe to spend some time with the Mondia teams and to meet with Mondia’s countless valued partners. The irony of heading a 04
company that prides itself on connecting disparate parts of the planet through technology, while himself flying 3,500 miles for an in-person meeting, isn’t lost on Whittfield; genuine relationships are paramount to success. Mondia helps companies connect with their customers through digital experiences. It provides the technology platform, the acquisition and engagement know-how and the extensive content catalogue – through its long term partnerships with the likes of Warner Bros and Universal. Essentially Mondia manages the end-to-end user journey. It underpins its digital content business with Mondia Pay, a flexible, direct carrier billing infrastructure which allows customers to pay through their phone bill - a fintech innovation driving current growth into new markets and sectors.
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“You must have a top-down data-driven mindset and fundamentally make all decisions based on it” — Brad Whittfield, CFO, Mondia
A technology business by definition, Whittfield says Mondia is a “very unique company” at heart. Its approach stems from an internal culture of collaboration and innovation – despite the team being spread across many countries around the world. “Our platform and product teams are based in Germany and Spain. We have a development and delivery hub of almost a hundred people based in Cairo,” Whittfield says. “We have offices in the UAE, Egypt across Europe and throughout Africa. So we have a really diverse group and we invest a lot into creating a one
team environment, having everyone
and that’s why we really do create teams
engaged in our products and services,
that are purposely located everywhere.”
and having everyone engaged in our
Through this international network,
core values: customer-centricity, inno-
Mondia serves some of the world’s big-
vation, collaboration.”
gest telecoms operators, including O2,
Having people “on the ground” with
Etisalat, Orange, Telefonica, and Vod-
insight into regional dynamics and user
afone alongside a host of other B2B
behaviour is key, says Whittfield. “If I
customers. Mondia’s products and
were sitting in Dubai, I wouldn’t neces-
services empower these operators to
sarily get a sense of what’s happening
engage their users through digital
in Africa. I wouldn’t be able to comment,
experiences, but its ambitions go far
so we have to have that sense of engage-
beyond that. Whittfield and the execu-
ment and collaboration, no matter what,
tive team firmly believe in extending 07
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Brad Whittfield Title: Group CFO
Company: Mondia Group
Brad Whittfield joined Mondia in 2019 as Group CFO and Executive Board Member. He has nearly two decades of international finance experience, with specialisms in rapid growth, funding and IPOs. He spent 10 years in Mergers and Acquisitions at the Big 4 consultancies based in London and the Middle East, and was recently recognised as an industry leader, voted a Top 10 CFO of 2020 from Industry Era, and winning acclaim as Best Emerging Global Finance Leader 2020 by Acquisition International.
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MONDIA GROUP
their internal culture of collaboration to partners and, indeed, other startups and tech services. “We’ve got a lot of longstanding relationships, but we really challenge ourselves,” he says. “We do not want to relax and sit on the fact that we’ve got these longstanding relationships. We want to be their true innovation partner. What do our customers want next? As an executive team, we ask ourselves this every day. “With technology nowadays, it’s not necessary - and probably not advisable to build everything yourself,” he continues. “There are a lot of companies out there doing awesome work. It’s about creating this ecosystem where you can provide a suite of technologies and services.” One recent such partnership is with mobile communications giant Vodacom Group, an agreement spanning five countries across Africa, a continent where much of Mondia’s immediate growth plans lie. Though individual countries are at different stages along the path, much of Africa and the broader MENA region can be characterised by a stark dichotomy: high tech literacy and adoption, coupled with a population that
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“We invest a lot into creating a one team environment, having everyone engaged in our products and services, and having everyone engaged our core values” — Brad Whittfield, CFO, Mondia www.mo nd ia . com
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Mondia Introduction Video CLICK TO WATCH
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“ As telcos are heavily regulated, direct carrier billing is rightly perceived to be an extremely safe way of payment”
is grossly underserved by traditional finance institutes. It is here that Mondia is innovating. “In the last few years, we’ve really grown a presence in the MENA region and now our focus is to digitalise Africa” Whittfield says. “We see Africa as a huge opportunity, not only for the B2B business, and our digital content, but also for our direct carrier billing platform, Mondia Pay.” “In emerging mar-
— Brad Whittfield, CFO, Mondia
kets, many people don’t have bank accounts, but they’ve got two mobile phones. That’s how they participate in www.mo nd ia . com
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digital commerce. Our transaction volumes are more than doubling every year – which is extremely exciting.” Mondia’s direct carrier billing also expands beyond the walled garden of its own services, extending to Spotify, Deezer and other market-leading streaming and download services. The possibilities are endless; users in the future can pay for physical goods through Mondia Pay; they might visit a restaurant, enjoy their meal, and at the end of the evening charge the whole thing to their phone bill. For many, it has unlocked access to the global ecommerce market, says Whittfield, and “from a user’s perspective, it’s a very simple experience and journey”. Cultural perceptions also play a vital role in advancing Mondia Pay across the territory, an insight gleaned only thanks to Mondia’s emphasis on regional teams and localised, tailored services. “As telcos are heavily regulated, direct carrier billing is rightly perceived to be an extremely safe way of payment,” Whittfield says. “Particularly in the Middle East and Africa region, where security and safety is such an important part of the perception of paying online” www.mo nd ia . com
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MONDIA GROUP
60
Countries globally
300
Number of emloyees
14
Office Locations
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“ What do our customers want next? As an executive team, we ask ourselves this every day” — Brad Whittfield, CFO, Mondia
Underpinning Mondia’s push to “digitalise Africa” and other underserved regions is data. “You must have a top-down data-driven mindset and fundamentally make all decisions based on it,” Whittfields explains. “You really ask the data questions, and you can see the data providing the answer and user stories: we made this experience, this is how people reacted, and this is how you can see it in the data.”
90mn Monthly visits
80mn
Monthly pieces of content
900mn Payments processed monthly
Mondia invested heavily into its data
busi-nesses that didn’t acknowledge
strategy over a number of years and
the importance of data five years
the company is “really starting to feel
ago are now scrambling and are at
that benefit”.
a real competitive disadvantage.”
“When you have this data-first mind-set, you make much quicker and much better decisions. For me, it is less about the actual technology and more about the effective use of that technology and ability to collect, extract and interpret meaningful data.” says Whittfield. “The tech www.mo nd ia . com
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