What happens when an iconic snack brand blends bold creativity with cutting-edge research techniques? You get Cheez-It Smoked—one of the brand’s latest product innovations and a prime example of how AI-powered, mobile-first research can drive fast, consumer-led innovation.
At the 2025 Quirk’s Event in Chicago, Jonathan Dore, Executive Vice President at Reach3 Insights, and Scott Healy, Senior Manager of Insights & Analytics at Kellanova (parent company of Cheez-It), shared how the Cheez-It team used Reach3’s conversational research approach to test new product “territories” with Gen Z and multicultural consumers. Their goal? Move fast, get real feedback, and identify a winning idea consumers could help co-create.
Check out a recording of this presentation here, or read below 👇 for highlights.
Rather than testing fully fleshed-out concepts, Cheez-It opted for “territory testing”—broad idea spaces that allowed consumers to shape and build the product direction. One territory stood out: smoked. Inspired by real-world snacking behavior (yes, people are smoking their own cheese at home), this space felt ripe for exploration.
Using Rival Technologies’ conversational research platform, the Reach3 team combined quant and qual in one seamless experience. Consumers shared their feedback via conversational surveys in a natural, chat-like environment—providing thoughts via text, photo, and video in real time. The result was highly engaged feedback, especially from younger audiences.
But why did Scott and his team at Kellanova choose this new approach rather than sticking to traditional front-end innovation research methods? At the end of the day, it’s all about capturing more authentic insights.
“We wanted to meet consumers where they are,” Scott explained. “We wanted to talk to them in a way that’s comfortable and familiar and allowed for that feedback to come out naturally, which is much better in this platform than a traditional open-end.”
Rival’s AI capabilities played a pivotal role on both the front and back ends of the study. On the front end, AI tone refinement capabilities helped ensure the survey language matched the Cheez-It brand: fun, casual, and engaging.
Scott felt this application of AI played a pivotal role in the high engagement they received from the study, saying “this was a big benefit for us and we were able to get a lot more from our consumers…in addition, we wanted to make sure we were connecting with that younger Gen Z cohort by meeting them where they are and with how they like to talk.”
On the back end, AI was used to synthesize qualitative inputs (including video feedback) into key themes, even auto-generating showreels that brought consumer sentiment to life for stakeholders.
One standout tactic was recontacting participants via SMS surveys, inviting them to participate in follow-up missions like snacking scavenger hunts. This mobile-first approach enabled fast, frictionless engagement and in-the-moment research—no need to dig through email inboxes.
This mobile-first approach enabled fast, frictionless engagement.
It also supported a core belief of the study: that more data leads to better decisions. From snack photos to candid videos explaining flavor preferences, the team collected rich, real-time inputs that informed not just which idea to pursue, but how to bring it to life in a way that felt authentic and on-brand.
Insights from this innovation research study helped guide a clear recommendation to move forward with Cheez-It Smoked. It also equipped the R&D team with specific cues for product development—like how to balance cheese and smoke flavor in a way that’s bold but still on brand. The product, now in market, is already showing strong trial and repeat.
Even more intriguing: a niche concept from the same study (once considered a long shot) is now in the pipeline for a limited launch, thanks to the team’s ability to spot and nurture opportunities hidden in the qualitative feedback.
The product, now in market, is already showing strong trial and repeat.
Our innovative work with Cheez-It shows that when you combine the right market research platform, smart research design, and a culture of innovation, even a 100-year-old cracker brand can spark fresh excitement—and uncover its next hit flavor, one text message at a time.
If you'd like to learn more about our work with Cheez-It, please check out the case study or watch a recording of Scott's presentation here.
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