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How Kellanova used AI-driven conversational insights to validate a new product launch

How Kellanova used AI-driven conversational insights to validate a new product launch

Product launch innovation market research case study
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“Rather than fit my needs into a pre-defined box, I wanted to work with a partner that would customize their approach exactly to my needs, and that’s what Reach3 and Rival Tech excel at.”

Scott Healy

Senior Manager, Insights & Analytics - Cheez-It, Kellanova
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+700%

increase in length of verbatims

Gen Z

Increased participation from Gen Z

AI-driven

AI enhanced survey tone and accelerated speed to insights

About Kellanova

Kellanova is a global food & beverage giant with iconic, world-class brands under its brand. A household name, its products are manufactured in over 180 countries. 

Kellanova

The Challenge

With the Cheez-It brand nearing its 100-year mark, Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s) has recently leaned in on a bolder and more experiential and creative approach to marketing. As they planned to launch new products by 2026, they sought insights to guide their decision-making process. With more than just a set of ideas but not yet a fully developed concept, they decided to conduct an innovation ‘territory’ test to determine their product roadmap and prioritization. Their goals were clear: 

  • Gather real-time, qual and quant feedback on the current territories. 
  • Gain insights on how to optimize territories and inform R&D of the potential products. 
  • Facilitate an ability to recontact the audience for deeper exploration of the insights. 

The Solution

Kellanova partnered with Reach3 Insights to leverage Rival Technologies mobile-first conversational research platform. Unlike traditional market research which had a certain rigidity to the line of questioning, Rival’s AI-empowered research platform could adapt to represent a tone and survey style which was more in line with Cheez-It’s brand tone/identity.  

Additionally, Reach3 designed the survey to gather both quantitative metrics – such as traditional innovation testing KPIs – as well as media-rich qualitative inputs – such as photo and video uploads. The Rival Technology platform allowed Reach3 to seamlessly blend these quant + qual inputs into one cohesive and modern research touchpoint for participants.   

Quant and qual market research case studies

Continuing the conversation

The Rival platform's easy, on-demand SMS recontact feature enabled additional probing and follow-up, a crucial capability for the project as consumer-led optimization was central to Kellanova’s launch strategy.

Reach3 then transformed the gathered insights into clear, actionable recommendations, which Kellanova relied on for informed decision-making. 

Results

The combination of qualitative and quantitative insights, paired with a mobile-first conversational approach, led to increased engagement from Gen Z and a 700% boost in the length of verbatim responses.  

Kellanova was impressed not only by the depth of insights from the qual components of the research design, but also by the fact that they did not have to give up any of the study’s rigor! They relied on the quantitative analyses to narrow their list of territories down, but ultimately, it was the nuances within the qualitative data that helped them pick the one territory to fully pursue for their 2025 launch.  

Had it not been for the ability to gather quant and qual together and engage with their target audience in a modern and meaningful way, it’s possible that Kellanova would be launching an entirely different product next year! Instead, they had a winning territory they felt confident about, which you’ll see on shelves soon.  

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Learn how to combine the power of AI and conversational insights to fuel your innovation insights. 

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