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How McCormick evolved its insight community to better connect with consumers around the world

How McCormick evolved its insight community

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“With Reach3, we were able to establish a global community that really drives actionable insights for our organization. By modernizing our research techniques, we have strengthened the relationship that we have with consumers and made it easier to reach them. We're also able to see responses in real-time, helping with our goal of speed to insights.”

Kelsey Forbess

Senior Manager Consumer Insights, McCormick and Company
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76%

increase in response rates, achieved with mobile-first community engagements

3 regions

Insights are now collected from US, Canada, and Australia from 2500 members

9 in 10

members are satisfied with their experience with the FlavorNation 2.0 community

About McCormick and Company

McCormick & Company is the global leader in flavor, delivering herbs, spices, seasonings, and more to over 170 countries. Beyond the iconic red-capped spices found in kitchen cupboards, the company’s portfolio boasts household names like French’s, Lawry’s, Frank’s RedHot, and Cholula. McCormick is also a trusted flavor partner for top food manufacturers and restaurants worldwide.

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The Challenge

McCormick’s Consumer & Market Insights team drives both the consumer and B2B sides of the business, focusing on amplifying the consumer voice, turning insights into actionable strategies, and understanding market trends. In 2015, they launched Flavor Nation, an insight community of flavor enthusiasts, to fuel a consumer-first culture, foster iterative learning, and deepen insights. 

While their Flavor Nation community helped gather consumer insights, McCormick needed more. They wanted to:

  • Expand their community globally beyond the U.S.
  • Upgrade outdated communication methods to keep up with modern technology.
  • Speed up the time it took to gather and act on insights.

The Solution

To address these challenges, McCormick partnered with Reach3 Insights to launch Flavor Nation 2.0, a global insight community designed to deliver fast qualitative and quantitative insights from flavor enthusiasts.

Built on the Rival Technologies platform, the upgraded insight community offered:

  • Mobile-first platform: McCormick switched to mobile surveys, making it easier to engage >2,000 flavor enthusiasts across the U.S., Canada, and Australia quickly and conveniently.
  • Conversational research: The surveys felt more like casual chats, using emojis, GIFs, and videos to create an engaging and fun experience.
  • Rich feedback: McCormick collected not just data but also videos and photos, giving a more complete picture of consumer behavior.
  • Global reach with real-time insights: McCormick could now gather insights from multiple markets, with instant feedback helping them make faster decisions.

Kelsey said, “I love getting the questionnaires and the surveys back from these guys to review because it just looks and feels so much like conversations I have with my family and friends through text messaging.” 

McCormick - insight community case study and example from Rival Technologies

Use cases

Now, McCormick is conducting a wide number of studies through the solution, such as:

Pantry audits: community members shared photos of their spice storage, helping gain insights into how products are used and stored in everyday life.

In-store product assessment: participants visit stores to share their reactions to new products, allowing the team to evaluate packaging, shelf placement, and initial impressions.

Messaging testing for new ad campaigns: community members provide feedback on potential taglines for upcoming campaigns, allowing message refinement based on consumer preferences.

Results

The new platform delivered big wins:

✔️ 46% response rate, nearly double that of traditional surveys.
✔️ Expanded insights across three key regions: the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
✔️ Real-time feedback allowed McCormick to react quickly to market changes.
✔️ Stronger consumer connections through personalized, multimedia-driven insights that shaped product innovation and marketing strategies.

Flavor Nation 2.0 transformed McCormick’s approach, allowing them to stay closely connected to the fast-moving world of flavor.

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