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From idea to innovation: How Kellanova used AI-driven conversational insights to validate a new product launch

Kellanova - Reach3 Insights case study Kellanova - Reach3 Insights case study

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.

Challenge and objectives

Challenge and objectives

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. 

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.

Notable Wins

+700% length of verbatims

Deeper insights from a conversational approach

Engaging
Gen Z

Increased participation from young consumers

AI-driven
insights

AI features to adapt to the survey tone to the Cheez-It brand and extract 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 and 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 platform allowed Reach3 to seamlessly blend these quant and qual inputs into one cohesive and modern research touchpoint for participants. 

What’s more, the 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. 

 

Outcomes - The new platform delivered big wins:

Outcomes
Insights phone

Outcomes - The new platform delivered big wins:

Increased engagement from Gen Z. 

700% boost in the length of verbatim responses.

Kellanova 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. 

Kellanova identified a winning territory they felt confident about.

Scott Healy

Scott Healy

Senior Manager, Insights & Analytics - Cheez-It, Kellanova
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.

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