As consumer behaviors and expectations evolve, successful brands must refresh their approach to meet consumers where they are. Kellanova SVP and Chief Growth Officer, Charisse Hughes, shares insights into the company's strategies for reaching diverse audiences with advanced analytics and AI, creating evergreen relevance and growth.
CHICAGO, April 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In an era where innovation is the key to staying competitive, Kellanova's IT team is integrating our existing systems and embracing cutting-edge technologies to enhance our processes, improve customer experiences, and streamline operations. Here are five tech priorities we're doubling down on in 2024:
Remember the days when your marketing team developed customer segmentation campaigns based on historical data and measured their effectiveness long after campaigns were complete? Times have certainly changed, and we as marketers have had a front-row seat to digital transformation as a growth driver for our brands.
Today, with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, we have the power of predictive analytics to identify consumer cohorts with precision and fine-tune our campaigns in real-time for greater personalization and ROI. That said, while data provides valuable insights into consumer behaviors and preferences, we can't underestimate the value of human touch. Successful marketers must focus on continuous learning and the upskilling of teams, data-driven insights, and the ability to blend the art and science of marketing to drive growth and relevance.
Reaching Consumers Through Bold Collaborations
In an era where traditional marketing strategies alone aren't enough, at Kellanova we have embraced unconventional, culturally resonant collaborations that push boundaries and earn our position in the market. Two standout examples include:
Pringles x Crocs: This collaboration wasn't just a licensing deal; it was a fully integrated joint and mutually beneficial campaign that brought the Pringles brand personality to life. Together, we created Mr. P-inspired clogs and slides, a Crush Boot with a built-in Pringles can holder, and Pringles-flavored crisps inspired by Crocs.
The campaign generated 1.6 billion impressions, ranking among the top five earned-performing programs for the Pringles brand. The Pringles Crush Boot sold out in just 1.5 hours, demonstrating a powerful cultural synergy with a new set of consumers.
Pringles x Caviar Co: A collaboration targeted at a younger, trend-driven audience on TikTok, generated over 10 billion views. The campaign amplified the luxury-meets-snack narrative, building on the growing cultural cachet of the Pringles brand. By continuously listening to culture, we spotted this trend at the peak moment to capture attention. It even sparked pop culture conversations, including a feature on an episode of Real Housewives of New York City. This happened in reverse and is a good example of us acting agilely and listening to consumers on social media
Pioneering Innovation Through AI and Data
Kellanova has been on a journey to prioritize data that can unlock business opportunities for years and we know that courage and experimentation are at the heart of innovation. This past year, we leaned heavily into testing technologies that would enhance marketing effectiveness and personalization, and our pilots are paying off:
Clean Room AI Pilot: Our Special K brand in the UK was facing challenging brand volumes and penetration, and competition from private label products. To address this, we launched a pilot that combined traditional marketing principles with AI and clean room technology. We identified three new, high-value audience segments by analyzing 20 million+ addressable records through machine learning and combining purchase behavior, demographics, and attitudes.
Based on the data, we implemented personalized campaigns across Meta and Pinterest, resulting in:
- Sales lifts of 9% to 36% (up to 12x industry benchmarks).
- A brand consideration increase of 0.9 points (3x industry benchmarks).
- Successful reversal of decline in household penetration.
This pilot has ushered in a new blueprint for how we reach evolving audiences in real-time and is being adapted across our brands globally.
Pringles Poptopia: Recognizing the growing demand for personalization in a post-third-party data world, we launched Poptopia to provide a direct-to-consumer, digital experience. Powered by technology, each Pringles can includes a QR code, giving consumers access to personalized, exclusive content. This provides us with an opportunity to engage and better understand our diverse audiences. To date, we've seen a 30 percent increase in first-party data and have also streamlined our supply chain operations.
Measuring Creative Effectiveness
Marketers are vying for consumer attention more than ever before. Creative content must be memorable, relevant, contextual, personalized, and engaging – it's a lot to think about with so many different channels and places you're putting your media dollars.
As marketers have said for years, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." With the advent of new tools and technologies, we no longer have to guess what worked and what didn't.
With help from our partners at VidMob, we've put the time, effort, and technology to work to better understand what role, and what contribution creative effectiveness has in the total effectiveness of our ad dollars. Ultimately, we're striving to deliver creative that lands with evolving audiences and does so in a way that drives them to take action, increase loyalty and engagement. We found that it drives almost HALF of total effectiveness, and we now have a deeper understanding of what works and is driving an emotional connection and ultimately conversion.
Closing Thought
The future of marketing and its ability to drive growth is a discussion happening in C-Suites worldwide. At Kellanova, we're hyper focused on reaching evolving audiences, driving growth and brand affinity by understanding consumers' experiences to authentically represent and reach them in our creative, messaging, and the foods we create.
About Kellanova
Kellanova (NYSE:K) is a leader in global snacking, international cereal and noodles, and North America frozen foods with a legacy stretching back more than 100 years. Powered by differentiated brands including Pringles®, Cheez-It®, Pop-Tarts®, Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treats®, RXBAR®, Eggo®, MorningStar Farms®, Special K®, Coco Pops®, and more, Kellanova's vision is to become the world's best-performing snacks-led powerhouse, unleashing the full potential of our differentiated brands and our passionate people.
At Kellanova, our purpose is to create better days and ensure everyone has a seat at the table through our trusted food brands. We are committed to promoting sustainable and equitable food access by tackling the crossroads of hunger, sustainability, wellbeing, and equity, diversity & inclusion. Our goal is to create Better Days for 4 billion people by the end of 2030 (from a 2015 baseline). For more detailed information about our commitments, our approach to achieving these goals, and methodology, please visit our website at https://www.kellanova.com.
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