Discover how Keurig Dr Pepper uses consumer insights and AI to drive innovation in the Food & Beverage industry.

"Putting the end consumer at the center of everything we do isn't just lip service. At Keurig Dr Pepper, our consumer-centric approach drives every innovation and strategic decision we make." – Alex Forman, Consumer Insights Manager at Keurig Dr Pepper

At the recent Front End of Innovation (FEI) conference, Alex Forman, Consumer Insights Manager at Keurig Dr Pepper, joined Laima Widmer, VP, Market Research, at Suzy, to share their experiences and insights on leveraging consumer data to drive innovation. This session highlighted how Keurig Dr Pepper is harnessing the power of AI and deep consumer understanding to stay ahead in the competitive food & beverage industry.

Here are the top 6 takeaways from their conversation:

• Consumer-Centric Approach: Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) emphasizes putting the consumer at the center of all their strategies and decisions. Alex Forman explained that this means gathering extensive data on consumer preferences and behaviors and ensuring every innovation and strategic decision aligns with consumer needs and desires. This approach involves continuous, in-depth engagement with consumers to understand their evolving needs and how KDP's diverse portfolio of beverages can meet those needs in various contexts.
• Unified Data Strategy: KDP uses comprehensive, constantly refreshed consumer-centric surveys to gather deep insights into beverage preferences, consumption occasions, and emotional needs. This unified data set informs their segmentation, unmet needs analyses, and overall innovation pipeline.
• Incubation of New Ideas: KDP has a robust process for incubating new ideas, focusing on real consumer pain points. Successful projects, like Bonsai Sparkling Water, illustrate the effectiveness of this approach by achieving remarkable test market results.
• Rigorous Decision-Making Process: At each stage of the innovation process, KDP relies on qualitative and quantitative data to ensure alignment with consumer needs and strategic goals. A key qualitative checkpoint is the confidence level in a project's potential, summed up by the question, "Would you bet your paycheck on this?"
• Positive Impact of Suzy’s Platform: Alex Forman praised Suzy's platform for its ability to streamline fundamental research work, allowing KDP to quickly run monadic concept tests, TURFs, and MaxDiff studies. The platform's integration with existing segmentation data has been crucial for KDP's swift response to market demands.
• Future of AI in Market Research: AI is playing an increasingly significant role in market research. It enhances data analysis efficiency, freeing up time for strategic thinking. The concept of synthetic audiences, or AI-created representative consumer groups, is expected to revolutionize market research by providing quick and cost-effective research solutions.

The session with Alex Forman and Laima Widmer highlighted the crucial role of consumer insights and AI in driving innovation. Keurig Dr Pepper's focus on consumer needs and advanced technology positions them to lead the evolving Food & Beverage industry, promising exciting innovations and successful product launches.
For more takeaways and industry insights, be sure to watch the full session today!