Kellanova, the marketer behind snack staples like Pringles, Pop-Tarts, and Cheez-It, is using AI not to dream up its next campaign, but to fine-tune creative that actually drives results. Partnering with Vidmob and MMA Global, the company analyzed 443 creative assets that ran on Meta platforms—and sifted through billions of impressions—to pinpoint which creative features were linked to KPIs like three-second view-through rates. The standout stat: predictive scoring forecasted VTRs with 83% accuracy, and the approach led to a 2x increase in performance and an 11% lift in ROI. That’s a lot of ROI for a few seconds of better brand storytelling.
Instead of leaving creative decisions to gut instinct and guesswork, Kellanova narrowed down 20,000 creative variables to 19 high-impact traits across their brands—think emotional tone upfront, prominent branding, and snackable cues (pun unavoidable). The goal isn’t to straitjacket creatives into formulaic content, but to equip teams with signal-rich guidance based on real-world outcomes. And this isn’t just a Meta thing; Kellanova’s replicating the scoring across platforms like Facebook and TikTok, tailoring best practices to each environment, audience, and funnel stage.
Rolling out this framework required buy-in across internal teams and agencies alike. Creative agencies now face quarterly scorecards that grade campaigns against priority impact scores—yes, accountability is back in season. The company sees this not as a policing mechanism, but as a strategic lever to maximize media budgets in a tight economic environment.
Read more at Marketing Dive.