How Reynolds Lifted Its Innovation Pipeline 40% in 8 Weeks

Reynolds Consumer Products wanted a stronger pipeline of meaningful, consumer-led innovation, but its research was fragmented across consumer studies, market reports, product reviews, social conversations, sales data and internal strategic priorities. The problem was not a shortage of information. It was knowing which signals mattered, how they connected, and where Reynolds had credible room to grow beyond its familiar product categories as consumers' cooking and household habits changed.

Starday used its proprietary AI-enabled research and decision system to combine Reynolds' internal research and performance data with about 174,000 product reviews, more than 50,000 social posts, consumer segmentation, category research and competitive intelligence. Its team organized the evidence around the needs, frustrations and behaviors shaping how people cook, prepare meals, store food and manage their homes, and used it to answer a sequence of business questions. The output was four opportunity territories across the cooking journey and 11+ product concepts, each with consumer evidence, competitive context, strategic rationale and product requirements.

Reynolds Consumer Products wanted more consumer-led innovation, but its evidence was spread across consumer studies, market reports, product reviews, social conversation, sales data and internal strategy documents. Starday combined that internal knowledge with a large body of external evidence, about 174,000 product reviews and more than 50,000 social posts plus segmentation, category research and competitive intelligence, and used its proprietary AI system to ingest, organize and analyze it. Instead of producing a long list of ideas, the team worked through a fixed sequence of questions: where consumer behavior was changing, which needs were meaningful but poorly served, where Reynolds had the credibility to compete, which openings could support large and differentiated products, and what Reynolds would need to build to win. That work produced four opportunity territories spanning the whole cooking journey rather than only Reynolds' existing categories, and 11+ product concepts, each carrying its consumer evidence, competitive context, strategic rationale and product requirements. The deliverable was a growth strategy and a concept pipeline rather than a tool. Reynolds' CEO took up the broader territory, which helped shape an "Own the Kitchen" strategic direction.

Large consumer-products companies with substantial consumer, market and internal data but no consistent way to connect those inputs to innovation decisions. Particularly relevant for teams that need to identify new growth spaces, fill long-term pipeline gaps, or evaluate where to place high-cost product bets.