Kellanova Turns to AI Scoring to Unlock Creative Effectiveness
In an era of rising media costs and pressure to prove ROI, marketers are facing a critical crossroads.
For years, brands have obsessed over efficiency — tightening CPMs (cost-per-mile/thousand impressions), refining targeting and maximizing return on ad spend. But according to Nicole Vinson, vice president of digital, media and omni-shopper experience at Kellanova, that playbook is hitting the ceiling.
“We’ve historically focused on efficiency levers on the media side of the house, like CPMs and targeting,” Vinson told P2PI. “But you’re going to hit a plateau with efficiencies, especially as you’re transitioning into more digital channels. Creative effectiveness was a lever we really weren’t tapping into as much as we could to drive return on investment.”
Creative quality, she added, now makes up more than 50% of Kellanova’s marketing ROI.
Balancing Art and Science
To better unlock that growth driver, Kellanova partnered with Vidmob and MMA Global on a yearlong study that analyzed more than 443 digital assets from Kellanova brands — including Rice Krispies Treats, Pringles, Cheez-It and Pop-Tarts — across Meta platforms in the U.S.
Using Vidmob’s AI-powered Aperture technology, the research identified the creative attributes that most directly drive performance — turning what was once a subjective exercise into a measurable science.
Key findings include:
- Predictability: Creative performance can be forecast with 83% accuracy using predictive impact scoring.
- Efficiency: Ads that scored highly delivered 2.16x stronger performance.
- ROI impact: High-scoring assets contributed to an 11% increase in Profit ROI.
- Granularity: The study surfaced 19 enterprise-wide and 11 category-specific criteria, offering both scalable and brand-specific guidance.
Category nuances also emerged: salty snacks like Cheez-It and Pringles performed best when creative emphasized consumption moments and social interaction, while sweet snacks such as Pop-Tarts gained traction by highlighting indulgence cues and vivid product visuals.
For Vinson, the biggest breakthrough is how predictive scoring “de-subjectifies” creative decisions.
“Marketers have reached the limits of media optimization,” she said. “This study gives us the tools to operationalize creative effectiveness at scale, removing subjectivity and ensuring assets are fit for the platform before they ever go live. It’s really about balancing art and science.”
Operationalizing a New Workflow
The study isn’t just about insights — it’s reshaping how Kellanova briefs, produces and evaluates creative. Predictive scores are now being integrated into:
- Creative briefs: ensuring new assets are designed for effectiveness from the start.
- Agency workflows: with scoring criteria influencing processes and even bonus compensation, ensuring all partners are aligned on what drives performance.
- "Ongoing feedback loops": refining learnings continuously as consumer behavior and platforms evolve.
She noted that by embedding creative data directly into production briefs, Kellanova ensures new assets are designed for effectiveness rather than relying on post-launch optimization.
“Everybody can be using AI; these tools are going to be in everyone’s hands,” she added. “But your competitive advantage is about how you apply it and get very specific around the distinctiveness of your own brands.”
Looking Ahead
Vinson noted that while the study focused on Kellanova’s U.S. campaigns on Meta, the company is already extending the framework to additional media platforms in North America. The ultimate goal is to scale the methodology globally, applying it across categories and down to individual brands to maximize creative impact.
The Bottom Line
For an industry grappling with media inflation and ROI pressure, Kellanova’s study highlights a clear path forward for the commerce marketing industry: success in an AI-driven landscape will depend on unlocking the full potential of creative. By embracing predictive scoring, marketers can transform creative effectiveness from a subjective art into a scalable lever for profitable growth.
