Leading bakery uses gen AI insights as secret ingredient for brand

A commercial bakery with retail locations sought to refresh its brand identity and drive the next phase of its growth after an infusion of private equity funding. With ZS Atlas Intelligence, the company analyzed large volumes of blogs, website forums and customer reviews to identify the core drivers to fuel its consumer engagement strategy. It used these emotional and functional sparks to revamp its marketing approach in a matter of weeks, not the months and higher-cost conventional research would have required.

The challenge

The bakery, which operates hundreds of locations across the U.S., hypothesized its brand had become too functional and lacked emotional connection. Its marketing, which relied on product imagery of cakes and baked goods rather than human interactions and delight, was seen as a limitation. The goal of integrating generative AI into its planning was to validate whether “joy” could be a pivotal element in a new brand strategy. The company also recognized the opportunity to incorporate the findings into engaging messaging and a more welcoming customer experience.

The solution

ZS deployed ZS Atlas Intelligence and its advanced data analysis capabilities to explore and define the emotional landscape associated with the brand and its competitors. ZS Atlas Intelligence is certified by AWS and is fully built and hosted on AWS’s highly secure, scalable architecture that allows for client specific customizations. The project involved:

• Data collection. ZS analyzed customer discussions and feedback from both local bakeries and national chains. It examined competitors’ reviews to understand market trends and consumer preferences. The ZS team also investigated emotional responses to different purchasing occasions such as milestone celebrations, gift-giving occasions and personal treats to improve product offerings.
• Emotions analysis. ZS identified and categorized emotional content from customer feedback. It focused on nuanced emotions such as joy, mapping their prevalence and impact on customer satisfaction. This analysis helped the company gain insights into customers’ emotional experiences and make targeted improvements to its products and services.
• Insights and strategy. The analysis showed that while “joy” wasn’t the most common emotion in customer discussions, it significantly boosted satisfaction when present. ZS developed strategies to enhance joy through specific touch points, such as improving in-store experiences and expanding product variety. ZS also identified factors that reduced customer delight, such as inaccurate store hours and limited product availability, to guide operational improvements.

The impact

Based on these insights, the bakery made several strategic decisions to:

• Anchor the brand messaging around “joy” and the communal experience of sharing cakes and baked goods
• Revamp marketing materials to include imagery of people enjoying cakes together, emphasizing human connection
• Change store operations to better align to consumer expectations
• Improve customer service at key touch points to improve the overall experience
• Focus on known perceptual drivers of quality and expanded variety to meet consumer expectations

The company rolled out the new brand strategy across its franchise network. While the full impact on sales and customer satisfaction is still being measured, early indications suggest a positive reception from both franchisees and customers. Using ZS Atlas Intelligence empowers the bakery to rapidly and cost-effectively derive operational insights, positioning it to better compete in an evolving dessert market.