Hitting the Market Research ROI Sweet Spot
How King's Hawaiian built The Ohana Circle to go from one big study per year to always-on customer insights — at a fraction of the cost.
The Client
King's Hawaiian is a renowned producer of Hawaiian sweet bread and rolls. After a decade of consistent growth in distribution and awareness, the Consumer Insights team — led by Head of Consumer Insights Troy Figgins — needed a way to get closer to customers as they explored new product territory and evolving market opportunities.
The Challenge
Traditional research tools couldn't keep pace with evolving customer preferences. Each study took too long to execute, which meant the team couldn't test new ideas quickly enough. When King's Hawaiian ventured into new product categories without sufficient customer validation, a few launches underperformed expectations — making the case for a faster, more continuous approach to insight gathering.
The Ohana Circle — An Always-On Research Community
Troy Figgins and his team discovered market research online communities and launched The Ohana Circle with Fuel Cycle. What they found surprised them: it wasn't just an always-on pulse on customer interest — it was a full research ecosystem.
Through the Fuel Cycle Exchange (FCX), the team accessed an extensive toolkit of agile research methods, enabling a continuously evolving dialogue with their most important stakeholders — on their terms, at their speed.
-
1Launched The Ohana Circle. A branded online community giving King's Hawaiian always-on access to the pulse of customer interest — enabling the team to monitor behaviors and preferences continuously rather than through periodic snapshots.
-
2Activated the FCX partner toolkit. Through Fuel Cycle Exchange, the team unlocked a wide assortment of agile research methods — surveys, discussion boards, concept testing, and more — all accessible within a single platform.
-
3Shifted to continuous DIY research. Rather than commissioning one large full-service study per year, the team began running frequent, self-directed projects — customizing every study to the specific question at hand and dramatically reducing per-project cost.
Seven Goals. One Platform.
King's Hawaiian entered the community with seven research goals — and Fuel Cycle delivered on every one.
I don't know how we lived without Fuel Cycle. The breadth of research and value that you get out of online communities is unmatched. After a year, I went from a skeptic to a 100% evangelist for online communities.
A Research Process Transformed
King's Hawaiian didn't just improve their research — they fundamentally changed how insights work inside the organization.
From Skeptic to Evangelist — and Still Growing
After a year with The Ohana Circle, Troy Figgins went from skeptic to 100% evangelist. Internal demand for community insights has skyrocketed, and the Insights team plans to meet that demand by leveraging additional Fuel Cycle solutions as their community continues to evolve.
The transformation at King's Hawaiian demonstrates what becomes possible when a research team stops working around the limitations of their tools and starts working at the speed of the business.
When research is this accessible, the whole organization starts asking better questions.
Ready to Find Your Research ROI Sweet Spot?
See how Fuel Cycle Community can help your team move from periodic studies to always-on customer intelligence.
- Always-on access to your most important customers
- DIY research at a fraction of full-service cost
- Agile methods for every stage of product development