Quaker Oatmeal Dinosaur Eggs Innovation Case Study

How We Got There

ITG designed a co-creation approach that started with the real experts: kids. Seven specially-recruited Creative Consumers® kids participated in an inspiration panel where they talked about their breakfast routines, favorite foods, and what makes something “fun” enough to get them out of bed. Adult Creative Consumers® associates and the Quaker client team observed from the back room, taking in the kids’ language, emotions, and unfiltered ideas as live stimulus.

Using that rich kid-driven input, eight parent Creative Consumers® associates then joined the client team in a high-energy ideation session. Building directly off of the kids’ wishes and stories, they generated a wide range of product and packaging possibilities that blended surprise, discovery, and play with the familiar comfort of oatmeal.

A structured convergence process translated this raw idea flow into 15 original concepts, which were then shown to two consumer reaction groups to refine and strengthen them. Feedback from kids and moms sharpened everything from the role of the “surprise” in the bowl to how the concept should be framed on-pack. Through this iterative co-creation and refinement, one idea clearly rose to the top: an oatmeal that reveals hidden dinosaur eggs as it warms, turning breakfast into a mini adventure.

At first, Quaker’s R&D team pushed back on the leading idea. Dinosaur Eggs sounded fun, but early technical reactions were that it would be too complex and too costly to produce at scale. Instead of killing it in the room, the team chose to let consumers decide. Once they saw how strongly kids and moms reacted in the focus groups—lighting up at the idea of eggs “hatching” in their bowls—R&D went back to the drawing board. With that clear signal of consumer excitement, they explored alternative production approaches and ultimately found a way to bring the idea to life at scale without prohibitive costs.