KL Communication

What KL Communication does

KL Communications (KLC) is a privately held, bootstrapped collaborative research agency founded in 1996 and headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey, with 51-100 employees. The firm specializes in co-creative market research, operating private online insight communities on behalf of large enterprises and engaging customers early in the product and service innovation lifecycle. Its client base includes Fortune 500 brands across utilities (Con Edison, National Grid), insurance (Aflac), airlines (Delta), and telecommunications (Spectrum/Time Warner Cable).

The firm's core technology is a private online insight community platform providing 24/7 infrastructure for customer engagement through polls, forum discussions, surveys, video testimonials, screen recordings, and structured co-creation challenges. Its flagship intellectual property is the proprietary CrowdWeaving® methodology — a registered trademark combining ideation, collaboration, and evaluation phases into structured challenges that surface customer-developed solutions (e.g., National Grid's 100+ customer-generated ideas, Delta's 50+ ideas submitted within days, and Spectrum's first-to-market Live TV via iPad). KLC operates as a full-service provider with dedicated account teams managing community moderation, research support, and analysis.

KLC's business model combines recurring subscription revenue (monthly/annual fees for community platform access on a pre-pay basis) with one-time setup fees and recurring professional services for custom configuration, moderation, and research support. Pricing is custom-quoted and not publicly disclosed, with automatic renewal and a 30-day cancellation notice. Distribution is direct enterprise sales targeting large organizations through a consultative, high-touch motion, supported by content marketing (the 'Perspectives' blog, The Co-Creators Podcast hosted by CEO Kevin Lonnie, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook) and a 'Request a Demo' conversion mechanism. The firm has no external institutional funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed M&A history.

Name

KL Communication

Legal name

KL Communications, Inc.

Website

https://klcommunications.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

KL Communications is a bootstrapped, private market research firm founded in 1996 and based in Red Bank, NJ, operating online insight communities and co-creation programs via its proprietary CrowdWeaving® methodology for Fortune 500 clients in utilities, insurance, telecom, and airlines.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Software

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Social & Digital Insights (Social Listening, Online Community Research) (MPAAALAK)

Keywords

• Market research services
• Online insight communities
• Co-creation research
• Customer engagement platform
• Qualitative research

Headquarters

HQ city

Red Bank

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Services: Monthly and annual subscription fees for online community access and platform usage. Clients pay recurring fees for access to the community infrastructure, with payments charged on a pre-pay basis.
2. Setup and Professional Services: One-time setup fees and recurring service fees for custom community configuration, moderation, and research support services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

KL Communications operates private online insight communities on behalf of enterprise brands, providing 24/7 infrastructure for customer engagement using polls, forum discussions, surveys, and challenges. The firm layers its proprietary CrowdWeaving® co-creation methodology on top of the community platform to engage consumers at the earliest stage of product innovation, running structured ideation, collaboration, and evaluation challenges that generate customer-developed ideas and insights for client brands.

Product overview

KL Communications operates as a co-creative market research services provider offering a unified platform centered on Online Communities, supplemented by their proprietary CrowdWeaving® methodology. Online Communities serve as the core product—a private online insight community platform providing 24/7 infrastructure for customer engagement, while CrowdWeaving® is their proprietary co-creation approach that engages consumers early in the product development process through structured challenges and collaborative ideation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Co-Creators Podcast: A podcast hosted by KLC CEO Kevin Lonnie focused on customer co-creation topics and innovation discussions.

Products and services

• Online Communities Private online insight community platform providing 24/7 built-in infrastructure for customer engagement, utilizing traditional and cutting-edge community research tools including polls, forum discussions, surveys, and CrowdWeaving® Challenges. Sold to enterprise brand clients on a subscription basis with setup and ongoing moderation services.
• CrowdWeaving® Proprietary co-creation methodology that engages consumers at the earliest stage of creation by presenting challenges or problems to solve, enabling customers to offer solutions that inspire innovative new products or services. Combines ideation, collaboration, and evaluation phases in a structured approach to innovation.

Quantifiable outcome

• National Grid generated over 100 customer-developed ideas through CrowdWeaving® Challenge
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Dynata: Dynata is a large first-party data and insights platform offering online communities, panels, and survey-based research to enterprise clients. Comparable as a managed community and consumer insights provider.
• CMB (Chadwick Martin Bailey): CMB is a research and strategy firm operating consumer insight communities and co-creation programs. Comparable as a mid-sized research agency serving enterprise clients with managed communities.
• Alida (formerly Vision Critical): Alida operates a customer intelligence platform with managed insight communities for enterprise brands. Direct competitor in the online insight community space serving similar Fortune 500 use cases.
• Maru/Blue (formerly Maru Group): Maru/Blue provides technology-led market research services including online communities and insight panels for enterprise brands. Direct peer in the managed community research space.
• Toluna: Toluna operates a global online community and survey platform serving enterprise market research clients. Directly comparable to KLC as both deliver managed online insight communities with co-creation and consumer engagement capabilities.
• Fuel Cycle: Fuel Cycle provides an enterprise insights platform powering online communities, co-creation, and customer feedback programs. Closely matches KLC's offering of private branded insight communities with research tools.

Emerging players

• Discuss.io: Discuss.io is an enterprise insights platform focused on qualitative research and asynchronous video communities. Comparable technology overlap, particularly around online qualitative engagement.
• Remesh: Remesh is an AI-powered qualitative research platform enabling live online conversations and insights at scale. Comparable in online community research with AI-driven analysis capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Qualtrics: Qualtrics is a broad experience management platform that includes community, survey, and customer feedback capabilities. Larger incumbent offering overlapping functionality as part of a wider portfolio.
• Ipsos: Ipsos is a global market research firm operating insight communities, panels, and qualitative research practices. Larger incumbent offering co-creation as part of broader research services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/klcommunication
• Facebookfacebook.com/kl-communications-168766689804987
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kl-communications

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about KL Communication