September 29, 2008
Paul Newman, Food Entrepreneur
By Tom Ryan
Paul Newman, co-creator of Newman’s Own, passed away last week. Created on a lark in 1982, the racecar driver and sometime actor decided to sell a salad dressing he had created and bottled for friends at Christmas. Since then, the brand has expanded to include, among other foods, lemonade, popcorn, spaghetti sauce, salsa, organic Fig Newmans and wine.
Much of its success can be attributed to good product from a taste perspective as well as staying ahead of trends. Newman’s Own Organics, a label for pretzels, cookies, fair-trade coffee and even pet foods, became a division of the company in 1993. Despite its celebrity endorsement (Mr. Newman’s smiling face is on all labels), the product is also reasonably priced at retail.
Perhaps as much as Ben & Jerry’s, Newman’s Own is also well known for its charity connections. All its profits, more than $200 million, have been donated to charity. Much of the money was used to create a number of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, named for the outlaw gang in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” in which Mr. Newman starred alongside Robert Redford. The camps provide free summer recreation for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. Actively involved in the project, Mr. Newman even chose cowboy hats as gear so that children who had lost their hair because of chemotherapy could disguise their baldness.
The legendary actor was also actively involved with the company, whether taste-testing new products or presiding over the finals of a Newman’s Own recipe contest.
“He really loved good food, so he was really involved in the business,” Kirsten McKamy, who worked for Newman’s Own for eight years, told the Hartford Courant. “He wasn’t just a figurehead; he came up with ideas.”
Although formal succession plans are unclear, most signs indicate that Mr. Newman had transitioned out of the day-to-day operations.
“He’s a taster,” Nell Newman, the actor’s daughter who runs Newman’s Own Organics, told CNN Money. “We don’t put him in the middle of the process because it can be tedious.”
On the business side, Mr. Newman is also known for Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good, a book co-written with Newman’s Own co-founder A.E. Hotchner.
“It’s an absolutely wonderful blueprint for starting a company just using your common sense,” said publisher Nan Talese of the book, which was recently reissued in paperback. “Paul’s legacy is a whole new image of philanthropy.”
Discussion Questions: Why has Newman’s Own been so successful? What does its marketing and philanthropic success say about how brands can be brought to market? What’s Mr. Newman’s legacy in the retail food business?
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With everything being the same, could Newman’s Own be as successful as it was without Paul Newman? I would say not. After all, there are numerous companies with similar charitable pursuits that have never experienced significant success.
But beyond the name and charity work, Newman’s Own was a great line of quality products that tasted great and were priced right. And beyond an argument, that is the real reason for the long term success of the company. Add to that the fact that we can all feel good buying one, it all makes a recipe for success.
I am confident that the line will continue to grow and be as successful as it has always been. And that is a true testament to the man who started it all.
Newman’s Own was ahead of its time in the early 80s in marketing a quality product with a charitable focus. Product labels clearly left no doubt about Newman’s philanthropic marketing emphasis. His photo was key to easy brand identification for consumers. The expansion into organics in the early 90s was also ahead of its time. Now the products face more competition and it will be interesting to see if new products are rolled out with Newman’s daughter at the helm.
Newman created and marketed products around quality, integrity and authenticity, which matched is personal image. Throughout, the brand has stayed true to these precepts, and consumers responded accordingly. In a retail era of price, price, price, his passing is an opportunity to recognize that such values as quality, integrity and authenticity have a powerful place in the market.
Among members of the generation that admired Paul Newman most, the women wanted him and the men wanted to be him. His passing will not diminish the Newman’s Own brand in the slightest, however the gradual passing of his fan base will ultimately erode some of the brand’s emotional appeal.
Newman’s Own is a singular entity, because it was founded to funnel its profits into charitable works. Its products are unusually high in quality and field tested on Newman’s home turf on the Connecticut “gold coast.” Many of them appeared first on the shelves of Stew Leonard’s legendary food store in Norwalk.
We seldom encounter a person who is so successful in multiple realms–show business, auto racing, philanthropy and the food business. His movie acting obviously helped fund the rest. But his evident personal integrity, humane values and innate intellect were the pillars that made it all possible.
This is a classic case of excellent product branding and positioning. Having a famous spokesperson right on the label, combined with a 100% donation of all profits to charities, makes for an excellent product position. Add to this a great product, a great brand and a recognizable spokesperson (who was consistent along all of the products he embraced) and you have a winning formula for any product, at any time. Once started and successful, adding brand and line extensions were just a natural way for this brand to continually grow their market share in each category in which they competed.
High quality + appealing message = top product line. Newman’s Own lets consumers indulge in delicious products and contribute to essential charities at the same time. I’m guessing that sales will go way up, and stay there.
Newman’s Own was successful because the products taste good and consumer received good value (ratio of price and quality). The fact that profits went to charity is a plus. They were able to achieve these profits without having to spend millions on advertising. Public relations coupled with word of mouth created consumer awareness. Their devotion to product quality was critical for the brand surviving over time. More importantly, they understood that without profits there can be no charitable donations. They kept the business model simple by not trying to be all things to all distributors.
As long as people remember who Paul Newman was, the brand will prevail and thrive. I’m not sure that the brand would be as strong without its association with what people know of Newman outside the food industry.
It’s pretty well all been said. What differentiates Newman’s Own is that it was driven by a higher purpose. The one question every business needs to ask itself is this: “How are we making the world a better place?” No one has had a better answer than this company.
Success? Start with a good product and put a great brand name on it.
Paul Newman was a great brand name even before the first salad dressing hit the shelves. He was a great actor without the Hollywood baggage. He left Hollywood early on and hid out in Westport, Connecticut. He got involved in charitable work with Hole in the Wall and Save the Children while other actors were appearing in gossip rags.
The blueprint is simple and should be followed by any philanthropic endeavor. Make sure the product is good and the brand name is pristine. Yes, make sure the brand name is pristine.
Paul Newman was an American icon on many levels, legendary actor, race car driver, businessman, humanitarian, philanthropist, husband. Newman once said that the company was first started as a joke, and also a source of philanthropic funding. These days, Newman’s Own would be considered a B Corporation–a type of corporation that uses the power of business to create public benefit.
Newman’s Own is not about the product so much as about the man and the brand concept. It took the power of Paul Newman’s appeal (I, and many like me, had a lifelong crush on him-those blue eyes, those impossibly blue eyes). One can’t talk about Newman’s Own like they would talk about Kraft. It’s bigger than that.
Newman’s Own will continue on, but will never be the same, because Paul is gone. Paul’s not there to bring you his newest favorite recipe. It was very personal. The profits from Newman’s Own will continue to fund his causes. I believe he made sure of that when he transitioned ownership. His daughter, Nell, will continue the legacy as well.
If more people had the unswerving integrity of Paul Newman and more businesses had the will to follow in his footsteps and help make the world a better place, we might not be in the bailout mess right now, the polar bears wouldn’t be endangered and pets wouldn’t have died from tainted pet food.
All I know is Paul Newman’s death has left me heartbroken.
I would echo the comments and feel that they have been very accurate in analyzing the reasons for the success of these products. Concerning the future success, it will depend entirely on being able to continue the quality and reputation that has been started. Paul’s favorable influence should last for a long time. If the business model that he set up is maintained and not tinkered with, all the goods things should continue and can even be increased.
Paul was a great role model in an era where we disparately can use one. He will be missed.
Newman’s Own is successful because it’s a clean “license” with the right celebrity and image, and the products are pretty consistently above average in quality.
The Newman’s Own brand of food is of course about the taste, but almost more important is the connection to the person as well as the image of the movie star/actor and what is perceived as an overall nice person trying to do some good. Who would not want to be associated with such a cause given all things considered?
Over time, his passing may be an issue but for the short term, the association should remain strong.
Putting Mr. Newman’s face on the bottle ensured that consumers would be curious about the product. Putting a good product in the jar ensured that most consumers would be satisfied and most would repeat purchase. Donating 100% of the profits to charity ensured that consumers could feel good about the purchase. How many products can make these three claims today?
It’s a good quality product with a “likable” brand. Who wouldn’t want to be Paul Newman’s friend? Even for folks in their 30s (like me), he seemed like the coolest grandpa ever. The charity angle helped to reinforce the image (but I don’t think it was primary to the brand’s consumer success).
With Paul Newman’s death, the brand will go on with the halo of even greater fondness that comes when a beloved person passes on.
The legacy of Newman’s Own will prevail because the philanthropy was the core of the company and pervades its culture. If philanthropy was just a promotional event, it would be a totally different story.
Paul Newman developed a genuine likability among Americans and parlayed that into a “trust” factor for the launch of a series of niche products which eventually became mainstream. What Newman or any public figure has is recognition. However, recognition by consumers is not sufficient to insure the success of any product or service. The product or service needs to successfully meet the needs of a particular set of consumers as well. Newman did this and has left us with a case study on how to parlay celebrity into success in other unrelated endeavors.
It’s sort of been said already, but he was likable. That, in my opinion, is the driving factor behind his product– it was likable, too. And, what a driver he was!
Consumers responded to the products not because of the philanthropic ideal of their genesis, but because of him–they liked him. Because of that, they tried them and liked them as well. It’s been a winning combination. As they continue to renew the brand with different and equally good products, their success will continue well beyond his passing.
In 1988, I was able to capture his image blasting out of the curve from underneath Cobo Hall in Detroit, onto the straightaway on the river front in a brand new Nissan in the Trans AM race as part of the Detroit Grand Prix. He proceeded to take the straightaway three wide and thrill the crowd passing four cars and living up to his reputation.
He did everything to his best in all he did. He always paid less attention to critics and simply kept his eye on the pursuit of excellence. It mattered little whether it was in front of the camera, behind the camera, on the race track, or in the food industry.
His photos will remain behind my desk–a reminder of good.
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With everything being the same, could Newman’s Own be as successful as it was without Paul Newman? I would say not. After all, there are numerous companies with similar charitable pursuits that have never experienced significant success.
But beyond the name and charity work, Newman’s Own was a great line of quality products that tasted great and were priced right. And beyond an argument, that is the real reason for the long term success of the company. Add to that the fact that we can all feel good buying one, it all makes a recipe for success.
I am confident that the line will continue to grow and be as successful as it has always been. And that is a true testament to the man who started it all.
Newman’s Own was ahead of its time in the early 80s in marketing a quality product with a charitable focus. Product labels clearly left no doubt about Newman’s philanthropic marketing emphasis. His photo was key to easy brand identification for consumers. The expansion into organics in the early 90s was also ahead of its time. Now the products face more competition and it will be interesting to see if new products are rolled out with Newman’s daughter at the helm.
Newman created and marketed products around quality, integrity and authenticity, which matched is personal image. Throughout, the brand has stayed true to these precepts, and consumers responded accordingly. In a retail era of price, price, price, his passing is an opportunity to recognize that such values as quality, integrity and authenticity have a powerful place in the market.
Among members of the generation that admired Paul Newman most, the women wanted him and the men wanted to be him. His passing will not diminish the Newman’s Own brand in the slightest, however the gradual passing of his fan base will ultimately erode some of the brand’s emotional appeal.
Newman’s Own is a singular entity, because it was founded to funnel its profits into charitable works. Its products are unusually high in quality and field tested on Newman’s home turf on the Connecticut “gold coast.” Many of them appeared first on the shelves of Stew Leonard’s legendary food store in Norwalk.
We seldom encounter a person who is so successful in multiple realms–show business, auto racing, philanthropy and the food business. His movie acting obviously helped fund the rest. But his evident personal integrity, humane values and innate intellect were the pillars that made it all possible.
This is a classic case of excellent product branding and positioning. Having a famous spokesperson right on the label, combined with a 100% donation of all profits to charities, makes for an excellent product position. Add to this a great product, a great brand and a recognizable spokesperson (who was consistent along all of the products he embraced) and you have a winning formula for any product, at any time. Once started and successful, adding brand and line extensions were just a natural way for this brand to continually grow their market share in each category in which they competed.
High quality + appealing message = top product line. Newman’s Own lets consumers indulge in delicious products and contribute to essential charities at the same time. I’m guessing that sales will go way up, and stay there.
Newman’s Own was successful because the products taste good and consumer received good value (ratio of price and quality). The fact that profits went to charity is a plus. They were able to achieve these profits without having to spend millions on advertising. Public relations coupled with word of mouth created consumer awareness. Their devotion to product quality was critical for the brand surviving over time. More importantly, they understood that without profits there can be no charitable donations. They kept the business model simple by not trying to be all things to all distributors.
As long as people remember who Paul Newman was, the brand will prevail and thrive. I’m not sure that the brand would be as strong without its association with what people know of Newman outside the food industry.
It’s pretty well all been said. What differentiates Newman’s Own is that it was driven by a higher purpose. The one question every business needs to ask itself is this: “How are we making the world a better place?” No one has had a better answer than this company.
Success? Start with a good product and put a great brand name on it.
Paul Newman was a great brand name even before the first salad dressing hit the shelves. He was a great actor without the Hollywood baggage. He left Hollywood early on and hid out in Westport, Connecticut. He got involved in charitable work with Hole in the Wall and Save the Children while other actors were appearing in gossip rags.
The blueprint is simple and should be followed by any philanthropic endeavor. Make sure the product is good and the brand name is pristine. Yes, make sure the brand name is pristine.
Paul Newman was an American icon on many levels, legendary actor, race car driver, businessman, humanitarian, philanthropist, husband. Newman once said that the company was first started as a joke, and also a source of philanthropic funding. These days, Newman’s Own would be considered a B Corporation–a type of corporation that uses the power of business to create public benefit.
Newman’s Own is not about the product so much as about the man and the brand concept. It took the power of Paul Newman’s appeal (I, and many like me, had a lifelong crush on him-those blue eyes, those impossibly blue eyes). One can’t talk about Newman’s Own like they would talk about Kraft. It’s bigger than that.
Newman’s Own will continue on, but will never be the same, because Paul is gone. Paul’s not there to bring you his newest favorite recipe. It was very personal. The profits from Newman’s Own will continue to fund his causes. I believe he made sure of that when he transitioned ownership. His daughter, Nell, will continue the legacy as well.
If more people had the unswerving integrity of Paul Newman and more businesses had the will to follow in his footsteps and help make the world a better place, we might not be in the bailout mess right now, the polar bears wouldn’t be endangered and pets wouldn’t have died from tainted pet food.
All I know is Paul Newman’s death has left me heartbroken.
I would echo the comments and feel that they have been very accurate in analyzing the reasons for the success of these products. Concerning the future success, it will depend entirely on being able to continue the quality and reputation that has been started. Paul’s favorable influence should last for a long time. If the business model that he set up is maintained and not tinkered with, all the goods things should continue and can even be increased.
Paul was a great role model in an era where we disparately can use one. He will be missed.
Newman’s Own is successful because it’s a clean “license” with the right celebrity and image, and the products are pretty consistently above average in quality.
The Newman’s Own brand of food is of course about the taste, but almost more important is the connection to the person as well as the image of the movie star/actor and what is perceived as an overall nice person trying to do some good. Who would not want to be associated with such a cause given all things considered?
Over time, his passing may be an issue but for the short term, the association should remain strong.
Putting Mr. Newman’s face on the bottle ensured that consumers would be curious about the product. Putting a good product in the jar ensured that most consumers would be satisfied and most would repeat purchase. Donating 100% of the profits to charity ensured that consumers could feel good about the purchase. How many products can make these three claims today?
It’s a good quality product with a “likable” brand. Who wouldn’t want to be Paul Newman’s friend? Even for folks in their 30s (like me), he seemed like the coolest grandpa ever. The charity angle helped to reinforce the image (but I don’t think it was primary to the brand’s consumer success).
With Paul Newman’s death, the brand will go on with the halo of even greater fondness that comes when a beloved person passes on.
The legacy of Newman’s Own will prevail because the philanthropy was the core of the company and pervades its culture. If philanthropy was just a promotional event, it would be a totally different story.
Paul Newman developed a genuine likability among Americans and parlayed that into a “trust” factor for the launch of a series of niche products which eventually became mainstream. What Newman or any public figure has is recognition. However, recognition by consumers is not sufficient to insure the success of any product or service. The product or service needs to successfully meet the needs of a particular set of consumers as well. Newman did this and has left us with a case study on how to parlay celebrity into success in other unrelated endeavors.
It’s sort of been said already, but he was likable. That, in my opinion, is the driving factor behind his product– it was likable, too. And, what a driver he was!
Consumers responded to the products not because of the philanthropic ideal of their genesis, but because of him–they liked him. Because of that, they tried them and liked them as well. It’s been a winning combination. As they continue to renew the brand with different and equally good products, their success will continue well beyond his passing.
In 1988, I was able to capture his image blasting out of the curve from underneath Cobo Hall in Detroit, onto the straightaway on the river front in a brand new Nissan in the Trans AM race as part of the Detroit Grand Prix. He proceeded to take the straightaway three wide and thrill the crowd passing four cars and living up to his reputation.
He did everything to his best in all he did. He always paid less attention to critics and simply kept his eye on the pursuit of excellence. It mattered little whether it was in front of the camera, behind the camera, on the race track, or in the food industry.
His photos will remain behind my desk–a reminder of good.