Food brand pushes its ‘generous’ qualities Rosemary Ryan
It’s a brand that’s been in the Australian market for 21 years, raised more than $8m here for charity and, despite having had little ad support, continues to have high brand awareness, thanks largely to the famous face on its label
Now Goodman Fielder’s Meadow Lea food division is relaunching the Paul Newman’s Own brand in the Australian market supported by an advertising campaign personally approved by Newman following a meeting with ad agency AdPartners in his Connecticut office.
The quirky campaign launches a new tagline for the brand, ‘The taste that’s generous’, and focuses strongly on the taste and quality of the product and its ingredients, and not just its famous founder and its charitable base, as part of a strategy to boost the brand’s profile and relevance to today’s consumer.
A series of magazine ads have begun rolling out and will appear in food and women’s titles including The Australian Women’s Weekly, Woman’s Day and Australian Table. It’s being supported by radio ads and a public relations push also being handled by the AdPartners Group.
There’s also been the launch of a lower calorie extension branded Paul Newman’s Own Lighten Up.
A PR campaign launched in May involved Paul Newman announcing he was offering a cash donation of a million dollars to Australian charities and received widespread media coverage for the brand and the work of the Paul Newman Foundation. Worldwide it has given to charity $250m, earned via the sale of the Paul Newman range.
AdPartners Group CEO, Trevor Fearnley, said the strategy focusing on quality and taste was developed following major consumer research by Meadow Lea that revealed some key consumer insights about the brand.
The magazine ad for pasta sauces positions the sauce as being tasty and healthy, and talks about the ‘generosity’ of the products, referring to both the quality and quantity of fresh ingredients as well as the fact that all Australian profits go to charities.
Fearnley said a product such as Paul Newman’s could not just rely on Newman and its charitable base to sell the brand.
“People won’t buy something just because it’s Paul Newman’s, they pay because it is good quality,” Fearnley said.
The focus on the quality of the product and the introduction of a low-fat range is a good move and will make it more relevant to today’s consumers, particularly the baby boomers, according to consumer researcher, David Chalke, who said Australians will only continue to buy a product that they believe is good value, no matter whose face is on it or where the money is going.
Chalke, the director of AustralianScan at Quantum Research, said that nostalgic brands also had strong appeal.
“If it has strong memories from when you were young, yes, but it has to still be of value and be relevant to today.”
While Fearnley would not reveal the amount being spent on the relaunch, it is up against some much more aggressive competitors.
In the salad-dressing category the top five marketers spent $4.7m on mainstream advertising in the year to June 2005, according to Nielsen Media Research AdEx, led by Fountain which spent almost $2m. In the pasta cooking sauces category Dolmio is the power brand in terms of ad spend with an outlay in the same period of $2.4m compared to its nearest rival Leggos on $670,000.
The Meadow Lea spread and oils operation the Paul Newman’s Own range comes within has been the standout performer for Goodman Fielder owner Burns Philp.
