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My name is Evan Carmichael and I believe that the fastest and most effective way to build a business is to model the strategies of people who have already done what you’re trying to do. I call it Modeling the Masters. My last post was: 3 Lessons from Estee Lauder (from kitchen startup to most influential businesswoman of the century)

Today we're going to look at how the son of immigrant labourers went against the dream his parents had for him to become a preacher and built one of the most successful companies in the food production business. This is the story of Henry Heinz and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.

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"To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success." - Henry J. Heinz

Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was a American businessman, who founded the H. J. Heinz Company. He was the first of eight children born to German immigrant parents who wanted him to become a preacher. Heinz, however, had other plans. His passion was helping his mother bottle and sell the pickles she grew in their yard and he saw his future in food production.

By the time he was just nine years old, Heinz was growing, grinding, bottling, and selling his own brand of horseradish sauce. At ten, Heinz was given three-quarters of an acre of land to tend his own garden. At twelve, he had graduated to three and a half acres of land, and was using a horse and cart to make his deliveries to grocery stores. By the time he reached 17 years old, Heinz was making $2,400 a year from his produce, close to $60,000 in today's dollars. Heinz eventually expanded his business by focusing on making new product lines, including pickles and ketchup.

Heinz stayed on as president of the company he had founded until his death at the age of 74. By that time, the HJ Heinz Company had more than 25 food processing plants, 40,000 acres of land under cultivation, and over 6,500 employees.

Action Item #1: Create a Catchy Slogan

Whatever industry you're in, you probably have many competitors. How can you stand out from everyone else? A great way to cut through the clutter is to create a catchy slogan that highlights what you're really good at.

Heinz was looking for a slogan while riding on a streetcar in New York one day in 1896. He then saw an advertisement for a shoe store; it read “21 Styles.” According to Heinz: “I said to myself, ‘we do not have styles of products, but we do have varieties of products. Counting up how many we had, I counted well beyond 57, but 57 kept coming back to my mind. Seven, seven – there are so many illustrations of the psychological influence of that figure and of its alluring significance to people of all ages and races that ‘58 Varieties’ or ‘59 Varieties’ did not appeal at all to me as being equally strong.”

With that, Heinz immediately jumped off the streetcar, went down to the print shop, and drafted up a card with the new 57 Varieties slogan. Reflecting back, Heinz acknowledged: “I myself did not realize how highly successful a slogan it was going to be."

Action Item #2: Be Unique with Your Promotions

Another great way to cut through the clutter and have potential customers pay attention to you is to be unique with your promotional campaigns.

No tactic was too flashy or gaudy for Heinz. He wanted his products to stand out and shine – literally. In 1900, Heinz decided to erect the first ever electric sign in New York City, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street in Manhattan. Standing six stories tall, the sign was a large electric-lit pickle that bore the Heinz name and its “57 Varieties” slogan. In the display room below the sign, Heinz’s employees could be seen packing miniature pickles into bottles. The sign took 1,200 light bulbs to build and cost the company some $90 every night, but for Heinz, it was all worth it. For years, this electric pickle impressed shoppers along the famous New York strip and served as invaluable advertising.

Heinz was a master promoter, and was even responsible for pioneering one of the major trends in the industry. Obsessed with quality, freshness, and cleanliness, Heinz invented the concept of the “factory tour.” Anyone who was interested in seeing how Heinz produced and packaged his products was now allowed to witness the process first-hand. He was confident in his operations and believed opening it up to the public would help build confidence and trust in his company. The move sparked an outburst of positive publicity, not to mention a wave of copycats.

Action Item #3: Have a Quality Product and Be Proud of It

Most of the famous entrepreneurs achieved success not because they were trying to make a lot of money but because they created a product or service that was good quality and they were proud to make and promote.

Heinz was very proud of all of his products. In addition to allowing the public access to his factories, Heinz also opened up his products to them – literally. He was one of the first to ever package his products in clear, glass bottles. Heinz’s competitors would often use filler ingredients to pump up the volume of their products, and then conceal the fact by using opaque, coloured containers. Heinz wanted his customers to see exactly what they were buying. He was proud of his products’ quality and offered transparent bottles to ensure customers they were getting their money’s worth.

Heinz’s biographer, Robert C. Alberts, claimed that Heinz had hit on one of the most important and shaping business ideas of his time: that a pure article of superior quality could find a ready market through its intrinsic value, so long as it was packaged and promoted properly.

True Story

In the banking panic of 1875, a young Heinz found himself overextended and bankrupt. He had tried unsuccessfully to turn for help to the grocers he had been supplying with produce over the past few years. They, however, turned their backs on him. He couldn't even get enough credit to feed his family. With that, Heinz decided that he would never again be placed in a situation where he had to depend on others to survive. He made a decision to be successful and never looked back.

More Quotes

Heart power is less than horse power.

A wide market awaits the manufacturer of food products who sets purity and quality above everything else in their preparation.

To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.

Contest

Congratulations to Lynne for winning the Tony Hsieh card from my Entrepreneur Heroes series by writing a this comment on my last post. Lynne, please contact me so I can get the card sent to you.

For this week's contest I'm going to give away a A.P. Giannini card. When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake decimated the city, most banks shut down. A.P. Giannini knew people would need money to rebuild. With a wooden plank across two barrels as a desk he lent money based on “a man’s face and signature.” To win the card all you have to do is leave a comment below. One winner will be selected at random from the comments.

Do you have a catchy slogan? What's the most unique promotion you've ever done? What part of Henry Heinz''s message impacted you the most? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

Evan Carmichael

To learn more check out my list of Henry J. Heinz articles or my website, EvanCarmichael.com.