Jonathan Crisp thrives on being outrageous. Claire Hu reports
For such a small company, Jonathan Crisp has courted an enormous amount of controversy over recent years. That its Crisps for Snobs lines have managed to upset everyone from the Church of England to Buckingham Palace is testament to the PR wizardry of its mischievous MD, Paul Saxby.
The offending crisps came in Horseradish & Sour Cream flavour and were described as being “bracingly British and delightfully eccentric”. They hit the headlines in 2004 when the product was relaunched sporting an equestrian caricature closely resembling Princess Anne. Buckingham Palace complained, with rumours of a handwritten note from Prince Charles slamming “those bloody crisps”, and the company agreed to go back to the drawing board.
The new bag is unlikely to appease the Royals, however, as it features a lookalike of the Prince’s new wife. The Family are apparently not amused. The company has also caused upset by putting a vicar on its Simply Divine
lightly salted flavour.
The new look and rebranding under a Crisps for Snobs label are just two of the dramatic changes made to the business by Saxby following a management buyout in January 2004 after its charismatic Canadian founder Jonathan Whiteside died. Saxby, a former consultant to the company, jumped at the chance to buy a majority share. He had been employed to look at why the company was stuck in the slow lane with turnover hovering around half a million pounds, while sales of premium rivals such as Burts and Tyrrells were rocketing.
“After 20 years in corporate sales and marketing for the likes of United Biscuits, I was ready to do my own thing,” recalls Saxby. “The company was an undiscovered jewel. It had a great name and product and was in one of the most dynamic sectors of the industry - small batch crisps.”
Saxby tackled what he thought were the brand’s weakest aspects - its packaging, costly production and limited distribution in pubs. The previous design featured a dinner jacket and tie with the line ‘cooked in their jackets’, which Saxby believed would not stand out on supermarket shelves.
Artist Paul Baker, who had worked on the TV series Spitting Image, came up with eight aristocratic characters to front the eight flavours ranging from Mature Cheddar & Red Onion to Sundried Tomato & Basil.
The most recent addition, Apple Nibbles, the first in a new line of Snacks for Snobs, sports a cartoon lookalike of former Royal butler Paul Burrell.
Although the official line is that any resemblance is coincidental, Saxby is candid about the PR value of creating a stir. “Of course I knew the PR potential of making the caricature look like Princess Anne,” he admits. “We need to be able to get hold of media that is different to the millions spent by the likes of Walkers.”
The ploy worked, with new listings in Waitrose and some The Co-operative Group and Asda stores mainly attributable to the quirky new image. Turnover nearly doubled to £900,000 in 2005. Another controversial change has been to move manufacturing overseas, which Saxby said was due to the need for increased capacity.
Despite Saxby’s view that the premium crisps market is becoming tougher, Jonathan Crisp is not standing still, with new flavours and concepts on the way. In spring, a new flavour will be released and vegetable varieties are scheduled for June.
A new caricature will be modelled on a celebrity couple. Saxby admits he expects to get into more trouble...
For such a small company, Jonathan Crisp has courted an enormous amount of controversy over recent years. That its Crisps for Snobs lines have managed to upset everyone from the Church of England to Buckingham Palace is testament to the PR wizardry of its mischievous MD, Paul Saxby.
The offending crisps came in Horseradish & Sour Cream flavour and were described as being “bracingly British and delightfully eccentric”. They hit the headlines in 2004 when the product was relaunched sporting an equestrian caricature closely resembling Princess Anne. Buckingham Palace complained, with rumours of a handwritten note from Prince Charles slamming “those bloody crisps”, and the company agreed to go back to the drawing board.
The new bag is unlikely to appease the Royals, however, as it features a lookalike of the Prince’s new wife. The Family are apparently not amused. The company has also caused upset by putting a vicar on its Simply Divine
lightly salted flavour.
The new look and rebranding under a Crisps for Snobs label are just two of the dramatic changes made to the business by Saxby following a management buyout in January 2004 after its charismatic Canadian founder Jonathan Whiteside died. Saxby, a former consultant to the company, jumped at the chance to buy a majority share. He had been employed to look at why the company was stuck in the slow lane with turnover hovering around half a million pounds, while sales of premium rivals such as Burts and Tyrrells were rocketing.
“After 20 years in corporate sales and marketing for the likes of United Biscuits, I was ready to do my own thing,” recalls Saxby. “The company was an undiscovered jewel. It had a great name and product and was in one of the most dynamic sectors of the industry - small batch crisps.”
Saxby tackled what he thought were the brand’s weakest aspects - its packaging, costly production and limited distribution in pubs. The previous design featured a dinner jacket and tie with the line ‘cooked in their jackets’, which Saxby believed would not stand out on supermarket shelves.
Artist Paul Baker, who had worked on the TV series Spitting Image, came up with eight aristocratic characters to front the eight flavours ranging from Mature Cheddar & Red Onion to Sundried Tomato & Basil.
The most recent addition, Apple Nibbles, the first in a new line of Snacks for Snobs, sports a cartoon lookalike of former Royal butler Paul Burrell.
Although the official line is that any resemblance is coincidental, Saxby is candid about the PR value of creating a stir. “Of course I knew the PR potential of making the caricature look like Princess Anne,” he admits. “We need to be able to get hold of media that is different to the millions spent by the likes of Walkers.”
The ploy worked, with new listings in Waitrose and some The Co-operative Group and Asda stores mainly attributable to the quirky new image. Turnover nearly doubled to £900,000 in 2005. Another controversial change has been to move manufacturing overseas, which Saxby said was due to the need for increased capacity.
Despite Saxby’s view that the premium crisps market is becoming tougher, Jonathan Crisp is not standing still, with new flavours and concepts on the way. In spring, a new flavour will be released and vegetable varieties are scheduled for June.
A new caricature will be modelled on a celebrity couple. Saxby admits he expects to get into more trouble...
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