Frank, Sidney (1919–2006), born in hard circumstances in Montville, Connecticut, went on to parlay a genius for marketing spirits into a fortune worth billions, changing the landscape of the spirits business in the process. Frank claimed that his family was so poor that he slept on old burlap sacks. Although he was nonetheless able to gain admission to the prestigious Brown University, he was forced to drop out after his first year because he had run out of money for tuition. Through his classmate Edward Sarnoff (son of David Sarnoff, the founder of RCA), he met Louise Rosenstiel (1923–1973), the daughter of Lewis Rosensteil, the head of Schenley, at the time one of the largest spirits companies in the world. See Rosenstiel, Lewis.
After working during the Second World War for Pratt and Whitney, the airplane engine maker, as a troubleshooter for alcohol-injection systems for high-altitude flight, Frank married Louise Rosenstiel and soon went to work for Schenley. His promotions came rapidly, until he became president of the company’s distilling wing in 1955 and of the parent company in 1960. His tenure was not smooth, though, and eventually he was forced out of the company. For a time he ran an art gallery and then, in 1972, founded the Sidney Frank Importing Co. At first, his offerings were underwhelming: a Japanese sake, John Crabbie light blended scotch whisky, a Liebfraumilch named Grey Goose. In the late 1970s, however, he acquired the rights to import Jägermeister, Germany’s most popular liqueur. See Jägermeister.
The bitter herbal liqueur had already been developing a cult following in New Orleans, and when in a 1985 article the Baton Rouge Advocate attributed that to the perception that the liqueur was like “liquid Valium,” Frank capitalized on that in marketing it—at least until one of his distributors got investigated when they accidentally used some of the marketing materials in an advertisement. That was in 1990. The next year he tried something different, assembling a crew of female models, whom he called Jägerettes, and later a crew of male models, Jägerdudes, to promote the liqueur around America. He also created a bar-top machine to chill the liqueur and make it more quaffable.
While Jägermeister was a smash hit, his biggest success came when he took the Grey Goose name and applied it to a super-premium vodka, which he later sold to Bacardi for more than $2 billion. Other entrepreneurs tried to copy his success, creating dozens of other brands using Frank’s Grey Goose marketing plan. See Grey Goose.
After Grey Goose’s sale he donated more than $100 million to Brown University for financial aid for needy students and for a new building. Sidney Frank Importing continued for a number of years after its founder’s death until the parent company of Jägermeister, Mast-Jägermeister, bought out Frank’s heirs for the company’s name and intellectual property.
Clifford, Stefanie. “Q&A: Sidney Frank.” Inc., September 2005.
Demmons, Douglas. “Latest Liquor Craze Sweeps into Baton Rouge.” Baton Rouge Advocate, May 12, 1985, B-1.
Martin, Douglas. “Sidney Frank, 86, Dies.” New York Times, January 12, 2006.
Rothbaum, Noah. The Business of Spirits. New York: Kaplan, 2007.
Schneider, Doug. “Liqueur Ad Prompts Investigation.” Syracuse Post-Standard, October 23, 1990, B-1.
By: Noah Rothbaum