Popular fellow succeeded, possessing new means (7)
I believe the answer is:
intends
'means' is the definition.
('intend' can be a synonym of 'mean')
'popular fellow succeeded possessing new' is the wordplay.
'popular' becomes 'in' ('in' can mean trendy).
'fellow' becomes 'ted' (man's name).
'succeeded' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation).
'possessing' indicates putting letters inside.
'new' becomes 'n' (common abbreviation eg NT for New Testament).
'ted'+'s'='teds'
'teds' placed around 'n' is 'tends'.
'in'+'tends'='INTENDS'
(Other definitions for intends that I've seen before include "Has as a purpose" , "Plans, means" , "Aims" .)