Minding Your Own Brand

Archive for the ‘Branding’ Category

It is New Year’s Eve 2009, the end of the year, the end of a decade, and the end of an era for the Tavern on the Green restaurant. This iconic 75-year-old brand is serving its final meals tonight or is it? Once the doors close, the fate of the Tavern on the Green’s brand will be determined in a few weeks at a hearing to establish who owns the trademark name valued at $19 million. Will it be the LeRoy family who has run the restaurant for the past 36 years or is it the city of New York and Dean Poll, the restaurateur who won the bid for leasing the central park space? No matter who wins the rights to the Tavern on the Green trademark, this brand will change.

Tonight is the night that the Tavern on the Green brand either goes out on top and leaves ‘em wanting more or it will be the moment the brand jumps the shark.

At some point in their lifecycle, most brands face the decision to jump the shark or leave ‘em wanting more. Rather than go out on top, most choose to jump the shark and make changes to the brand that lead to its ultimate demise.

Both of these phrases, “Jump the Shark” and “Leave ‘em Wanting More”, come from the entertainment industry.

A TV show’s jump the shark episode is the one that begins the downward slide towards cancellation. The show is often at its pinnacle but during this peak of popularity, the writers begin to lose the ability to come up with new and relevant plots. The phrase is derived from the Happy Days episode when Fonzie jumps the shark while on vacation. This episode epitomizes the turning point for most shows. The writers who are struggling for new things to do with the show often send the characters on vacation, have a very special episode, or throw in a absurd plot twist like a dream sequence.

Leave ‘em wanting more is the opposite of jump the shark. It is when you finish the show at its pinnacle and refrain from continuing for fear of tarnishing your popularity. The origin of this phrase is unknown but it is woven into the fabric of the entertainment industry. A terrific example of leave ‘em wanting more is the show that TV Guide named the greatest television program of all time, Seinfeld. The show went out on top leading the Nielsen Ratings in its final season. The final episode, though it received mixed reviews from both critics and fans, brilliantly left no door open for anything that would cause it to jump the shark. By sending the main characters to jail, there was no opportunity for a tacky spin-off or corny Christmas reunion-special. The show was over and it went out on top.

No matter what the outcome of the trademark case, the Tavern on the Green brand will never be the same. After the name is awarded, the brand will begin its slow and painful death. Therefore, I wish the Judge could give the brand to its rightful owners, the fans and customers of Tavern on the Green instead of the two feuding parties. If we let everyone (yet no one) own the brand, it will stop the inevitable jump the shark changes from being made. Instead, the Tavern on the Green brand will go out on top and leave ‘em wanting more.

Let the Tavern on the Green remain a cherished iconic brand. Rather than lose its luster, let the brand’s bright colors, and century-old Crystal Room chandelier continue to nostalgically sparkle in the memories of the fans like they did on this final New Year’s Eve.

© 2009, Dave Lubelczyk. All rights reserved. For reprint permission, please contact IMAGEidentity.