What to do when the 'guy you knew' is gone?

So what's next when the guy everyone knew is no longer around?

Discussions are already under way among senior company officials on the most effective way to replace Larry H. Miller as the marketing face of the Utah Jazz and the Miller business empire.

Miller died Feb. 20 from complications related to type 2 diabetes.

"We have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in 'After all, you know this guy,' " explained Miller's son Greg Miller, who's served as CEO of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies since mid-July.

"So the notion of just turning our back on that isn't very appetizing to me. I'd like to try and find a way to stay close to that going forward. We've talked about some ways to carry that on but haven't landed on anything yet. We haven't really felt the need to rush out and do that. Part of it has been out of respect for my dad. He's only been gone a little while now, and we have time to develop those things," he said.

"We've had creative discussions about what the options might be for the evolution of our previous (marketing) campaign. We'll have to make a decision and move forward in the wake of that decision, so hopefully it'll be the right one," Greg Miller said, indicating it'll likely be a matter of months before anything is unveiled.

Jeff Sheets, director of the BYU Advertising Lab, suggests that looking at it from a legacy perspective, there needs to be a bridge campaign created that takes you from Larry H. Miller — the icon — to where the company's future advertising is headed.

"You wouldn't want an abrupt massive shift because it would begin to feel alien to your consumer base," Sheets said, explaining it's possible to maintain a legacy feeling in advertising that "this is the same company built by that guy and we're still honoring those traditions."

Before too long, however, advertising must confront the future by creating new emotional ties to the community that suggest the companies of the Miller Group are progressive and ready to evolve into new generational leaders, Sheets said.

Losing a strong pitchman isn't easy. Earlier this decade, Wendy's, the nation's No. 3 fast food chain, struggled mightily searching to rediscover itself following the death of founder Dave Thomas, who'd evolved into a piece of Americana because of his folksy style advertising the restaurant chain in television commercials.