No Waiting for Donuts

Dear Members and Constituents,
What makes a marketing campaign successful? I bet getting a huge response to your Super Bowl ad is on most people's short list (for those who have a short list anyway). As I drove my family home from Denny's early Tuesday morning, I could not help but wonder how the folks at corporate would gauge their success. Would they count the number of free grand slams served and compare them to the number of breakfasts served on a normal Tuesday? I'd wager they had a ten-fold increase. The line was, after all, out the door. By that criteria, however, my family and I would not be counted. You see, waiting an hour to be seated was too long, even for a free meal. How do you account for a four-year-old's disappointment? How do you model the effect of a six-year-old's groggy pout after having been dragged out of bed at 6:00 am with the promise of hot meal? I'll tell you this, while my family has great unaided recall of the Denny's brand name and our willingness to act on their promotional offer was high, I doubt any of us harbor warm and fuzzy feelings for the company. I suppose there is a nugget of wisdom buried in there about prompt service delivery.

Fortunately today, Shiri Bahar (donut girl) does not disappoint. Five dozen LaMar's donuts are ready to handle any demand this note might generate. I guarantee you will not have to wait more than a few seconds at my office for the sweet sensation of a fresh donut melting away in your mouth.

Happy Friday!

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Friday Donuts

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