If I want to hear covers, I'll listen to the radio.

Successful marketers have long-recognized the fact that marketing must be viewed as an investment, and not simply a line-item expense. Like any investment, marketing programs must be evaluated on the incremental returns they generate, and the ability to do that exists today in a growing number of industries.

If a client knows that a movie promotion generated a sales increase of 35% for a particular item in his restaurants, he can ensure that he has sufficient supply on hand to meet the demand for future promotions.

Restaurants are moving in the direction that consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers took some years ago. Continuous measurement and evaluation of marketing channels such as television, radio, internet and print and in-store promotions is either in practice or under consideration at a number of leading restaurant chains.

It is crucial that restaurants match sales with shipments. If demand for an item exceeds supply, individual restaurants are faced with either unhappy customers or higher costs when they have to place special orders at the last minute. Conversely, an over-supply of a product is an unnecessary expense. Pairing an automated marketing intelligence system with a sophisticated supply chain program virtually guarantees that a restaurant will have the products the customer wants.

We confirmed we'd continue to monitor the situation very closely and rigidly enforce the protocols on any and all breaches.