Marketing + merchandising = money: marketers tell their secrets.

Everyone says it's important to market well, but how does an operator know when a program is successful? That was the challenge to a panel of restaurant marketers and consultants, who shared success--and failure--stories.

Moderator David Commer, Commer Beverage Solutions, led off with a failure: a 1998 plan to create an adult version of chai. It flopped, because the idea was ahead of its time. "Norman Brinker once said, 'Major in timing. If you get too far ahead of your customers, you'll confuse them. If you're too far behind them, you'll lose them.'"

Comme