At Darden, the birth of a brand, and its growth and evolution over many decades, reflect the insights of millions of experts – our guests and potential customers. Consumer research is as important to our success as ingredients and recipes are to our menus. That's why we always start the business development process by identifying an underserved consumer need in the casual dining marketplace.

   Once a need is identified, we invest in additional research and analysis to develop and introduce a new restaurant brand. We firmly believe the more solid a new brand's initial core positioning, the more likely it is to flourish and last for generations. We use a sophisticated, proprietary research model that has guided all of our internal brand development, including Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones and Seasons 52.

   After a concept is up and running, research remains an ongoing part of brand management excellence. Constantly listening to, observing and analyzing our guests and their dining experiences are major factors behind the success of each Darden restaurant. All of our restaurants conduct extensive customer feedback programs. At Bahama Breeze, every guest check directs customers to an Internet-based survey that asks them to rate nearly every element of their dining experience. Smokey Bones has relied on focus groups of frequent and former guests as it developed its menu over the past six years. And a host of new initiatives and processes at Red Lobster have been driven by the most comprehensive attitude and usage study in the brand's 37-year history.

   As pioneers in the casual dining segment, Red Lobster and Olive Garden helped write the book on casual dining advertising and promotion, and these efforts are also steeped in research and testing. For example, both operating companies use a five-step process for creating and marketing promotions. Long before a promotional ad hits the airwaves, the companies spend up to a year testing featured recipes in restaurants and testing the advertising campaign in focus groups and test markets. This process helps ensure that a promotional offering will be compelling to consumers and sets up our restaurant teams for success by preparing them to execute with consistent excellence.

   In many respects, brands exist in the minds of consumers. Their perception is our reality. So whether it is quantitative or qualitative research, focus group feedback or a crew member's insightful observation, understanding what casual dining consumers want is critical to brand management excellence at Darden.