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Whether the objective is to boost repeat business, educate consumers about a brand, introduce new menu items or simply reward customer loyalty, many restaurateurs have discovered that frequent-diner programs can be adapted to a wide variety of tasks.

And while some operators choose to employ such programs in tandem with broader-reaching marketing campaigns, others maintain that a sharply focused "fourwalls" frequency program can provide rapid and measurable results for a lot less money.

Gwen Salem, director of sales and marketing for the New York-based multiconcept Fireman Group of restaurants, calls frequent-diner programs "immediately quantifiable."

"I prefer them to advertising any day of the week and twice on Sunday," she says. "I know what I'm getting. There's no way [in this economy] I'm going to spend millions of dollars on ads. They don't provide the kind of direct results you get from these programs.

At the same time frequent-diner--or "loyalty"--programs that invite guests to provide some personal information are proving to be instrumental in building valuable customer databases.

Commenting on the Palm steakhouse chain's popular membership club, senior vice president of marketing Andrea Von Utter says the program enables the Washington, D.C.-based upscale chain to track frequency and spending. "I think it also separates us from our competitors in that it keeps us in touch with our loyal customers," she adds.

To be sure, not all frequency programs are successful across all segments of the industry. For example, a straightforward "buy four, get one free" promotion that drives sales successfully at a quick-service chain might send the wrong signal to the clientele of a high-end restaurant.

Nevertheless, operators are focusing on the programs that work best for them and customizing them to their individual needs. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, the Chicago-based multiconcept restaurant operator, introduced a loyalty card program a dozen years ago with the intention of not only increasing frequency but also familiarizing customers with the company's diverse portfolio of full-service restaurants.

Based on similar programs developed by the airline industry, LEYE's initial foray into the loyalty card business required that the company partner with a local bank, which collected the program's data. "We had no way at the time to keep the records," says Bob Wattel, LEYE executive vice president, founding partner and the architect of the program. As a result, the company's first card had the dual function of being both a credit card and a loyalty card.

Soon afterward, though, LEYE outsourced the collection information and discontinued the credit card function. The only mistake the company made, Wattel points out, was that "we didn't charge for it at first. We let anybody sign up. So we ended up with this huge database that cost us money."

Today LEYE charges a fee of $25 for its loyalty card, which awards one point for each dollar spent to members. Points may be redeemed for prizes ranging from a $25 gift certificate for 350 points to a Mexican vacation for 35,000 points. Cardholders also can take advantage of birthday and other promotions.

In addition to driving traffic, the cards also encourage patrons to visit all of LEYE's nearly 40 restaurants, awarding double points to a customer who visits an operation at which he previously had not dined.

The loyalty program has grown to be "a fairly important part of our business," says Wattel, explaining that there are about 60,000 cardholders. "We estimate that loyalty card holders generate about 20 percent of our sales."

Palm Management Corp. also maintains a successful loyalty card club. The 837 Club, named for the Second Avenue address of the original New York Palm, boasts more than 100,000 members who can use their cards at all 28 Palm steakhouse locations in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

The original program was tested at the Washington, D.C., Palm in 1998 for about nine months before being rolled out chainwide, Von Utter explains. Today customers who pay an initial membership fee of $20 receive a membership card and a $20 gift certificate. They obtain one point for each dollar spent on food and beverage and can continue to accrue the points indefinitely. Like LEYE, the Palm offers a series of prizes, ranging from a $35 gift certificate to a seven-day, six-night trip for two to any city that has a Palm restaurant.

Customers also can take advantage of birthday promotions as well as other special awards and benefits, such as double-point days, theme dinners and members-only dinners.

Although the 837 Club database cannot collect information on individual menu purchases, it helps the company develop more effective marketing programs and customize special events, Von Utter says.

While a frequency program helps to keep a chain's brand top of mind when a patron is traveling, it also can introduce a customer to another of the company's sibling concepts. For example, the Fireman Restaurant Group operates five different full-service restaurants in New York -including Redeye Grill, Brooklyn Diner and Trattoria Dell'Arte. The company's "Five Restaurants in Six Weeks!" promotion was designed to introduce customers to all of owner Shelly Fireman's operations, according to marketing director Salem. "A lot of people don't know that Shelly is the owner of all five, and it's harder to expose people to each of the concepts," she adds.

The promotion utilizes a "passport" sent out in a bulk mailing or picked up at the participating restaurants. Each passport must be stamped at the five restaurants after the participant has spent a minimum of $25 at each. After all five stamps have been collected, a customer may fill out the passport and redeem it for $75 in gift certificates on return visits. The promotion is scheduled to end June 1.

In addition to driving frequency and introducing customers to all of Fireman's restaurants, the promotion allows the company to capture data--including e-mail addresses-on each customer, which will help the group tailor future promotions.

Bertucci's Brick Oven Pizzeria, the 83-unit Italian casual-dining operator based in Northborough, Mass., also ran a passport-theme limited-time-only promotion recently. Called "Bertucci's Passport to Italy," the program was designed to acquaint new customers with the concept, boost guest counts, increase interaction between customers and servers, and enlarge the chain's marketing database.

The company sent out 90,000 direct-mail pieces in early January and ran the program through the end of March.

Utilizing a four-color reproduction of an actual Italian passport, the program rewards a customer who has made five visits--and received five passport stamps--with either a free sixth lunch or dinner entree. Participants also qualify for a grand-prize drawing--a trip for two to Italy, which includes roundtrip airfares, accommodations for six nights and $1,000 cash to spend. Two hundred sweepstakes entries also can win a copy of "The Flavors of Olive Oil: A Tasting Guide and Cookbook."

The passports also cross-market the chain's carryout business by including a bounce-back coupon offering $5 off any carryout purchase of $15 or more.

Paul Seidman, Bertucci's senior vice president of marketing, research and product development, points out that the program not only drove increased visits but also helped strengthen takeout business, which now accounts for 24 percent of sales.

"It was extremely successful," he says. "The return was great compared with the cost of executing the program--the return was easily 15 to 20 times the cost."

For some operators, though, the most straightforward frequency programs still tend to be the best. Blimpie Subs and Salads and Chick-fil-A, two Atlanta-based quick-service chains, have been offering for several years frequent-diner programs that reward repeated purchases.

According to Jeff Endervelt, chief executive of Blimpie, the 1,800-unit sandwich chain has been offering guests its BIP--Blimpie Important Person--card for 15 years. The card enables customers who purchase seven sandwiches to get the eighth for free. "It's one of our most important programs," Endervelt says. "Some stores [redeem] as many as a hundred a week.

"Rewarding customer loyalty and building relationships is important to us," he continues. "These people are taking the time to come into our restaurants seven times."

Blimpie also features two other loyalty programs--a birthday card and a new-resident program. "Every resident who moves within three miles of a store's zip code gets an invitation to come to Blimpie for a free sandwich," he adds.

The 1,090-unit Chick-fil-A also features frequent-diner programs, according to Don Perry, vice president of public relations. "But typically those are tied to a specific product line as opposed to a whole meal," he says.