10-Minute Specials Selling Like Hot Cakes

In a world where everyone seems to be in a hurry, some businesses prosper simply by creating the image of providing speedier service--rather than actually doing anything faster.

Denny’s Restaurants, for example, started advertising 10-minute breakfast and lunch specials nationally over the last six months, launching the service by highlighting the quick items that already were on its menu. It drives home the point with a further touch of marketing gimmickry, giving customers stopwatches to let them clock how long an order takes.

“We didn’t take anything that normally would take 12 minutes and tell people in restaurants, ‘OK, guys, now you have to do it in 10 minutes,’ ” said Sue Henderson, the chain’s vice president for marketing.

“We’re just making sure they deliver in 10 minutes and that people know they can go into Denny’s and be served in 10 minutes.”

The result: Denny’s lunch and breakfast business, Henderson said, is up “significantly.”