An Award Winning Look And Fragrance In A Product That Works
Give Them What They Want
"We're very proud of the fact that we are able to deliver a well-packaged, highly effective product with a great fragrance," he says. "Our overall success in the indoor tanning products market is due to our incredible ability to develop a concept for our line that makes it very popular with tanners and salon owners alike."
Supre's ability to develop effective concepts for its products originate mostly in the company's attention to the market. "Every year, we conduct national surveys of several hundred salons," say Alexander. "What we learn from these surveys helps us understand what tanners desire from tanning products."
One survey revealed that tanners look at the overall appeal of the product, and that the majority of tanners fall into an impressionable age group that is highly motivated by the total concept of the product.
"We knew that we had to appeal to the demographics of the typical tanner in order to build on our past success," he says. "And that's exactly what we did."
The survey specifically asked salon owners what they needed from a product to stimulate sales.
"Many wanted the product to be hotter; others wanted it to give an even darker tan. Lastly, everyone interviewed wanted it to standout from other products on the market," he says. "We put our creative staff to work and developed products that met everyone's needs."
One of the additions to the Supre line that came about from the survey was Coco Beach. According to Alexander, this was a product that satisfied the consumers' desire of achieving a deep tan with Coca Beach Dark Tan accelerators. The company also incorporated an incredible fragrance with the product by including coconut and kiwi fruit extract into the ingredients.
"Additional beneficial ingredients include vitamins E and C to help reduce the look of fine lines and wrinkles," he says. "This was the birth of Coco Beach Classic. Then came Coco Beach Gold, which is available in both hot and regular formula that is stronger than the classic formulation.
"From the surveys came ... give me Coco Beach even hotter and stronger. We listened, and Supre Platinum was born this year."
Keeping It Simple
In order for Supre to remain "user friendly" for salons and tanners alike, the company has stood firm on its philosophy to offer a simple and straightforward product line. Supre offers a 3-Step System that provides tanners with the ultimate tanning experience with the utmost importance stressed on high-quality skincare.
Step 1 is designed for tanners who want to develop a base tan using tan intensifiers. Step 2 is formulated for those who want to "deepen and darken" their existing tan with Tan Maximizers. Step 3 maintains the tan and keeps the skin moist and healthy with moisturizers and bath and shower gels.
Additionally, the company offers an array of fabulous self-tanning products within its Colour line. There is actually three facial lash bronzers that give immediate color to the skin and it has a self-tanner so that within a couple of hours, one has gorgeous color on the face. Plus the Colour Self-Tan Mousse not only gives great color, but also has a slight amount of shimmer and is enriched with vitamin E.
One of the most confirming aspects of the overall success of the Supre line is its general popularity.
"To show that the great staff at Supre consistently recognize the importance of every product we offer, we typically only see a 4-percent to 6-percent difference in sales between each of our products--even with the great success of our new line Colour, Coco Beach and Hempz," says Alexander. "Not many companies can say that about their lines. This basically means that we don't have any dogs in the line."
Supporting Education
Supre continues to support quality technical, sales and product education for the entire industry.
"I am an advocate of the Indoor Tanning Association (ITA)," he says. "This is my way of advancing the business growth and image of the indoor tanning industry while helping raise our level of professionalism."
Supre also takes a more direct approach to industry professionalism and success by offering product training. Some of this training is initiated through distributor seminars which give salon staff the product and technical training they need.
"We are grateful to the many distributors that carry Supre's product line and offer salon owners and operators the education necessary to maintain a successful tanning business," says Alexander. "Our knowledgeable staff always is willing to participate in training opportunities that promote our products, while reinforcing professionalism."
Supre also offers a toll-free number for salons to access for product information. "This is one of the ways we can be sure that salons get the support they need while having questions answered that assists them in their product sales," he adds.
With Success Comes Growth
Because of Supre's continued growth, plans are underway to move from the current corporate and warehouse locations to a larger and centralized facility in the Dallas area by the first of next year.
"This is truly a testament to the growth and success of the staff at Supre. And, it wouldn't be possible without the support of Bruce West Jr., president and founder of Supre," says Alexander. "Bruce has given me and my staff the flexibility to achieve the success that we have known over the last few years."
West's entry in the indoor tanning industry started back in 1987. After graduating from Southwest Texas State University, he became aware of the tanning industry and the use of tanning accelerating products. Intrigued, he spent countless hours researching how these accelerators worked in the tanning process.
With this newly acquired knowledge, he joined forces with a chemist to find out how effective of a lotion he could make. He knew how he wanted the product to look, smell and feel while offering great performance. West and the chemist came up with the original formulas that are the basis of today's line.
A Look That Gets Noticed
"In addition to great ingredients and fragrances we offer in our tanning and skincare lines, I must give credit to Bruce and his design team for developing our image that has captured the attention of the world," says Alexander.
"Supre is the only company in the indoor tanning industry to win the prestigious Clio Award in the toiletries and pharmaceuticals category. The worldwide competition for such an award is staggering, and to win like we did in 1997 shows just how packaging plays an important role in marketing and sales of our line," he adds.
Alexander is excited about the company's new Hempz line, which has become one of the most talked about lotion lines in the industry. Hempz' innovative marketing concept and packaging design has made it popular among salons and tanners.
Supre has sent out more than 60,000 sample boxes of Hempz across the United States and the reaction has been monumental. The ad campaigns, paralleled with the sampling program, have made the Hempz launch the largest launch in the company's history.
"I have to take my hat off to Bruce and the folks at Signal, his advertising agency, for their hard work and creativity," says Alexander. "Salons have told us that the day they placed the Hempz Counter display in their salons, they sold all the products within 48 hours. That's $300 in their pockets, and it makes them very happy salon owners. It's the creativity of the display that gets the customer's attention, and once it has been captured and the customer picks it up and smells it, the sale is made."
Supre's design team success also has led to a successful advertising agency for West. "About the time he was launching his tanning line, he also was starting what has become an extremely successful advertising agency--Signal. The company not only is operated as one of the nation's most innovative advertisers, it also has been the force behind the success of Supre's overall image and concept," says Alexander.
It is this talent and creativity that has led to the success of Supre. The company offers three things under one umbrella--a product that has the look and fragrance the consumer wants in a formulation that works in maintaining the tan and overall healthful skin of the tanner."
