“The goal for ‘I Want a Free Tan’ is to expose the general public to the benefits of indoor tanning,” says Stacy Kaufman, CEO and president at Sunrise, Fla.-based Performance Brands. “The site will be a powerhouse tool for bringing new tanners into salons, but salon participation is the key to making it work.”
Endorsing the merits of tanning constitutes a win-win for the entire indoor tanning industry, from industry manufacturers and salons to consumers. Companies benefit financially, and consumers are given a means to look and feel better.
“Our industry needs to take measures now in order to grow,” Kaufman says. “I wanted to create something that was easy to use and could spread the word directly to consumers about the benefits of tanning in a controlled environment. Performance Brands is prepared to invest in this promotion to spread the word about tanning because it’s good for the health of the industry and consequently our business.”
To interest people new to indoor tanning, the Web site is visually exciting and provides education about the benefits of controlled UV light with a graphically enhanced introduction.
“There is a great deal of incorrect information about indoor tanning circulating in the media,” he says. “The public is being told that the sun and indoor tanning is bad, and our industry must challenge this at the consumer level. That’s where www.iwantafreetan.com comes in.”
Due to the high expense of consumer advertising, equipment manufacturers normally do not advertise their latest equipment in major media outlets. Therefore, education about tanning products usually takes place inside salons. This means potential tanners who have not yet visited a salon can fall through the cracks of industry marketing efforts.
“There are few, if any, national campaigns that directly inform the public about indoor tanning,” Kaufman says. “Salons often advertise locally and/or regionally, but we want to take consumer marketing to the national level. With strong salon support and participation, we can achieve this.”
How The Program Works
Visitors to www.iwantafreetan.com can access a list of salons that participate in the promotion. They simply select the salon they want to visit and input their e-mail address to receive an “I Want a Free Tan” certificate and their preferred salon’s contact information. In turn, salons receive the e-mail addresses of those who’ve selected their salon to use in their own promotions.
“This is a prime opportunity for salons to introduce an untapped market to the benefits of indoor tanning,” he says. “When new people walk through their doors, salons immediately can start building relationships with them.”
Because the promotion depends upon salon support and participation, it will not launch until 5,000 salons log on to www.iwantafreetan/salonsignup.com and sign up to participate. The publicity launch for salon owners took place at the 2006 ITA Tanning World Expo; however, there were far fewer registrants than expected, Kaufman notes. Today there are only about 1,000 salons registered and more are needed.
“Every salon in the United States should be on this site because potential tanners will log on to find salons in their areas,” he says. “Without strong salon participation the promotion would be unproductive.”
Performance Brands has planned a massive national PR campaign to include newspapers, magazines and online media outlets. “We are going to ask beauty editors and others in the media to actually try indoor tanning and report fairly on it,” he says.
For Kaufman, the success of “I Want a Free Tan” means long-term growth of the industry. For salons, the benefit is more customers and larger profits. “We are invested in this program because what is good for the industry in general is good for Performance Brands,” he says. “If the industry doesn’t grow—we don’t grow.”
