Looking Fit 02/2004: Supre, Inc.

SUPRE, INC. Soaring To New Heights

by Scott Eric Barrett

For the past 17 years, Supre has aimed to deliver some of the industry’s most innovative products with the finest fragrances and top-notch, award-winning packaging. With 23 new products, including two new lines, 12 line extensions and five new faces on existing products, the Dallas-based lotion manufacturer is geared up for another notable season.

Serious About Skincare And Education

Bruce West Jr., owner and CEO of Supre, started the company in 1987. Believing he could develop a better product than what was available on the market, he went to work with a chemist and developed his first tanning product, a tanning accelerator called Tropical Rayz. The company also experience huge success with Extreme in the early 1990s and continued developing a competent reputation and loyal following.

As the industry has matured, so has the consumer. Today’s tanners still love the idea of a fast, long-lasting tan, but they also like the idea of long-lasting skin. Supre foresaw this trend and did its homework.

“We took a close look at what UV exposure does to skin and started looking for skincare ingredients that work to help prevent UV-related damage,” says Sunny Stinchcombe, the company’s director of marketing.

Tattoo, last year’s popular new addition, is the perfect example of Supre’s skincare dedication. Tan maximizers combined with new MDI complex to help prevent collagen loss and DPHP—which promotes collagen production—help counteract the effects of UV-related damage.

“We definitely feel that, as an industry, we need to start taking a closer look at our products and what we can do to help prevent long-term damage,” she says.

Supre also is focusing more of its energy on education. In 2003, the company increased its presence at educational seminars with more staff, bringing more education and sales tools to salons across the country. Its latest catalog will feature more product education than ever before, and the updated educational poster gives salons easy-to-understand product information. This, combined with strong presentations at seminars as well as product-knowledge CDs, has helped increase Supre’s brand recognition and sales at the salon level.

“Education always will be one of our core focus points,” Stinchcombe says. “As we continue to grow, so will our responsibility to our salon customers, and we intend to be there with the support they need.”

 Flounting A Pair Of New Lines

As an indoor tanning veteran, Supre understands that the key to a solid year is to hit the ground running with new and exciting developments. That’s why the company introduced its latest two product lines, Shift and Flaunt, at the ITA trade show last November. Both lines debuted commercially in January.

According to Stinchcombe, Shift will change the way people think about tanning products and packaging. It features a soft, pliable pouch as its packaging. Pouches currently are the rave in Europe. This durable container is also eco-friendly.

“One of its key features is to reduce waste in packaging and, ultimately, in landfills,” Stinchcombe says. “It’s very squeezable, so we’re able to offer a creamy, buttery formula that allows the consumer to squeeze out every last drop.”

Available in hot and regular formulas, Shift is formulated for a deep, dark tan and incorporates black cumin seed oil for the ultimate in skincare and UV-damage protection.

“Black seed oil is an ingredient from the Mediterranean that has been used for thousands of years,” she says. “It even has been found in tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. It contains a lot of amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals contained naturally in the oil.”

Flaunt is designed specifically for the female tanner; but rather than specifically targeting a younger market, Supre is aiming for a broader demographic.

“It’s very retro and sophisticated,” Stinchcombe says. “Flaunt is a delicate lotion rich in lotus milk, shea butter, sweet almond oil and natural botanical extracts to moisturize, soothe, condition and soften skin.”

Natural marine extracts and vitamin E help keep skin looking and feeling young. It also features a trace mineral complex that prepares skin for a deep, dark tan while Unipertan and melanin promote the rapid development of deep color.

“We are appealing to the fact that women like their skin to be soft, smooth and conditioned as well as to get that golden tan, so we are giving them both in one package,” Stinchcombe says.

Winning Additions

Amid the hype and hope of Shift and Flaunt, Supre released new line extensions to its Tattoo, Hempz, Smoke and Coco Beach lines.

“For Tattoo, we have a streak-free bronzer and SPF 30 tattoo cover stick,” Stinchcombe says.

“A tan maximizer fortified with hemp seed oil joins the Smoke line. Coco Beach Hemp, the regular tan maximizer reinforced with hemp seed oil, joins the Coco Beach line.”

The Hempz family welcomed a large influx of bodycare items with the addition of two bath and shower gels, an exfoliator, an SPF lip balm and a self-tanning aerosol spray.

Supre also revamped the packaging and increased the level of Unipertan, Supre’s key tan maximizer ingredient, on three of its classic products: Rayz, Extreme and Jam.

“They have been completely revamped,” she says. “We still had very good sales on all three of those items, but we felt new packaging and a bit of a boost in the formulation would help us recapture old customers and develop more new business.”

If all that weren’t enough, Supre also is performing a major overhaul on its Web site.

“It’s going to be much more interactive,” Stinchcombe says. “We are updating all our information, adding new doorways for more in-depth product knowledge and customer support, and making travel through the Web site fast and easy.”

Plans are in the works to provide special areas for salons and distributors to access key information and make it easy for consumers to find local salons that carry Supre products. Exciting graphics and state-of-the-art technology will give the Supre site a dynamic, new look and interactive performance. The new site will be up and operational sometime in the first half of 2004.

Handsome Advertising

Creative and innovative advertising is key to Supre’s past, current and future success.

“I would put Supre’s advertising up against anybody in the industry for creativity and eye appeal,” Stinchcombe says. “When you flip though a magazine and see a Supre ad, it stops you and you want to take a closer look.”

Creating a stir on the advertising front requires a ton of teamwork, she adds. When the chemists and marketing gurus are concocting blends and putting the packaging together, the company’s design group and advertising team are busy working on creative concepts for ads and promotions.

“Our owner, Bruce, is the driving force behind all the creative aspects of successfully bringing products to the marketplace,” Stinchcombe says. “He directs and guides the product development, packaging, and advertising and marketing campaigns to ensure continuity of look and feel in the concept of the products.”

Another asset for Supre is Dean, the company’s male model for the past several years. He has been a part of some of Supre’s advertising campaigns, and of course salon posters featuring Dean are very popular.

“He is very attractive and approachable,” Stinchcombe says. “When he’s at a trade show he takes time to talk to people and have pictures taken with them. He’s just an incredibly good person, and I think that makes a huge difference.

It’s one the reasons people stand in long lines at our booth just to say hello and get his autograph.”

But it takes more than a handsome model to deliver quality for 17 years. Supre will always be relevant to tanning salons, day spas and skincare lovers because the company delivers what it says it’s going to deliver.

“We will continue to create quality products with outstanding packaging and appealing fragrances that focus on tanning results and skincare as long as there is a Supre,” Stinchcombe says.