How+They+Get+you+to+Return-+Marketing+Techniques+of+Tanning+Salons

Marketing Strategies for Tanning Alina O’Donnell As I walk into the lobby of Sunny Days tanning salon, a young, perky, woman seated at the front desk greets me with an impossibly energetic “Welcome to Sunny Days!” Her face is unnaturally freckled and white tan lines emerge from her t-shirt despite the 30 degree temperature outside.

On a table next to the cash register sits a television set that provides a brief video for tanners to enjoy while paying or waiting. Young, buxom women with toffee-colored skin, trim waists and defined muscles run along the beach. A Baywatch for the modern day. The video doesn’t mention anything about cancer or wrinkles, and instead reinforces the one benefit of the habit: a large dose of vitamin D that originates from UVB rays. As beautiful young men and women splash in the ocean and sizzle in the sand, absurd catch phrases such as the following float across the bottom of the screen:

“How can our SUN be so bad...when it does so much GOOD? Stop the deception.” “Most North Americans are vitamin D deficient. Don’t let this be you.”

“Save a salmon! Get a tan!”

After watching the ten minute video, I ask the woman at the front desk about the marketing strategies that the salon uses to keep customers returning. She sums it up with simple logic.

“Basically the more you buy, the cheaper it is.” She explains. “The longer you buy a package for, the cheaper each session becomes. The more tanning lotion you buy, the less you’re paying per ounce. This way people are getting a better deal and getting tanner. It’s a win-win situation.”

When researching marketing techniques online, I found a “Tanning Salon Marketing Guide” that disclosed a few of the secrets to owning a thriving tanning business. The first advice was to create a catchy headline that claims to offer solutions to people’s “problems, news, drama or controversy. For instance, a coupon may arrive in the mail that says “Worried you’re going to blind everyone on the beach?” Sunny Days achieves this by brainwashing customers into believing that vitamin D deficiencies are a serious condition that they could be at risk for. While vitamin D deficiencies can easily be compromised with a few glasses of milk daily, the survival rate of skin cancer in its worst form is a mere 15%.

The second tip was to appeal to the average person’s insecurity. This strategy explains the pictures of tanned, toned models that were hung both inside and outside of the salon and featured in the video. The majority of women who see these advertisements would be tempted by their own feelings of inferiority. But perhaps the most destruction weapons that tanning salons possess are their seemingly “great” deals. Two dollar tanning weekends, 30-day trials, monthly packages…these are the deals that keep customers returning. At Sunny Days, the price of an individual tanning session is nearly twice as expensive as the tanning sessions that come with a monthly package. “Special offers” such as these encourage tanners to make long-term investments, and the cheap price provides a justification for the lethal habit.

As I’m leaving the salon, the lady at the front desk desperately calls out to me, “Would you like to try a free seven minute session?”

I was appalled by what I saw in the salon. These businesses will go to any lengths to lure naïve, insecure youth into their death beds. If the health department expects to combat skin cancer, it should focus on raising awareness //inside// the salon. Just as tobacco companies are required to publish warning statements on all of their packaging, tanning business should be required to post visible health warnings on each of the beds.