With increasing industry regulation and an ongoing commercial war with national dermatological associations, Darque Tan faced many challenges. To combat those issues, we would need to create a completely original brand and position Darque Tan as the leading authority in the tanning industry. It had to look like a corporate organization in order to break the mold of the cliché “mom and pop” tanning salon image and put the company on the path toward market dominance.

From the start, the owners of Darque Tan aspired it to become the most iconic brand in tanning. But the company’s underdeveloped brand was holding it back. When we started work with the company, its brand was little more than a font treatment. We were contracted to recreate the tanning chain’s brand into something powerful and unique that would empower the company to stand out in its markets as the corporate industry leader.

During our preliminary research into the salon industry, we saw that an overwhelming number of independent tanning salons were utilizing a similar style: references to the sun, palm trees, beaches, sand, etc. It was everywhere. It was cliché. But most of all, it was boring. We wanted to create something fresh and original, something that would break the mold of palm tree-shaped neon lights in the window.

Even with increasing regulation and public awareness of the potential dangers of over-tanning, there is sizeable demographic that luxury tanning services appeal to: people who want to look good. The focus of our strategy was to engineer a brand that spoke directly to that demographic, women aged 18–24, by appealing to the glamorous, Hollywood lifestyle to which these women aspire.

With a clear understanding of our target audience, we set out to appeal to that aspirational lifestyle by creating imagery inspired by the types of sexy, cosmopolitan brands that are revered by the demographic and epitomized by celebrities, actors, and swimsuit super models. The new Darque Tan brand would represent a glamorous, aspirational self-image for these young women.

We began by first creating an eye catching, memorable logo that would meld two seemingly different worlds: Corporate and Hollywood. The icon includes visual references to a feminine form changing from light to dark, signifying the tanning process, combined with the letters ‘D’ for Darque and ‘Q’ for quality.

To ensure the company would outshine the competition, we proceeded to design all core elements with the goal of setting a new brand standard for the tanning industry. We incorporated a luxurious interior theme that conveyed the brand’s focus on quality and glam lifestyle throughout each location. We carried the same look and feel throughout all brand channels.

With the brand fully developed and implemented, we moved on to phase two: awareness. We created numerous campaigns by infusing witty messaging with common phrases. For example, “My Deep Darque Secret” was a clever and seductive twist on the common phrase and helped establish Darque Tan’s sexy brand into the minds of potential customers. Aside from the 18 to 24 year-old female, our campaigns captured a secondary demographic. Women 25-40+ aligned with Darque Tan as it embodies youth and beauty. Our efforts unified these demographics in the aspirational Hollywood-glamor lifestyle.

The final piece of the Darque Tan puzzle was to create a spokesmodel for the brand. But how do you choose one out of a million beautiful women to represent a brand? Our solution was a yearly Miss Darque Tan beauty contest. Small contests were held each month, with finalists competing at the end of the year to become the new year’s campaign spokesmodel. Once the contest was initiated, it immediately accelerated growth among Darque Tan’s target demographic and helped the brand reach its goal of becoming the national tanning industry leader.

• Women aged 18–24 are the ideal demographic in the tanning industry.

• At the time of our brand development there were 19,000 professional indoor tanning facilities with over 160,000 employees in the U.S.

• The typical income of tanning salon patrons is $35K–$150K

• Annual revenue for beauty salons grew 1.8% in 2017.