Island Sun Times

Designer Skin’s ad has a unique feature – it
SMELLS great! The scented ad is a first for
both IslandSun Times and the tanning industry!

Island Sun Times has developed an exciting and interactive means for tanning lotion companies to promote their products – a scented ad. This month, popular lotion maker Designer Skin offers IST readers the opportunity to sample the delectable scent of its new product, Ray of Light, simply by rubbing the picture of the bottle. Designer Skin and Island Sun Times collaborated on the project to create the cutting-edge advertising concept. Commented IST publisher Vince Lorraine, “This groundbreaking addition to our advertising repertoire is yet another way we offer tanning industry manufacturers more exciting, interactive marketing tools.”

Scented ads are nothing new – hundreds of fragrance companies have used them for many years. We at IST have Roy Carrasco, Director of Marketing and Promotions, to thank for this industry first. “I was at home one evening reading an issue of Maxim magazine when I saw a couple of scent strip ads for men’s cologne, and it got me thinking about the possibility of printing a similar ad in IST,” Carrasco recalled. “I thought something like that would provide an interactive way for tanning lotion companies to present their products to our readers.”

To make the special ad a reality, Carrasco first researched the importance of scent to the tanning lotion buying process. He surveyed a group of tanners and lotion makers, asking them to rate the following criteria: performance, price, packaging, ingredients,
scent and “other.” “Consistently, scent proved to be the second most important factor from both of the groups surveyed,” Carrasco said. Believing the idea was a winner, Carrasco passed the torch to Jay Klinske, IST Director of Graphic Arts, who conducted all the painstaking research needed to make a scented ad cost effective. “The process was quite involved,” commented Klinske. “It took about six months from start to finish. The fragrance is top-quality and will last at least 50,000 samplings. I enjoyed working with the people at Designer Skin – it’s been pretty exciting.”

The last step was to find a lotion company ready to try this exciting new advertising concept. Designer Skin, winners of five 2004 Industry Choice Awards, (including Favorite Fragrance for Believe) decided to be part of this industry first.

“We are very excited to be the industry’s first manufacturer to utilize a scented ad,” commented Beth Felker, Vice President of Designer Skin. “As we all know, it’s an extremely successful advertising
medium in the beauty industry and we expect a similar response.”

“Basically, we respond to things via our senses, especially when it comes to fragrance and scent,” Felker continued. “In fact, it often dictates our purchases. We’ve always believed that our fragrances are a primary factor behind our success, so this type
of advertising is particularly relevant to us.”

“Fragrance is the single most deciding factor in choosing a tanning lotion,” stated Michael Shawl, Designer Skin Creative Director. “Giving salon owners a chance to smell one of our great fragrances, perhaps before our product has even hit the market, is like ‘the sample before the sample.’ We rely on input from salons and our distributors. We hope the idea is well received and helps the customers make better buying decisions.”

“Designer Skin is excited to be able to place one of our great fragrances in one of our ads,” continued Shawl. “This kind of creativity is what we’re all about. Like Designer Skin, Island Sun Times has proved it’s willing to take chances with creativity and
offer a high quality product.”

So, now you know the story…there’s nothing left for you to do but try it for yourself. Simply rub the bottle of Ray of Light on the facing page, and enjoy the scent!