Lame Brand of the Week

Alright, time to bring in my personal life frustrations again and mix them with my marketing thoughts. Desert Sun is a tanning salon that may be a well known brand name, but it is severely flawed and here's why.

What they're doing wrong:

• Focusing ALL their attention into attracting new customers with promotions, and then offering next to no actual decent promotions for their returning customers
• Terrible customer service. Never actually expect to get into your tanning bed until about 10 minutes or so after you've made the appointment. I've rarely ever had a positive experience that has made me want to go back.

What they're doing right, kind of:

• Suggestive selling: They track your purchases and try to get you to buy things that you haven't purchased yet or haven't purchased in awhile (i.e. tanning lotions, facial lotions, leg lotions). While this is great, I would caution them to not be too naggy in the suggestive selling. It gets annoying when EVERY time you go in you are trying to be sold to. It needs to be a little more moderated.

My suggestions for improvement:

Try to find ways to increase brand loyalty and repeat customers. I hardly know anybody who actually likes Desert Sun. I only chose to go there because it's conveniently located and I like their mattress bed. I can tell you, after my second time having a membership with them I do not ever intend on going back. If they don't find away to keep customers coming back aside from dragging them into 3 month long memberships, they they will eventually lose that cherished brand name.

What's your least favorite brand of the week?