Glocalization is a marketing term that basically says a product is more likely to succeed when that product and its marketing are adapted for its local market.

Think about a massive international chain like McDonalds – they have fast-food restaurants all over the world and yet their menus and marketing vary from place to place. In Nova Scotia, Canada you can order a McLobster advertised by Ronald McDonald in a fishermen’s hat. In Delhi, it’s a paneer curry wrap. That is glocalization and you can make it work for your tanning business.

How Glocalization Can Work for Tanning Salons

Tanning salons are, by nature, a neighborhood business. Your clients likely either live or work within a 1-5 mile radius of your salon. That means you can really apply the concept of local marketing. Instead of wasting your advertising dollars covering an entire city, you can spend your money where it matters – locally.

I have a friend who recently opened a new tanning salon. She spent $1200 putting a color ad and welcome coupon in a local alt-weekly newspaper and $200 convincing a nearby gym to hand out coupons for her tanning salon at the reception desk. She saw 23 new customers thanks to her partnership with the neighborhood gym and not one of those newspaper coupons ever made it back to her. It was a hard lesson, but she learned the power of local marketing.

Putting Glocalization to Work for Your Salon

There are lots of ways a tanning salon can market locally and for less:

• Send out direct mail promotions within a 5-block (or more) radius of your salon.
• Join online communities or listservs for your neighborhood.
• Participate in your local community (donate prizes to local school auctions, give out coupons at Halloween).
• Network with nearby health-related and gym businesses.

Can you think of other specific, glocalisation marketing suggestions?  What have you tried that works?

Please share your ideas in the comments section.