Tattoo parlor’s print campaign bolsters company to new levels

Recently updated on February 15th, 2011 at 04:56 pm

A small tattoo parlor in Toronto, Canada, launched a unique marketing campaign to promote its shop. Marketing for tattoo parlors can be particularly tough, as the culture and community of tattoo artists is tightly knit, with friends and colleagues also sharing roles as business competitors.

So Lizzie Renaud of Speakeasy Tattoo put together a schedule of visiting tattoo artists and handed out 2,000 postcards advertising when customers can visit the shop to view and purchase the work of some of the most esteemed tattoo artists in the city. The postcards were arranged by a hired graphic designer and featured illustrations of the guest artists' works, as well as shop contact information.

"It felt super cool having a back pocket full of handbills and seeing someone at a bar with a lot of tattoos and saying, 'Hey, I think you'd like this,'" she says. "It took a lot more guts than it takes to hit send on a blog … it was more like a special invitation as opposed to just a suggestion."

The campaign was a huge success and elevated the brand's respect to the point where appointment books are filled for next six months.

However, Renaud maintains that a strong print campaign should complement an active online presence.