It’s the age of innovation. Brands like Amazon and Apple are changing the world and achieving astronomical profits by doing things nobody else had imagined before. Meanwhile, in indoor tanning, Devoted Creations continues to lead the way, bringing revolutionary ingredients and inventive packaging to the industry. With a finger on the pulse of tanning, pop culture, skin care and beauty trends, Devoted Creations Director of Brand Development and Education Lisa Parsons is a driving force for many of these developments. In this Smart Tan exclusive interview, Lisa details some of the most groundbreaking innovations from the 2018 Devoted Creations product lines.

Q: How would you explain your approach to product development and execution?

A: We always strive to be ahead of our time and cutting edge when it comes to tanning products. What makes it appeal to the end user? What makes it great for repurchasing? We really focus on what the beauty industry does. It has to be different than the basic tanning lotion.

We try to study beauty, rather than what people are doing in tanning…the beauty and spa industries and what’s doing well there. Instead of making tanning products, we make skin care products that are used for tanning. If we’re charging high-dollar amounts like what a face cream would cost, it needs to do everything the face cream does. That’s why we use recognizable ingredients and eye-catching packaging that correlate to that.

We basically start R&D as we’re lunching new products. It’s already started for 2019 right now. We really track the feedback of what people are excited to see in our products. Also, when they initially see the lineup and are excited about a product, does that correlate to sales? We start looking at trends in beauty and working on them and working on names right away. We study not only popular fragrances that are coming out, but also look at new top-rated, top-selling ingredients. Then, we’re on the road, so we listen to the needs of our salons and customers. Kandra and I both keep notes, and anytime somebody gives us a suggestion or we think of a name, we jot it down. A lot of times, Kandra and I have matching ideas we’ve heard different places, so we know it’s an important thing to do.

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