Tattoos for Branding Purposes?

Every company and brand craves a loyal and engaged audience. After all, every day we see company logos on our clothes, cars, phones, bikes, autos, and more items. But why stop there? Perhaps the ultimate sign of devotion might be…. a physical tattoo of a brand logo on someone’s body.

It’s not a far-fetched idea. Tattoos can be images of people, characters, an important quote, a fantasy, or idea. But why do people get tattoos of a company’s logo? Basically it’s about the consumer forging a connection with the brand’s image or ideal. The logo becomes tied to specific ideals and customers are drawn to reflect that.

The man with the most tattoo logos lives in Mumbai and has 442 logos of his favorite brand. There is also a U.S. man with 864 insect tattoos and another man (from New Zealand) with the record of Homer Simpson tattoos – 41. Tattoos show what matters to us.

Recently DealA, a coupon and discount site, looked at the world’s most popular brands in categories such as gaming, media, automotive, food and drink, toys and fashion. Using hashtags on Instagram, the company counted posts tagged with a brand name followed by the word tattoo.

The top five logo tattoos on the list:

1. Disney – most-tattooed media brand.
   1. 2^nd place: Nickelodeon.
2. Nintendo – most-tattooed gaming brand.
   1. 2^nd place: PlayStation.
3. Harley-Davidson – most-tattooed automotive brand.
   1. 2^nd place: Volkswagen.
4. Lego – most-tattooed toy brand.
   1. 2^nd place: Hot Wheels
5. Nike –  most-tattooed fashion brand.
   1. 2^nd place: Vans.

What logo would you choose for a tattoo?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

1. Poll students: Who has tattoos? What are the subjects? Does anyone have (or know someone) with a logo tattoo?
2. Divide students into teams. Have each team list what they believe will be in the top 10 logo tattoos.
3. Show the list of the most-tattooed brands: https://deala.com/blog/the-worlds-most-popular-brand-tattoos
4. Video with logo tattoos: https://youtu.be/ZX8_MfWj4R0
5. How can tattoos be used for advertising and promotion?
6. Teams: Develop a promotion plan that uses tattoos as part of the communication mix. (Can be permanent or temporary tattoos.)

Source:  Herren, P. (11 March 2022). These are the most tattooed brands. AdAge; Perry, T. (8 March 2022). Harley-Davidson, Volkswagen make top ten of world’s most popular brand tattoos. Newsweek.