The marketing strategy of the new fragrance brand Modern Magic aims to earn the trust of its target Gen-Z consumer.
Modern Magic is the latest company to emerge from Slate Brands, a 5-year-old Brooklyn-based beauty incubator that partners with creators and influencers to create brands for Gen Z. To date, Slate Brands has rolled out nine brands, including Auden Luer, with MaCenna Lee (@xomacenna, 589,000 Instagram followers); Vagitaminz, with Lala Milan (@lalamilan, 3.9 million Instagram followers); and Me Nails, with Moriah Elizabeth (@mariahelizabethofficial, 536,000 Instagram followers). Modern Magic, Slate Brands’ third fragrance brand, was inspired by “those perfect, everyday moments of enchantment that coexist with our busy lives,” according to its website.
Modern Magic’s initial collection, the Evergreen collection, consists of three scents: Muse, Melted and Midnight. As of Wednesday, they’re available for purchase on Modern Margic’s e-commerce site and TikTok Shop. Each comes in a 50-milliliter bottle and is priced at $88. Slate Brands founder and CEO Judah Abraham said two more scents and travel-size options of each fragrance will complete the collection and roll out by the end of the year.
With young consumers increasingly driving fragrance sales, Abraham said Modern Magic’s more affordable price points were set to attract shoppers looking for an accessible introduction to luxury fragrances.
Instead of entering the market with a splashy 360-degree campaign, Modern Magic is easing in.
“The initial launch rollout will be lighter [and focused] on socials,” said Slate Brands’ creative director, Emily Collins. “We’re just introducing everyone to the brand. As the summer rolls out, we’ll be able to focus more on getting into [heavier] marketing, like gifted PR baskets and a campaign. … We want people to be able to come up with their own story behind the scents.”
Out of the gate, Modern Magic’s marketing will focus on TikTok and Instagram and will include short-form videos, music playlists and free recipes based on the notes of each fragrance. “Because we aren’t launching into physical retail, leveraging a variety of communication styles will be important to [telling our story]” Collins said. From there, for the first couple of months, the team will heavily rely on user-generated content and invest in paid marketing to amplify its influencer marketing strategy.
“Fragrance should be viewed as a luxury, and that comes with trust,” Abraham said. “It can’t be rushed with large initial campaigns.”
In August, Modern Magic will release two additional fragrances, each created with an influencer. One was made with beauty exec turned content creator Brooke Devard (@brookedevard; 119,000 Instagram followers), who has already teased the fragrance on her Naked Beauty Planet podcast’s Instagram page. “Naked Beauty community, I need your help! What color should my fragrance bottle be? Matte Silver or Glossy Orange?,” Devard captioned the June 18 post.
“We don’t want to bore the consumer, so the goal is to keep rolling out different types of marketing initiatives,” Collins said. To that end, Abraham hinted that the brand will be hosting a holiday-themed event in New York toward the end of the year.
“Our goal isn’t to drive sales initially,” Abraham said. “When we see something that works or a message that sticks, we’ll amplify that and put our spend behind it.”
Slate Brands is privately held and self-funded by Abraham. Abraham declined to disclose current revenue, only sharing that the company has seen “steady growth and is on pace to more than double last year’s revenue” in 2024.
