New Fragrance Line Product Launch
Maude
Using learned knowledge of fragrance product development, merchandising and marketing to turn insights into operating strategies to create a new fragrance product launch. Using human center design tools, market research and brand analysis, this project introduces a new fragrance line with fully developed products created with hands on perfume blending and scent trials with the use of raw materials, product packaging, branding and integrated marketing strategy for extending line longevity and success.
Year
2026
Mockup Client
Maude
“A modern intimacy brand shaped by care and expertise”
Maude believes intimacy should be inclusive, accessible and free of stigma. By supporting comprehensive sexual health education and open dialogue, we aim to build a more informed and equitable future for all people.
Scented Sex.
Intimacy amplified by scent.
A fragrance collection designed to create a sensory connection from pre intimacy to after care, enhancing every stage into a ritualistic experience allowing you to stay present, connected and confident in every moment.
First, Set the Landscape
The dominant paradigm is that sex is taboo, sleazy, and for heterosexual male gaze and pleasure, where there is shame around women experiencing pleasure and an orgasm gap.
Sex is not publicly spoken about, leading to lack of sexual health education and creating unsatisfactory and unsafe situations surrounding sexual activity.
Then Find the Gap
Transparency
A major concern is the lack of ingredient disclosure. Fragrance formulations are often protected, allowing brands to hide potential endocrine disruptors. Over 56% of analyzed fragrance ingredients have minimal to no public safety data. For products used on the most absorbent parts of the body (genitals), this lack of transparency is a high-risk gap.
Endocrine Disruption and Reproductive Health
There is a rising awareness of phthalates and parabens in "sexy" fragrances. While they are used to make scents last longer, they are known reproductive toxins. Studies link them to reduced sperm count in men and endometriosis or preterm birth in women. There needs to be a way to create long lasting scents for intimacy with ingredients that do not actively harm the reproductive systems.
Here’s Our Solution
There is an opportunity for fragrance to help shift the paradigm by destigmitizing sex as an essential component for overall health, empowering everyone to explore without shame.
By engaging in consensual and empowering sexual activity, we are providing safer, more fun experiences that position sex as recreation, not procreation.
Bye Bye Male-Gaze
Traditionally, sexy fragrances were marketed and designed to make the wearer "irresistible" to others. However, with the rise of Gen Z, there is a gap in products that focus on self-pleasure and internal arousal. Women especially are demanding scents that help them feel pleasure, rather than scents designed to attract a partner.
Our sex focused fragrance is the only ritualistic collection that encourages users to explore their bodies through solo or partner play to further enhance autonomy and pleasure in all moments, allowing users to deconstruct shame and stigmas surrounding sexual encounters.
Prelude
Warmth
Edible
After
Prelude
Strip down and crawl into bed. The smell of your lover the morning after. The allure of sensuality. The comfort of being present in your body.
Prelude is a room/linen spray that opens you up and relaxes your system while creating an inviting environment to enjoy on your own or with a partner.
100ml/$22
Room Spray
Eau de Toilette
10% Concentration
IFRA 10B
Scent Profile:
Top: Tea Rose
Heart: Amber, Orris
Base: Nitro Musk, Ambrette Seed, Coco Butter
Warmth
Skin on skin for a closeness you can’t resist. The more you move the closer you want to be. Warmth is a twist on Heat, our best selling warming lubricant.
As contact is applied to the lubricant, fragrance subtly intensifies with the warmth, filling the space with sensory to keep you present in the moment.
8floz/$22
Heat Lubricant
7% Concentration
IFRA 5a
Scent Profile:
Heart: Amber, White Oak
Base: Patchouli, Ambrette Seed, Sandalwood
Edible
Lean in close and take a bite. An edible perfume meant to be enjoyed by two. From the nape of the neck, the crease of the hip, the curve of the shoulder, to the soft skin of the inner thigh.
*Food safe ingredients allow you to lick and kiss all over in a sensory play setting.
50ml/$40
Edible Parfum
EDP
25% Concentration
IFRA 4
Scent Profile:
Top: (cold pressed fruit esters) Pineapple, Raspberry
Heart: Orris (Ionone-Beta), Nut (Hazelnut CO2), Chocolate (Roasted Cacao Shell)
Base: Sandalwood (Creamy Fractionated Coconut), Cedarwood, Ambrette Seed (Hibiscus Abelmoschus Extract)
After
After care that builds connection in the moment. A spray to wipe that aids in the clean up process, helping to neutralize the skin leaving a refreshing, clean feel on the skin.
**This product does not replace peeing after sex. Everyone should pee after sex to flush out bacteria and help prevent UTI’s.
100ml/$21
After (Spray Wipe)
3% Concentration
IFRA 8
Scent Profile:
Top: Green Tea
Heart: Amber, Coco Butter, Mimosa Absolute
Base: Sandalwood, Ambrette Seed, Patchouli
Marketing Campaign
This marketing campaign is thoughtfully curated and selective to cater to Maude’s cult following as well as being inclusive and approachable to new customers who want to explore but don’t know where to start.
Pre-Launch
Chalk QR codes bring a curious, fun, and interactive element for prelaunch. Once you scan the QR code, it takes you to a first access sign up for the fragrance launch.
A core pillar of Maude’s brand strategy and marketing is “The Maudern” their online platform that releases weekly articles spanning across culture, film, history, relationships, sex education and design.
To round out the prelaunch strategy, Maude will send out a discount to registered Maude shoppers through email.
Launch
To build further anticipation, Maude will utilizing working relationships with PR to release a prelaunch article to generate buzz around the launch.
For prelaunch, our Maudern article will fall under the topic of relationships.
“Pre Intimacy: The Architecture of Anticipation” is a guide on transitioning from a professional identity to an intimate one. It explores how specific scents and lighting changes can signal the brain to move out of productivity mode and into receptive mode.”
Read article here
Social media will include teasers for the new launch, promoting the Maudern, and following the high design grid aesthetic established by Maude’s brand identity.
For prelaunch, Maude will send PR packages to micro influencers to be able to test and tease the new launch starting with Warmth, our elevated warming lubricant with fragrance and Prelude, an air/linen spray to help set the atmosphere.
Once we have launched the fragrance line, we want to keep the excitement and attention on the line. Utilizing PR once again with Beauty Matter will allow Maude to keep conversations around the launch happening.
PR
The full fragrance line will be gifted as PR for content creators to do full reviews on the line and drive conversations around the launch to encourage purchasing.
Our second Maudern article for launch will fall under the topic of culture.
“The Unplugged Bedroom” is a design focused piece on the ergonomics of a tech free bedroom. We are exploring how the literal presence of a smart phone alters the brains ability to enter a flow state during intimacy.
Read article here
The line will launch DTC on getmaude.com, showcasing on the home landing page.
Post Launch
Distribution Breakdown
Social media during the launch will revolve around showing off the scent profiles in the new line. The focus will be on individual raw ingredients in an elevated high design aesthetic.
Social media will still continue spotlighting ingredients, Maudern articles, product imagery, and testimonials from current Maude consumers.
CRM will be utilized during launch to showcase testimonials from current Maude consumers to be shared to help build word of mouth and trust.
Post launch we will utilize Maude’s working relationship with Refinery 29 to continue exposure and conversations around the new fragrance line.
Our third article will fall under the topic of sex education
“After Care: The Fourth Act of Intimacy” takes a scientific look on the drop in dopamine and oxytocin post climax and how to navigate the vulnerability hangover that some experience.
Our fourth article will fall also under the topic of sex education
“The Fourth Act of Intimacy: Solitary Aftercare” Discusses and acknowledges that after care isn’t always communal. We cover how to ground one’s self after a solo session or when a partner isn’t present focusing on temperature regulation and weighted sensory tactics.”
Read article here
Read article here
Distribution
For post launch, we want to hear from our customers. Email reviews will be used to update our product pages and help us gauge what products are selling best for further expansion on different scent profiles and potential bundle options.
Ecommerce
NYC, LA
NYC, LA, Toronto
Miami
The distribution for this new launch is curated to reach major metropolitan areas as well as retailers where Maude is consistently one of the best selling brands in their portfolio.
Why should Maude launch now?
Let’s start with the Zeitgeist
U.S. Zeitgeist
U.S. Sex Zeitgeist
Hook up culture vs purity culture.
On one side you have those trying to own, regulate and demonize women’s bodies through Project 2025 and the overturning of Roe v Wade. On the other side you have those who believe bodily autonomy is a human right and as long as relations are engaged in consensually, you should do whatever you want.
Overall we see a paradox of hyper-sexualized content and technology usage and increasingly permissive attitudes alongside rising rates of sexlessness and emotional disconnection among younger generations.
Connection to Cultural Shifts
Sex Recession
Data backed, long term decline of sexual frequency among American adults. Since the 90’s 55% of US adults had sex at least weekly, now that number sits at 37% (General Social Survey).
This recession is being caused by shifting cultures, worldly pressures, the economy and technology.
Digital Landscape
Social media has taken over traditional third spaces where people use to meet. This makes us more isolated and less social when interacting with one another, making it harder to make an emotional/romantic connection.
The rising accessibility to pornography also makes it easier for people to have low risk, immediate gratification over the effort of trying to find and connect with a partner.
Third Sexual Revolution
Trend Analysis
Chaos is defining culture in the United States right now.
Politics, class, and community are all fragmented and causing us to become isolated. “Living in your own world” is not longer metaphorical but a reality being driven by technology, algorithms and propaganda.
Overall, the people are feeling lost. They are having to reckon with the fact that if you aren’t a rich, white man in power, the “American Dream” is just that, a dream. However, under that is an energy of resilience and revolution, a hunger to rebuild and start from scratch. To build a new future that pushes back on technology and allows us to be present again and build up real community, relationships, experiences, and create meaningful work.
Contributing Factors
The Housing Crisis
The current economy is making it impossible for Gen Z and Millennials to be able to afford housing, this means Americans are living with their parents or roommates for longer, sacrificing their privacy.
We also see this with trying to date. No longer can you have fun for free. Restaurants, bars, activities are all too expensive, causing people to opt out of dating entirely.
First revolution was the flapper lifestyle in the 20’s, then the counter culture One Love of the 60s and 70s where women got access to contraceptives, Roe v Wade, and the gays were seeing liberation. Now, the US is seeing another revolution, this time guided by destigmatization of intimacy, sex, gender identities and the much needed attention and rise of consent based culture.
The “Counter Culture”
Contributing Factors
Cocooning
As the US becomes more unsafe and fragmented, people will view their homes as safety and sanctuary. The sexual wellness industry is responding by creating more ritualistic products and are moving away from aesthetics that make you want to hide the product towards objects and aesthetics that blend into home decor.
Contributing Factors
Digital Landscape
Social media, dating apps (Grindr and Tinder), and Only Fans are all contributing to creating a “community” where accessibility to casual encounters and romantic connections are endless
“Hookup Culture” is also largely fueled by the access of social media and apps fostering a mindset towards casual, non commitment sex encounters (pleasure > procreation)
Fourth Wave Feminism
This wave moves beyond legality towards empowerment and bodily autonomy
Driven largely by the #MeToo movement, bringing conversations to mainstream that center around explicit, enthusiastic consent and dismantling predators in our personal and professional world
LGBTQIA
We are seeing people move away from traditional gender identities and becoming more comfortable with their identities, including non binary, pansexual and asexual
There is an increased cultural awareness and mainstream acceptance for transgender visibility and non binary individuals
The third revolution pushes for digital openness and sexual fluidity, but the counterculture is pushing back on casual sex, rejecting dating apps and social media, and seeing a push to return to “traditional” and conservative social structures regarding gender roles in relationships and sexual encounters.
Anti-digital Sentiment
This movement views dating apps as a marketplace that commodifies people. This has led to a revival of third spaces intended for meeting people face to face and making new connections without the help of social platforms
The Trad Wife/Husband
Think Ballerina Farm, Nara Smith or other conservative influencers who are pushing the romanticization of the 50’s gender roles between man and woman as a pushback to hookup culture
Religious communities are also pushing back with a new form of purity culture. Instead of being overtly religious they are framing refraining from sex as “limiting access” to your energy
Safety and Consent
Roe v Wade being overturned was detrimental to women’s safety and healthcare across the US. This can make some women feel that sex is too high risk causing them to be more selective with partners or giving up sex all together.
There is also a shift towards prioritizing the “talking stage” over any physical contact to carefully vet potential partners and protect mental and emotional health, shifting away from sex positivity of the early 2000’s
Shift from Sex to Intimacy
Sexual wellness is moving out of the bedroom. People are having less sex and feel more isolated and stressed, so brands that cater towards addressing pre-intimacy like nervous system regulation, sensory comfort, and self-care will be the most successful.
So, Why Should Maude Launch?
We are too stressed for sex
Chronic stress releases cortisol, this in return lowers are libido making it harder to want to have sex. A lot of this stress is derived from the above factors.
Gen Z is also becoming more sober. More are choosing to be “cali sober” over drinking and while this a good thing in terms of consensual encounters, it has also slowed down the way Gen Z approaches flirting and hookup culture in person.
Consent and Safety
In a post-Roe v. Wade world, the counterculture is being defined by high risk-aversion. People are looking for brands that offer transparency not only with what ingredients they are putting on or in their body, but also the emotional and physical safety of the experience.
While closing the pleasure gap and having better sex is still fundamental to the industry, brands can afford to shift from selling better sex to selling better connections.
Maude’s best pathway to success lies in functional intimacy. While the rest of the world is super chaotic and highly digital, Maude will pivot and cater to those who are stressed out and want a private, safe and deeply grounded experience in their physical body.