Half Magic Leverages ‘Euphoria’ Buzz to Keep Consumers Engaged Amid Inflation

With consumers pulling back on unnecessary purchases amid macroeconomic challenges, direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brand Half Magic is seizing on its founder’s wide social following to keep shoppers coming back even as they mind their budgets more carefully.

The brand, co-founded by Donni Davy, makeup artist for HBO’s teen drama “Euphoria,” and by the show’s creators and production company A24, recently closed a new funding round of an undisclosed amount. In an interview with PYMNTS, Michelle Liu, general manager of the beauty company, explained how the attention that Davy has garnered has helped carry the brand through this challenging time.

“It’s no secret that D2C has been a challenging environment for all industries and all brands over the last 12 months or so, and we’re just fortunate that we built a brand that breaks through the clutter,” Liu said. “Donni had the vision to create a brand that was incredibly accessible, and she wanted all of the thousands and thousands of fans that DMed her as Euphoria season one was airing … to be able to afford the products.”

Certainly, many consumers are cutting back on purchasing items that they do not strictly need. Findings from PYMNTS’ May report, “Consumer Inflation Sentiment Report: Consumers Cut Back by Trading Down,” which drew from an April survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, revealed that 69% of consumers have been reducing their nonessential retail spending in response to rising prices.

Half Magic, for its part, targets Generation Z consumers, and these shoppers may be penny pinching less than older generations, but even they have been finding areas to pull back. The study revealed that 50% of Gen Z shoppers have been cutting down on nonessential retail spending.

In order to seize on the attention that Euphoria’s makeup has received to drive sales, Davy explained to PYMNTS, she has had to learn the skills of an influencer, keeping her following engaged.

“I’ve had to adapt very quickly and become a content creator myself, which I really wasn’t before,” Davy said. “So that's been a huge learning curve. It used to take me hours and hours to do one video. Now I can do it in like five minutes.”

Many D2C brands, to maintain consumer loyalty and attract those looking for deals, have tapped the subscribe-for-discounts model popularized by Amazon’s Subscribe & Save, a program in which 42% of consumers with product subscriptions participate, per PYMNTS data.

Yet Half Magic, despite offering consumable products, offers more special-occasion makeup than, say, a brand that focuses on foundation or concealer.

“Subscription options best serve products that are used day in day out, … and we don’t have those things in our brand yet. … That’s something that we would consider when we have … a critical mass of products that you would use the exact same shade of every single day,” Liu said.

For now, the brand’s focus, as far as keeping consumers coming back, is on maintaining communication with its fans to meet their needs.

Looking ahead, the brand is following the trend among D2C brands of turning its focus to brick-and-mortar retailer, and it is also looking to keep up the buzzy momentum by tying in additional media properties.

“We have a major retail launch planned that we’ve been working fast and furiously on,” Liu said. “And in addition to that, … we’re working on a number of partnerships with A24 we think are going to be incredibly exciting.”

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