Maesa is going big on body.
The brand incubator and contract manufacturer is betting on body care with the launch of Ontu, a body care brand launching at Target Corp. this weekend before rolling out to endcaps in March. Prices will range from $14.99 to $22.99.
The incubator has found success with recent brands that also launched at Target, bringing key industry trends to the mass market. Fine’ry, for example, aimed to bring prestige-quality juices to Target aisles, while Being Frenshe with Ashley Tisdale was among the company’s celebrity brand bets. Both of those launches were anticipated to bring in $20 million in sales for their first years, respectively, though executives declined to comment on the expectations for Ontu.
“We’re really proud of the partnerships we’ve been building and the trust that retailers have to partner together,” said Molly Kennedy, vice president of brand marketing at Maesa. “We’re excited about the disruptive innovation we’re bringing both on our existing brands and continuing to grow them, and all the exciting new brands we have coming down the pipeline in 2026.”
Dana Steinfeld, senior vice president of brand incubation and product innovation, said the company’s speed to market was among its top differentiators. “We always start by looking at the consumer segments and unmet needs. This idea checked a lot of boxes,” she said. “Thinking of older Millennials and Gen X, thinking about her needs and the evolution of skin care. We’ve started to see a step change in the realization that skin is skin, and you need to treat your skin with the same attention from the neck down.”
The idea was to use both nascent and established hero ingredients across the range, such as a glycerin-based shower cleanser, a body scrub with urea, a firming body butter, a body serum, a lotion with a 24-hour moisturizing claim, as well as a heel and hand lotion and deodorant.
“Our signature fragrance, vanilla musk, plays a special role across the portfolio,” Steinfeld said. “It creates a beautiful layering experience.”
Kennedy thinks both the butter and the serum will be hero products. “There’s a high overlap between the Target guest and the target consumer for this launch,” she said. “We’re communicating our [unique selling proposition] around treating your body, and the intersection of science and indulgence. And the second piece is about driving trial because everyone who’s tried it loves it.”
The products boast clinical backing, and bringing in a few aestheticians and dermatologists will also be part of the marketing strategy. “We’re focused on building out storytelling so it feels engaging and educational, not just promotional,” Kennedy said. “We want to help consumers navigate that and understand what’s best for them.”
