A Gen Z supplement has arrived. 

On Thursday, Body of Work, a new supplement brand, is launching direct-to-consumer with its Multivitamin, $25 for a 30-day supply. The multivitamin is formulated with 11 key ingredients, like vitamin C and zinc, targeted to the needs of women ages 18 to 25 specifically and offering what the team calls “whole self care.” The brand did not share sales projections but said they are looking to tap into the multibillion-dollar supplement market.

The concept for Body of Work was born when lifelong friends Jacqueline Maslan, cofounder and chief executive officer, and Alexandra Brown, cofounder and chief merchandising officer, both found themselves working in the supplement industry. Maslan was brand manager, innovation at Vytalogy, while Brown was the associate director of communications at Vital Proteins. 

“It was sort of kismet,” Maslan said.

From there, the two began brainstorming, each recognizing opportunities in the supplement industry from their two different vantage points. 

“There was definitely a white space specifically addressing the need of young women, which we’re defining as 18 to 25,” Maslan said. “If you look at the multivitamin categories specifically, there are so many that are either prenatal or for women 50-plus or generically 18-plus. There wasn’t a product out there that was addressing not only the health needs of young women, but also addressing additional benefits that they were looking for.” 

Upon starting Body of Work, Maslan and Brown discovered what the health needs were via research and the brand’s medical advisory board and the additional benefits women were interested in by tapping into focus groups. 

“It supports everything from your skin, which we heard was incredibly important, nails [and] immunity. Imagine living in a dorm or living among many, many new people — immunity was really key, also mood and just general well-being,” Maslan said. 

Brown added: “We saw through research that young women are among the most nutrient deficient, and they’re really invested in their wellness, but don’t always quite know where to start. We had conversations with real women through focus groups, and we learned that a lot of them were just looking for a solution to support their overall well-being.” 

Therefore, the formula includes ingredients like vitamins C and D and zinc for immunity benefits, biotin for nail health, iodine for metabolism function, green tea for its skin health benefits, magnesium for bone health and more. 

By focusing on Gen Z, Body of Work is targeting one of the most discerning cohorts of shoppers, making differentiation crucial. 

“Gen Z has a really high bar for brands and demand authenticity and transparency,” Brown said. “They’re looking for science-backed solutions. They’re prioritizing quality over price.” 

The team is first attacking this with its community-first approach. For starters, they are offering campus representative roles “so that real women can help promote the brand through in-person events and on social media on campuses across the country,” according to Brown. 

“We actually posted that role and had to take it down within a week because we received hundreds of applications,” she said. 

In addition, they are introducing an ambassador program via Ty Haney’s community platform TYB. 

“We’ll allow our fans to complete different challenges through a gamified reward program where they can either answer polls or submit content for social media or give us feedback on products and earn points toward discounts or free product [and] merch,” Brown said.

Aside from inventory, the team said that more than 75 percent of its budget has been invested in branding and community.

The team has further differentiated the product by launching with a unique format. 

“We had a very strong feeling that we didn’t want to put another gummy out in the world, because it’s very difficult to produce a gummy that’s highly potent as well as sugar free,” Maslan said. “We found out, in order to marry a sensorial benefit as well as the health benefits that we wanted to deliver was through a tablet…coated in a sugar-free vanilla coating.” 

Additionally, the brand partnered with branding agency Truffl for the packaging. According to the team, they opted for a style inspired by skin care brands, as the women they are targeting reported that skin care routines were the ones they were most consistent with.

Upon launch, the team is focused on the Multivitamin but is eyeing opportunities to grow with the consumer. 

“There is a lot of opportunity for product growth,” Maslan said. “When we are ready to expand the pipeline, we’re gonna stick to what we do best, listen to our customer and evolve with them, whether that means different benefit areas or different life stages that they enter into.”