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interviewkids
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Da Vinci Kids flies high Da Vinci Kids has had a busy beginning to 2022, with new rollouts in Asia and Europe, an upsized focus on social emotional learning content, and games and other digital initiatives to bridge its channel & app experiences.
Ukrainian children taking refuge in Germany right now are watching a slate of TV shows, in Ukrainian, provided by global content platform, Da Vinci Kids to Vodafone in Hungary and Deutsche Telekom in Germany. The initiative speaks as much about being part of the worldwide support for Ukrainian families forced to flee as about being walking, talking,
Our priority is content that kids and their parents will find inspirational.” Estelle Lloyd, Co-founder/COO, Macademia
living examples one of the network’s core values. Developing a sense of responsibility, care and concern for others
about a family that wants to be environmentally
is part of Da Vinci Kids’ focus on content that promotes social
friendly but finds it’s not as easy as they thought.
emotional learning, says Estelle Lloyd, co-founder/COO of parent
Lloyd says the series is action-based and shows
company, Macademia. Speaking at the end of a bustling first quarter, which included increasing language tracks to 22, Lloyd says the expanded focus on social emotional learning in 2022 runs alongside the network’s ongoing concentration on STEM (science, tech, engineering, math) content. The priority is “content that kids and parents will find inspirational, which
things every day. “There are ways to make very serious topics accessible for younger audiences,” she says. The network has also upsized its games, boosting engagement around critical thinking and creativity, and is planning to add content-related
reflects some of the challenges that they may be going through in their lives, either as a family or
how children can make a positive difference to the environment by being conscious and doing simple
The Deep
as kids themselves,” she says. One of the content examples she gives
quizzes and badges this year. The aim, Lloyd says, is to “create a bridge between the channel experience and the app experience”. The distribution side of Da Vinci Kids’ business has been equally
is The Treehouse Stories, where a group
active. In addition to launching a programming block in South
of children talk about life issues – a new
Korea on The Kids, the brand has just rolled out the Da Vinci
baby in the family, losing a favourite toy,
Channel on StarzPlay in the Middle East and North Africa – its
being bullied at school...
first launch in the region – and entered Greece for the first time. In some territories, the app is hard-bundled into
“The social emotional learning category is not new to us, but we’ve really made a decision this year to invest and source more content and look into co-producing unique content in that space,” she says. Lloyd highlights Da Vinci Kids’ storytelling values;
Go Green with the Grimwades
some devices, and has been integrated into other kids’ devices, for example, STEM toy robots. As much as has been achieved, including discussions for its FAST
“We love content with a great story arc because it’s easier to
launch in the U.S., Lloyd says
get the message across... We think that it is very important that
there is a way to go. ”We’re
we represent the world in the content that we have on the
filling demand as fast as we
platform, the channel and the app.” Diversity is another core value, as is the focus on the environment, with, for example, shows such as Go Green with the Grimwades,
contentasia april 2022
can. It’s never quick enough,” she says, adding: ”Our goal, literally, is to be everywhere”.
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