Company Profile
Mind Candy
A sleeping giant returns 2
How Mind Candy is making bedtime a dream by reimagining Moshi Monsters, using the power of storytelling.
019 is turning into a pivotal year for Mind Candy, nine years after the pioneering global kids’ phenomenon Moshi Monsters first took the toy industry by storm and gave birth to what we now know as the collectibles market. In that time, much has changed for kids. Their lives are now filled with vibrant digital experiences, instantly accessible, endlessly entertaining and increasingly demanding of their focus and time. For many parents this has become a constant concern. How much screen time should I allow my child to have? What does a balanced digital diet actually look like? How can I ensure my child enjoys the right blend of learning, play and rest? As parents themselves, these were the questions that the team at Mind Candy asked when they set about re-inventing Moshi Monsters to meet the needs of children and parents in the age of the iPhone. “When Moshi Monsters first launched it was a brand that appealed to both parents and kids,” explains Ian Chambers, Mind Candy CEO, “That was what made Ian Chambers, Mind Candy CEO
Moshi so accessible and enabled us to grow so quickly. For many kids it was the first time they were given access to a digital experience on a computer at home, crafted and designed just for them. Moshi was a place where they could play and explore with friends, a rich world filled with incredible characters and experiences. For parents, letting the kids play Moshi for an hour gave them precious time to focus on the things that made them happy. It was a win-win.” Before the idea of screen time was even considered by parents, this win-win was a fundamental selling point for the Moshi Monsters on-line game. Nowadays, parents approach screens with more caution and concern, carefully weighing up the benefits and risks of letting their children sit with digital devices. Ian and the team set out to answer the question of how to achieve another win-win for this more tech savvy and cautious generation of parents and their kids. They didn’t find the answer in traditional play during a child’s day, but at bedtime. “Sleep is something we all need,’’ says Chambers.
Licensing World 12
“We are only just now waking up to the emerging evidence that good quality sleep is the cornerstone of physical and mental health, and probably the single most important lifestyle choice we can make. We saw the rapidly growing conversation and focus on sleep, and then reflected on the experiences we’d had during the first eight years of our own kids’ lives and how parents face serious struggles with their own sleep and health when their children cannot sleep. We realised that if we could create a product that kids loved, featuring beloved characters from the world of Moshi, that made bedtime less stressful for parents whilst helping kids get to sleep quicker and easier, that we would have something truly special. A real win-win.” In December 2017, the Mind Candy team created Moshi Twilight Sleep Stories, an audio app featuring melodic stories, meditations, music and sounds. Moshi Twilight was created in partnership with Calm, the No.1 wellbeing and mindfulness app and the brainchild of Mind Candy founder and entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith. Since Calm’s launch six years ago, the app has been downloaded