Comfyism

Brand Launch

ComfyBricks

The Ask

Devise a launch strategy for a new “play furniture” product - ComfyBricks. It’s a set of colorful, building-block-shaped cushions that children can mix and match into infinite configurations.

Parents are desperate to see their kids create.

I got started by interviewing moms about their kids’ playtime, and they consistently expressed stress about seeing a lack of creativity. The digital world has damaged kids’ imagination, so much so that 72% of childcare professionals say imaginary friends are dead and gone. Now, when a kid does something as simple as pretending a stick is a magic wand, it feels momentous for parents.

When my kids are creative, it’s a sigh of relief because I feel like I’m doing something right as a parent… It’s a dopamine hit.

- Jennifer, mom of 2

And today’s toy world isn’t helping.

Brands like LEGO are synonymous with creativity, but their new IP-focused products just regurgitate existing ideas. Nugget, the world’s first “play furniture” brand, went viral because of instructional TikToks telling parents to how to stack them, without even giving kids a say.

Insight: Instructions kill ideas.

I learned in my interviews that parents’ best strategy to encourage creativity is using non-directive toys, toys that have no intended purpose. Kids learn how to play with them through exploration, rather than reading directions.

ComfyBricks’ current brandwork shows the cushions as rockets, castles, and whatever else is typically advertised to children. But they can become non-directive by removing the models and letting kids inspire themselves.

Creative parents are particularly ready to kill instructions.

ComfyBricks is slated for a high price point starting at $269, so it’s not for everyone. I narrowed the target to creative parents - moms and dads with their own artistic sensibilities. In my interviews, these people told me they were tired of ugly, kiddy Fisher Price and were ready to seriously invest in their children's imagination.

It’s time for kids to think abstractly.

ComfyBricks cushions are building blocks - basic, essential components of design. The same shapes that inspired Picasso, Klee, and Mondrian to think abstractly. ComfyBricks can help kids do the same in a way that appeals to creative parents’ artistic taste.

Strategy

Your kid’s biggest blank canvas

Comfyism

You’ve heard of cubism, surrealism, constructivism, etc. To make waves, ComfyBricks will usher in the newest movement in the abstract art world: Comfyism.

Copy will reference famous abstract artists and use jargon from the arts world, while visuals position the shapes of cushions in unexpected ways.

ComfyBricks x MoMA

To cement the connection between the brand and the power of a canvas, ComfyBricks will partner with the Museum of Modern Art to create the Comfy Corner, a kid-friendly place in the museum.