LEGO, Sesame Street, and Disney - are the 3 most popular children's brands in the world. What would happen if you combine all 3 of them together? Sesame Street and Disney owned popular characters. Sesame Street makes puppet shows that are viewed by children in 150 countries. Disney makes popular animated movies loved by both children and adults alike. LEGO is a pure learning toy company. Together, they have the power to touch every single child on earth. What will happen if these 3 companies together decide to prepare children for the future - helping them become more creative, problem-solver, empathic, and critical thinkers? They can be the biggest educator in the world.
Light of Hope Ltd. - the learning company, decided to take the best attributes and learn from these 3 brands to create 'Goofi'. After 2 years of extensive research that includes developing a complete 'Global Framework for Future of Learning' for children, Goofi launched formally in Bangladesh with a range of learning products for children. The mission of Goofi is to help children learn important life skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and moral values. Can children's products, books, and learning tools/toys be designed to teach these skills? That's how Goofi is thinking about their role.
According to the World Bank, 70% of primary-level children in the world will enter into a job that doesn't exist today. And children need to learn these important skills to be relevant in the future.
Bangladesh has about 30 million children at the pre-primary and primary levels. With parents spending more than ever on children's education and learning, Goofi entered the market at the right time. Awareness among parents about the importance of skills like critical thinking, and problem-solving is also increasing. A study conducted by Light of Hope Ltd. among parents showed that 60% of the parents in Dhaka believe that 'Creativity' is more important than 'Academic Result' for their children's success in the future.
The toy market alone is a BDT 10,000 crore market with significant year-on-year growth. In the absence of any recognized children's brand in Bangladesh, Goofi has the potential to capture a portion of that segment, especially from the parents who prefer high-quality products.
Book publishing for children is also on the rise. However, quality children's books are scarce and parents often rely on foreign children's books. The books that Goofi is publishing combined academic learning with skills like critical thinking and problem-solving. The books are designed for the global market, but also available at a reasonable price for Bangladeshi parents and schools.
You can have a glimpse of their books and learning tools from here.
Goofi - the brand is named after its main character 'Goofi' - a robot from the future who came to the present world to spread happiness, creativity, and empathy among children. The background story is as fascinating as the product itself. You can read the background story here.
From the beginning, Goofi intends to create an international brand. The initial success of their products among children and parents is giving the brand a huge boost. Mostly selling through online platforms, the brand already sold close to BDT 50 lakh worth of learning products within the first 6 months. Goofi books are the highest sold children's book online and the most popular among children and parents. Their products are now available on the most prominent online platforms like Daraz, evaly, Deligram, Togumogu, etc.
Goofi's strategy is to remain 'Producer to Customer' brand and ensure direct customer interaction through online and offline channels. Even in physical retail, the brand is making its products available on selective outlets and places like Aarong, Babuland etc.
Goofi wants to be with the individual journey of a child growing up through regular interaction and subscription model with families to ensure their products have significant impact on the wellbeing of the child.
Light of Hope Ltd. now bringing in prominent experts within the core team to start building the brand to get to the international arena. There is a range of products under preparation and in the testing phase. The brand is collaborating with the puppet team to start producing puppet shows. The team is collaborating on short animation series and a TV show, and a youtube show.
The company has already access to 500+ schools in Bangladesh where they set up libraries, and science labs, provided teacher training and provided their contents and books. Besides, it owns Kids Time - the largest Bangladeshi after-school brand, and Teachers Time - the largest online and offline training provider for teachers and parents. The ecosystem that the company is building for the last 3 years will be really helpful to reach out to children, parents, and schools with their new brand 'Goofi', and the products.
Although going global is always in the mind, for Light of Hope the challenge in the next couple of years is to become the LEGO or Disney of Bangladesh.
