Braincandy's Sensible Plan

It's been a wild ride in the two years since Braincandy released its first DVD, My Five Senses. The title, which encouraged kids to explore their world along with a cast of odd yet cute puppet characters, garnered a lot of attention, a small mountain of awards, and, ever since, an exceptional degree of expectation as to what the start-up company would do next. Nowhere has that attention focused more regularly than on the property's merchandising potential.

“We only have the beginnings of a brand,” says Sam Reich-Dagnen, co-founder of the Seattle-based company with her husband Johnny, “but we get a call at least once a week asking when we're coming out with a Bruce Brain puppet.”

That interest is “great validation,” Reich-Dagnen says, and has the company actively researching its options vis-à-vis licensed merchandise. “We're working on it. Obviously, we'd look to ultimately license the characters, but in the short term what we'd like to do is something for proof of concept,” she says. A staggered merchandise roll out would follow in 2008 and 2009.

In the meantime, Braincandy fans will have to make do with this month's release of the third DVD in the series, Touch My World, and two audio CD companions to the series first two releases. Three additional DVDs wrapping up the series and their corresponding CDs will reach retail shelves this October.

“The goal is to really create a world and have that world inhabit every part of a child's life,” Reich-Dagnen says. “The world is looking for a new brand in the children's space. There's not a lot of competition out there and we have a great set of products to offer.”