Cloud B Soothes Children to Sleep

^{This article is a paid advertorial.}

Created with the desire to help children sleep and simplify parents’ lives, Cloud B’s award-winning plush and apparel products are delivering what everybody wants: a better night’s sleep.

SOOTHING THE CHILD

Founded in 2002, Cloud B identified a relatively untapped market niche — the children’s sleep category.

“Two of the founders were new mothers at the time,” Emily Chae, marketing associate for Cloud B, told TDmonthly Magazine. “One received a European sleeping bag as a gift, which allowed us to research and analyze the product and the entire sleep category.”

Cloud B set out to create well-researched and purposeful products.

“Cloud B products are developed in conjunction with an advisory board of pediatricians, teachers and mothers,” Chae explained. This panel of experts ensures that all products are functional, safe, top quality, and designed for longevity.

OPTIMIZING SLEEP

Getting a good night’s sleep isn’t as easy as one would expect, and many parents are not aware of the problems their children are having. According to the National Sleep Foundation’s 2004 Sleep America Poll, only 10 percent of parents/caregivers think their child has a sleep problem. In contrast, 69 percent of children experience one or more sleep-related problems at least a few nights a week.

Cloud B’s lines are designed to address these issues. The patented Lulla Sleep System, which swaddles the child in a special blanket, focuses on helping sleeping infants maintain a constant temperature, giving them a better chance of achieving a deeper sleep.

The delightful Sleep Sheep & Friends plush line utilizes light and relaxing sounds to create tranquil environments. Terry Myers, owner of Kaleidoscope Toys in Round Rock, Texas, explained, “The Twilight Turtle is a very unique product, a different type of lamp light. It’s visually very soothing, and it’s an animal, and animals are pretty popular.”

“Customers come in and ask about these products,” agreed Marilyn Walker, owner of PlayFair Toys in Boulder, Colo. “They’re new and different — very pleasant.”

For 2009, Cloud B released the Endangered Species Collection. “The successes of Sleep Sheep and Twilight Turtle allowed us to develop and launch our Twilight Sea Turtle, along with our entire line of endangered animals where we could focus a little more on education and, in our own Cloud B way, help bring some awareness to such a delicate subject,” Chae said.

REACHING OUT

How popular are Cloud B products? Many of the items carry top sales status in independent toy and infant stores, and celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow, Katie Holmes and Angelina Jolie chose Cloud B to pamper their new babies.

“The best product is not necessarily the most successful,” Chae told TDmonthly. “The best-marketed product is usually the most successful.”

She credits the company’s comprehensive outreach marketing campaign with creating such strong brand recognition.

Retail support is also integral, and in response to retailers’ input, the company is enhancing volume discount pricing, working on several shipping incentive programs, and offering a variety of retail POP materials designed to inform, educate and help the customer make a purchase decision. Cloud B will also release new product videos in the third quarter that Chae said will be instrumental in helping to convey the message and educate end customers on the products’ benefits.

See products from Cloud B below: