PlayPower, a leading commercial playground and recreational equipment manufacturer, announced the merger of its Soft Play and PLAYTIME brands, combining two industry leaders under the Soft Play name to help customers transform play environments into true brand experiences, increasing visitations wherever families go to shop, dine, be entertained and have fun.
PlayPower understood the collective strength of the two brands when it acquired PLAYTIME in 2018 and envisioned merging PLAYTIME’s sculpted product line with Soft Play’s contained indoor play business to create turnkey solutions and improve efficiencies. Now operating with a new logo, the brands will be fully integrated over the next 12 months.
“Soft Play and PLAYTIME are both trusted, high-performing businesses, and their combination as a unified PlayPower brand enables us to bring our complete portfolio of creative, custom design solutions to bear for our clients,” said Ken Schober, PlayPower vice president of entertainment solutions. “Working as one global brand will accelerate the front end of the concept-to-play process, allowing our customers to realise the benefits of play earlier. One designer carries a customer’s brand through every element of a project, and one team ensures its seamless completion.”
Unstructured play is vital to the physical, social and emotional well-being of children, and product design is critical to ensuring an engaging, safe environment. When establishments craft custom play experiences, consumers are more likely to stay, have fun and create memories associated with the brand.
Soft Play and PLAYTIME are powerhouses known for helping customers drive foot traffic and loyalty through the creation of inventive, custom play spaces. Pioneers in marketing activation through play, they work with some of the most recognised companies — including most recently the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex — to create immersive, themed experiences and interaction points that are true brand extensions. Combining brands will yield efficiencies for clients throughout the creative, manufacturing and installation processes.
Soft Play, founded in 1984 and acquired by PlayPower in 1996, is a global leader in contained indoor playground equipment and, among other areas of focus, a mainstay in the quick-serve restaurant industry. PLAYTIME, founded in 1991, transformed retail shopping by inventing mall play areas.
“Together, the new Soft Play will build on those legacies and meet the future needs of customers who are seeking more adventurous concepts that include custom towers, sculpted elements and immersive environments,” said Schober. “The future of indoor play is about excitement for all ages. We are beyond thrilled to take Soft Play to amazing new heights
