Ex-Activision and Mattel Playmarketer and Marketing Mind Behind Skylanders Joins Osmo to Grow New Play Movement

Osmo, the award-winning platform leading the New Play Movement, today announces the addition of John Coyne as Chief Marketing Officer. The addition of a veteran, video game and toy industry brand-maker as marketing chief follows the recent launch of Osmo’s first product developed in partnership with Mattel’s Hot Wheels™ brand: MindRacers. Now, with the addition of Coyne, who brings more than two decades of experience with iconic companies like Activision, Spin Master and Bandai, Osmo is primed to rapidly expand its unique approach to blending physical and digital play.  

Coyne’s experience includes more than a decade with Mattel where, as Senior Director of Marketing, he helmed the marketing efforts behind Fisher Price™, Hot Wheels™, Barbie™ and Pixar Cars™. During his time at Spin Master, he launched the highly successful Bakugan line of products and re-ignited the Tech Deck franchise.” Coyne then joined Activision and went on to help lead the creation of a new toys-to-life™ category for Activision’s breakout hit, Skylanders, that blended video games and physical toys to become the No. 1 video game for children and the No. 1 action figure in each year since its launch. 

“Our recent partnership with Mattel marks an exciting moment for us tapping into a broader audience alongside a childhood icon,” said Pramod Sharma, Osmo’s CEO and co-founder. “The addition of a deeply experienced and forward-thinking leader like John, who essentially launched the physical/digital play concept with Skylanders, is critical to fueling the momentum of our New Play Movement.”

At Osmo, Coyne will captain the expansion of Osmo’s audience and industry presence as it launches the next generation of fun, educational experiences that blend physical play with the creative power of the digital world.

“Since first recognizing the market potential of toys to life™  as a category, the coalescence of physical and digital play and what this could equate to for the industry has become my passion,” explains Coyne. “Osmo clearly represents the refinement of that concept, and I’m eager to help expand their exciting vision of the future of play to more families and children.”
 
Coyne’s hire comes on the heels of other notable additions to Osmo’s executive ranks. Tech toy veteran and Anki alum Blake Hennon joined Osmo’s team earlier in the year as Vice President of Distribution and Google’s former director of Machine Intelligence, Srikanth Rajagopalan, came aboard as COO. 

Osmo launched in 2014 as the first hands-on play platform that went beyond digital screens, unlocking unlimited possibilities of real-world play with three experiences, Words, Tangrams, and Newton. Leveraging its proprietary Reflective AI technology, Osmo quickly expanded to creativity, entrepreneurial and STEM-focused experiences like Masterpiece, Numbers, Coding, Monster and Pizza Co. and became the go-to medium of play and learning across hundreds of thousands of households and schools globally. Its unique approach to play has been lauded by the industry, winning Time’s Best Inventions, the Parents Choice Award and most recently was named one of 2017’s most innovative companies by Fast Company.

To learn more about Osmo, visit playosmo.com.

About Osmo
Osmo is building a universe of hands-on play experiences that nourish the minds of children by unleashing the power of imagination in the digital world through augmented reality and reflective artificial intelligence.
 
Founded in 2013 by ex-Google engineers Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholler, the company’s New Play Movement fuses digital gameplay and physical interaction to create fun and nutritious play experiences designed specifically for both boys and girls. Its universe spans nine titles, including Coding Awbie, Monster and Masterpiece, which respectively teach computer science, creativity and drawing.
 
Osmo has received numerous awards and accolades, including Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Education 2017, Time Magazine’s Best Inventions 2014 and Parent’s Choice Magazine’s Gold Award, 2016.
 
Osmo is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Join the New Play Movement at PlayOsmo.com.

Media Contact
Maggie Philbin
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Media@Playosmo.com
203.394.1818
 

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Maggie Philbin

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