“Alexa, tell me a story…”

Echo Dot Kids Edition wasn't just a new product. It was a new category — the first voice-enabled device built specifically for kids. There was no playbook to follow.

The brief was a challenge: build something a child would love, without ever marketing to that child directly. COPPA compliance wasn't a footnote, it was the tightrope the entire creative vision had to walk. Every color choice, every character, every ounce of "fun" had to be built for the child using the product, while every word of marketing had to speak directly to the parent making the purchase decision.

Design for delight. Market for trust.

That meant expanding the Echo and Alexa brands into a new territory. Both were already some of the most beloved and trusted products Amazon had ever created. But where they had a more helpful and sophisticated look and feel previously, the Kids Edition needed to lean into Alexa’s whimsy and playfulness that many had grown to love but not seen demonstrated in any of the press or marketing.

The results shaped the brand and marketing for kid-focused products for years beyond its initial release. Previous products like Kindle and Fire Tablets were rebranded and given a similar treatment, which created a new subset of each product line that could appeal to the kid in us all.