Impacts #6: Pierre-Luc Deniel & Gui Perrier, Alumni 2011

You are almost certainly familiar with this strange pebble

Dodow is a light-up metronome which helps you fall asleep naturally without medication. It works by synchronizing your breathing to naturally promote falling asleep.

Behind this project are two former graduates who decided, in 2012, to pursue their career together: Pierre-Luc Deniel and Gui Perrier.

Since its launch in 2013, Dodow has already graced the bedside table of 60,000 people. Find out more about this exciting venture with two design-mad entrepreneurs.

What was your career path?

In 2012, with their design degree under their belt, Pierre-Luc Deniel got a job in advertising at Brand Images and Gui Perrier worked at L’Oréal in international marketing development. They decided to create Dodow with their friend Alex, a business school graduate. Alongside the development of Dodow, they set up the branding agency: Yellow Lab, specialized in market positioning consultancy and brand creation. That was the start of their adventure…

“People thought we were crazy”

"At the very beginning, it was a real challenge and I think people thought we were crazy,” laugh Gui and Pierre-Luc, the two designers behind Dodow.They admit that launching this innovative sleep-promoting product on the market was “a bit of a gamble”. “It was quite risky as we had to invest our own capital to launch this project,” recall the two friends who deliberately avoided fundraising in order to preserve their independence. After selling 300 units the first year, the product has now become a commercial success with nearly 600,000 units sold mainly in France but also in Europe.

Dodow, métronome lumineux

“The strength of this product is its simplicity”

“The strength of this product is its simplicity,” they explain. Using a combination of natural methods like hypnosis and meditation, this simple and understated design has become a real godsend for insomniacs. “The advantage of this product is that it democratizes alternative techniques which often require a lot of time to master. This product is extremely accessible due to its particularly attractive price and its ease of use. But our greatest satisfaction remains the really gratifying feedback from our clients who have finally found a normal sleeping pattern without having to take sleeping pills”. A real success story bearing in mind the strong tendency in France to use medication.

Entering the international market

“We were really inspired by Design Thinking in the design of this product but our training also helped us to become entrepreneurs and to mobilize our workflow capacity,” they remark. As well as promoting their flagship product which they are currently deploying on the international market (in more than 15 countries), the successful duo is also at the helm of the Yellow Lab agency specialized in visual identity, branding and packaging. There are many projects and new conquests to come.