Yesterday, CEO of Hasbro Inc. Brian Goldner spoke to investors and press to outline the company’s strategy going forward in the coming years. While a good portion of the conference detailed out Hasbro‘s franchise brands (such as Transformers, My Little Pony, etc.), a portion was spent discussing the recent acquisition of Power Rangers – and more importantly – why they pursued it and their future plans with it.
To quote Brian Goldner directly:
“Let’s start with the consumer and the child in them. First of all, 20% of Hasbro’s revenues are for people who are teenagers and older. So, while kids may be ‘getting older younger’, adults want to ‘stay younger longer’. And so both of those dynamics are important to us. People want to play at every age. The other important thing is: kids getting older younger just means they get to be more ‘decisional younger’. They’re actually expressing their own desires for the things they want to play with. It’s not to say they don’t play with play-things, it’s just instead of thinking about at a non-branded play-thing, they want a brand that’s associated with the character that’s most beloved. That’s why we recently brought on the Power Rangers. And the Power Rangers will now become part of our portfolio because it’s a very young-skewing brand and we know through our research that young children express a preference at a younger age. We want to be with characters and stories that are meaningful to them.”
To sum up Brian’s words – teenage to adult fans make up 20% of Hasbro‘s total revenue. Their goal is to appeal both to the adult who yearns to be a kid again as well as the young kid who wants more than just a toy because it has the name of the series they like but because it’s related to a character they’ve come to connect with. One reason they sought Power Rangers was because of the characters and stories that it has and continues to tell.
Special thanks to Silver Optimus of our sister site TFW2005.COM for transcribing the conference.
