Fortune Staff

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 68th running of the list.

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Hasbro Company Profile, News, Rankings | Fortune

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Hasbro

hasbro

Kelly Gilblom

Thomas Buckley

Bloomberg

Hasbro to cut 1,000 jobs as the pandemic-era toy-buying boom cools now that kids are back in school

/2023/01/26/hasbro-layoffs-toys-pandemic-dungeons-and-dragons-eranings-fourth-quarter/

Nicholas Gordon

Hasbro tried to take back control over how people reimagine Dungeons and Dragons. A weeks-long fan backlash made it do a 180

/2023/01/20/dungeons-and-dragons-ogl-wizards-of-the-coast-hasbro-copyright-open-game-license/

Brian Eckhouse

Christopher Palmeri

Longtime Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner dies at 58

/2021/10/12/hasbro-ceo-brian-goldner-dies-at-58/

Ian Mount

Brandemic marketing 101: What to do when a game about viruses goes, ahem, viral

/2021/09/21/brandemic-marketing-covid-board-game-virus-tranjis-viral/

CEO Brian Goldner ​says Hasbro’s ​new movie studio will turn its famous toy brands into superstars. 

Hasbro's New Game Plan: Big Push On Movies and Television

Leadership

brian. So great to see you once again. Especially now that Hasbro is ranked once again on the Fortune 500 after a 20 year absence. So congratulations on that milestone. And it seems that part of the reason that Hasbro has returned to the 500 is that your toy business was booming during the pandemic? Tell us about that. Yeah, we've really seen incredibly strong demand from consumers across our gaming business and preschool, our creative play business like Plato and around the world. People have found the opportunity to make connections between kids and parents and people are enjoying their game nights more than ever. And it's continuing even now as the pandemic subsides in certain geography, I think one thing that many people may not know is that have though is more than just toys. Just before the pandemic, you bought a movie studio entertainment one or E one. Why do you think this is a good time to get into the movie business? Well, we're going to be focusing on movies, but also television and live action television is a booming business. We have properties that span multiple age groups and brands like dungeons and dragons and magic the gathering are these incredible brands with great mythology and they're perfect for storytelling. And so we're working now on a dungeons and dragons film, live action dungeons and dragons television and for magic the Gathering much the same. So we've got these great brands and brands like transformers that all really resonating storytelling close. Do you want to buy more movie and tv assets? What's your plan for has broke besides toys? You know, we own 1500 brands and you know, we have several that are on the market, but so many are in the vault the opportunity to activate our brands across our entire blueprint from storytelling to toys and games, consumer product licensing where other companies make categories of product for our global retailers and consumers. And then our digital gaming business, which is really booming uh in our fantasy gaming areas like magic, the gathering and dungeons and dragons. You mentioned a couple of brand names and their connection with movies. Tell us about some of the big hit that you're expecting to come out that will lure families back into movie theaters. Sure, well, we've got the big dungeons and Dragons movies starring Chris Pine. And we've got great cash like Hugh Grant and several other people who are in the movie. Uh Next year we're we'll have out for 2020 to a brand new live action transformers movie, which is in a whole new territory which we're very excited about this year. This fall we have a my little pony movie. It's our first the CG movie. And a whole new cast is coming out in september and we're going to launch that on netflix and there are 200 million subscribers globally. And in about a month we have our G. I joe movie coming out from Paramount in their partnership and it's called Snake Eyes and it's an origin story about one of our most favorite characters from the G. I joe lore. Well you mentioned a couple of the big movie studios like Paramount and the rising a netflix. But now that you have your own movie studio, how does that change your relationship with studios like paramount and Disney Netflix amazon? Well, one of the great parts about E one is they had a great relationship with so many producers and distributors of content. So we'll continue to sell to all the distributors of content, all the O. T. T platforms like netflix, Apple amazon hulu, others we have shows on the air and all those different services as well as broadcast networks um like abc for our rookie show. And we'll continue to be agnostic as we go around in the market. People are very interested in branded content and the high quality content that you want is producing. And then what happens to those Hasbro deals that are tied two movie releases. Those merchandise deals are big money makers. Will that change? We'll continue to produce transformers, movies and G. I. Joe movies. Those are really the two big brands that are currently in partnership with paramount. We are producing the D. I. D. And D. Movie with Paramount. So that will be in cooperation with them. And for the first quarter 2023 were called producing that. And uh it's very exciting to get a brand new brand into the marketplace and you're right globally. Film is amazing because we're able to event ties it, it's great to see people going back to theaters as uh, there is the reopening is happening. Well, you know, you talk about the reopening, there's still a lot of doubters about whether the movie business will really come back. I mean, streaming has become so popular as you know, so to what extent is this trend of moving movie content directly to the streaming platforms, bypassing the movie theaters all together? How does that impact the uh, the financial business model of your movie and toy businesses bypassing the theatrical window for certain content? And streaming has been a boon for, has problems, you know, the Mandalorian from Disney and Disney Plus has been tremendous and a success for us, our own transformers on netflix uh, with the war for cybertron has been a big success in merchandising. So what we see is a narrow window or narrowing window for theatrical release is probably a 45 day window over time as we get through the pandemic and we'll have content and business opportunity for both the theatrical, as well as an increasing number of streaming platforms. You sound so positive and upbeat about your business, not that the pandemic is winding down. What is your outlook for business for the rest of this year and going into 2022. Yeah, so we think that our business will grow double digits this year. E one will get back on track and production is already has happened. So they're back in production on television and film. They'll get back to their numbers for the 2019 level for, for television and film revenues. We'll get double digit growth are better out of wizards of the coast and our consumer products businesses performing very strongly like so many other american businesses have begun raising prices. And so the same things going on at Hasbro because of higher raw material costs. But how do you think that these price increases will impact sales and your forecast? We see it as transitory. This is not something that we see as a permanent need to increase prices perpetually, but just rather for now to make sure that we're able to bring products to market and to cover our costs to ensure that we're able to maintain our margins for our consumers, uh, for our employees and for our shareholders. Well, we're at the halfway point of the year. So I have to ask you about the holiday season. How is that shaping up for? Have, what's your outlook? We'll look at the holiday season in some ways. It started earlier than ever. We've got prime day that's just going on this week and uh, several other big retailers with their big promotional windows. We see more promotional windows happening more often, less pricing or discounting on product because products are in high demand. So it should be a very good holiday as people are spending money and wanting to spend time together playing and entertaining. So can you give us a sneak peek on what's going to be the hot toy or game this holiday season? I think one of the brands that we're launching this year that's going to be incredibly successful because it's been so successful and parents are going to be wanting these products is the Peppa Pig line. So Pepe is a big brand, getting bigger, more popular than ever. We have a brand new lineup of brand new Peppa Pig toys for the holidays and I think parents will be clamoring for that.

Brian, you've been the CEO for Hasbro now for ten years and I'm sure you've learned a lot about leadership over the years. But is there any one thing that you would single out as the most important leadership lesson that you've learned? My compass is all about authenticity and being completely authentic. I'm the same person in the office as I am outside the office. I want to give people really clear feedback and really clear direction. I wanna hear them and be as interested in hearing new ideas and making people understand my ideas. And of course in this business and I I think in almost any business, an innate curiosity, a willingness to learn new things every day, so for me authenticity and curiosity. I understand that you meet with employees all the time, whether they are big town halls or smaller groups. What are you saying to them to get them really fired up and motivated? I think everybody wants to feel important in the process. And so, I don't think it's a one way street. So I think for the fact that I can learn something from everyone. That I can take something on board. That people have amazing incredible insights, all around the world, and our company. And they are heard, and their ideas are listened to, in fact we act on their ideas. And it doesn't matter where the idea comes from, we can execute that idea. So, I think if people feel respected and honored in the fact that they have amazing and wonderful ideas and they understand it's a two way street, that I'm just not going to tell them, they're going to help me and enable our team to be more successful, I think that's a wonderful way to lead. What's your tolerance for failure? My God, we have to fail all the time, just fail fast. We're profitably experimenting all the time. We're trying new ideas all the time and I feel that that's one of the mantras of this company, some of those profitable experiments have turned into things like transformers. I understand you do a lot of mentoring at Hasbro and what's the key thing that you teach your mentees on things like how to get ahead and how to be a great leader. I think one of the keys For young people, and it differs by individual, is to recognize that networking is a actually very viable and very valuable sport. That you have to be networking with people. Some people say, that's just schmoozing, that's not really necessary. But in fact, I think it's really important. I think- Why is it important? Because people want to work with people they know. And if you've stuck out your hand and shaken the hand of someone and said hello to somebody in line at the Starbucks for coffee inside the building or you've sat down with somebody at lunch or you've gone by their office to meet them and hear their thoughts on a business plan or leadership or to pick their brain. Then when the time comes to start to staff a new idea or to create a new idea, they say, I know that person or that someone may suggest that person. And they say, I know that name, I know that person. I had met with them. And so, I think networking is a really Undervalued sport in business. What about for women who wanna get a C suite job eventually. What's the advice you give them? Probably a lot of the same thing you just told me, but anything specific for women? I think guys are willing to move forward to try to get a new assignment knowing 80 % of what they need. And women try to focus on knowing everything, and I don't think you can ever know everything. I think women are incredibly capable and they don't need to know everything in order to be deserving of the next promotion. And so Don't let perfect get in the way of progress. As you look back on your life, both on the professional side, but also on the personal side, what's the best leadership advice that you got along the way? And why did it stick with you over so many years? There's an expression that I'd heard Bill Gates say years ago that sorta resonates with me. And people overestimate what you can do in a year, and underestimate what you can do in ten And I think that's really the mantra here at Hasbro. That you have to take the long view and recognize that over a long period of time, you can accomplish more than anybody can imagine.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner Says Mentorship and Respect Key to Successful Leadership

Goldner thinks that encouragement to innovate has led to some of the company's most successful toys. 

So, Brian here we are at a toy fair and you surprise everyone announcing that Power Rangers is switching over to Hasbro, it's breaking off its longterm partnership with Bandai the Japanese toy company. How much of a game changer is this for Hasbro? Of course it is. I think it's really a big game changer for us because it's a very young skewing brand. So that youngest consumer really loves that story, the fun kitchen, the humor that comes along with that action adventure of Power Rangers. It always has wonderful messages for kids. And then today, there are all these kids who are now adults who are fans of the brand and we think there's a great opportunity in that fan economy To talk to the ower Ranger fun and give them products they are looking for. And is this gonna be a money maker for Hasbro? Can you give us some idea of future revenues down the road? Well, it's certainly a money maker for us. That's the only reason we would invest in a property like this in partnership with [ UNKNOWN ]. But of course, we don't size specific brands, we don't give specific brands size. But what I will tell you is, we think this brand could be far bigger in our hands over time than it's been in the past. What about Solo, the next toy in the Star Wars sequence? What are you expecting from that? We love Han Solo. I mean, Han Solo is one of the best- known characters in any entertainment universe. What I'm particularly excited about there is our For Real Friends Chewbacca. So totally interactive and animatronic Chewbacca, People really love it who've played with it. It's gotten a great response from our retailers, and I think that could be one of the hot sellers. Well we know that the toys that came out from the movie The Last Jedi didn't do as well as you expected. How are you changing things up for 2018 with Solo? It was a matter of the way it was merchandised around the holidays. Probably too much time from the date we started merchandising to the film time. So as we go forward, we're shortening the windows between when the product gets merchandised, and those movie windows. So for Han Solo, we'll merchandise the product in April and the movie comes out in May. And I think that'll be more the pattern as we go forward. I know you have big deals with the Hollywood studios like with Paramount Pictures and with Disney, but I thought it was interesting that you announced That you're partnering up with Netflix to come out with toys around Super Monsters, that you're gonna launch. How important is this Netflix arrangement, given that kids and adults just aren't going to the movies the way they used to? Of course. Peoples viewing habits have substantially. We wanna be able to give people fun, engaging stories on every screen. In every way that they're consuming content. And so Netflix, and Amazon, and others represent tremendous opportunities for us. Brian, I don't have to tell you about all the changes that are going on in the toy industry. Amazon is becoming so popular. More people are shopping online. And of course the bankruptcy of Toys R Us. What impact is this having on [ UNKNOWN ]? And How are you dealing with all this differently? Well, of course, we've built a great ecommerce expertise and we have a team that we've launched that focuses on ecommerence and the growth of channels globally, so a global team for us. We've built a bigger retail network and a bigger retail footprint than we've ever had. We go to more different kinds of stores around the world than we ever have. And in fact one of our top ten retailers now is one of the big department store type retailers in Russia. So we're really looking at the business differently. Going to, of course, mass market but of food and drug In club stores, at discount stores, and dollar stores, we're doing that all around the world. So we think that there is some near term disruption that happens in the business. We clearly believe that in the first two quarters of the year that they'll be some impact from Toys" R" Us. But as we go forward in the third and fourth quarter and into the future, we belive we have the right retail strategy and we can really Sustain our business and grow it over time. Well come back a little bit more to this Toys" R" Us, I get what you're saying, maybe short term, it's not so bad. But what is your plan B, long term, because Hasbro relies on Toys" R" Us for a lot of its business. We wanna continue to work with Toys" R" Us, But we also wanna mitigate our risk and make sure that we have the right amount of inventory with them, so that we can absolutely be a very successful growing company with a shrinking [ UNKNOWN ]. Let's talk a little bit about Mattel and Hasbro have had this on again, off again relationship when it comes to merger talks reportedly. They're back on again. What can you tell us about the talks between Mattel and Hasbro? Where do things stand? We would never comment on any rumor or speculation. What I'll tell you is first and foremost, we're investing in our business. We continue to focus on investing on our brands. Our return on invested capital is Been strong, and continues to strengthen, and so that's been our focus. And, again, I couldn't comment on any rumors. Do you think that Hasbro benefit by doing some kind of significant acquisition to build on your new standing as the world's largest toy company? We take nothing for granted. We're always open to looking at new ideas, and to look at ways to evolve and transform our company. We, every day, believe our north star Is all about the building the value of our brands. And about reinventing and reigniting, and reimagining our company for the future, continuing to evolve, always about the next point of departure. Onboarding new capabilities, doing new things, and profitably experimenting everywhere we can. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

Brian Goldner has successfully added another major brand to Hasbro's already impressive stable.

Hasbro CEO: Power Rangers Partnership Will Be a 'Game Changer'

Hasbro

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