Tim Kilpin, President of Toys, Licensing & Entertainment at Hasbro, discusses brand milestones, live experiences, and refocusing on play in this extended edition of The Toy Book’s 2024 State of the Industry Q&A. For our annual roundtable, The Toy Book brings together a panel of industry leaders, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors to discuss the trends, wins, challenges, and opportunities shaping the North American toy industry as it regroups after a tough year and gets ready to rock and roll. Click here to explore the series archives.
The Toy Book: Following years of positioning as “a global play and entertainment company,” it seems that Hasbro made a concentrated effort to reposition itself as a “toy and game company” again in recent months — what can you share about this renewed focus?
Tim Kilpin: Hasbro has always been about creating joy and community. Now, we’re doubling down on what makes us great: building and growing iconic brands. We are better leveraging our competitive in-house capabilities and improving our processes so that we can continue to deliver at the highest level for our partners and ultimately consumers. We’re also forging innovative partnerships and maximizing licensing opportunities, so that we can deliver epic products and experiences for fans in as many ways as possible and at as many price points as possible. Whether it’s our newest Furby, exciting gameplay with Monopoly Go! from Scopely, or the latest NERF innovation with Better Than Balloons — we want as many people as possible to be able to experience the joy of our brands.
TB: Hasbro is in the midst of a big anniversary year with multiple classic brands hitting milestones. What are some highlight moments that retailers and consumers can expect in the months ahead?
TK: We’re coming off our 100th year as a company and we’re also celebrating big anniversaries for some of our key brands like Dungeons & Dragons, which turns 50 this year, Transformers, and Peppa Pig. It’s clear that the power of play transcends generations — and we have so many exciting new products, partnerships, and experiences planned throughout the year to continue surprising and delighting fans of all ages.
We’re marking 40 years of Transformers with an action-packed slate, including a new Transformers One toy line to coincide with the release of our all-new first-ever fully CG-animated movie in September. As we continue on our quest to invite fans of all ages into the Transformers universe, we’re looking forward to the upcoming Season 2 of our original animated kids series Transformers: EarthSpark.
In 2024, Peppa turns 20 and everybody’s invited to the celebration. Our all-new cinema experience, Peppa’s Party, launches across 18 markets this month. We have some exciting licensee announcements coming up very soon in addition to the recently announced Peppa x DUPLO collaboration with LEGO, new licensed consumer products collections launching throughout the year, and we’ll be opening new Peppa theme parks in Germany and Texas alongside our partners at Merlin Entertainments, who brought us the excellent Peppa Pig Park in Florida. Peppa is also set to have a big year on television screens with new episodes set for release this year.
Last year we celebrated Furby’s 25th anniversary with a hugely successful relaunch, and it was one of the hottest new toy introductions for the 2023 holiday season. The Furby universe remains a big focus for us and I’m excited to see where we take this brand next.
These iconic brands have sparked some incredible connections and brought together so many people over the years. We’re proud of that, and we’re focused on delivering even more magical moments to those fans for many years to come.
TB: Outbound licensing has been a massive pillar of Hasbro’s Blueprint 2.0 plan. What are a few big wins from that effort?
TK: From toy and game licensing to merchandise to location-based entertainment, outbound licensing is certainly a priority area of growth for us. Our Licensed Consumer Products team is doing some excellent work building both new and existing partnerships to make it easy for fans and players of all ages to engage with our brands in as many ways as possible.
In location-based entertainment in particular, we had so many exciting launches last year, from the Peppa Pig Live tours in both Europe and the U.S. to the opening of Europe’s first NERF-themed family entertainment center, NERF Action Xperience Manchester, and NERF Mania, the first NERF themed land, at Bero Carrero World, which is the largest investment the park has made in its history.
We even opened Hasbro City, the first Hasbro-themed family entertainment center in Latin America located in Mexico City featuring exciting rides, character shows, interactive and virtual reality attractions, active play spaces, a reimagined arcade and food and beverage offerings, as well as the first Hasbro Retail Store in the region.
Right now, there are more than 60 permanent location-based entertainment experiences open across the world including theme park attractions, family entertainment centers, restaurants, and interactive life-sized games — with even more engaging experiences to come.
TB: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the overall industry this year and how is Hasbro approaching them?
TK: As an industry, we’re coming off of a slower holiday season after many years of growth throughout the pandemic. I see this as an opportunity to reevaluate our priorities and processes and ensure we’re creating products of exceptional quality. We know one thing for certain: kids and families will always want to play, and fans will always want to demonstrate their affinity.
Hasbro’s brand portfolio is prepared to continue to deliver for those audiences across all of the touchpoints I mentioned above. We are bullish on the play industry for the long term.
A version of this story appeared in the 2024 edition of The BIG Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue. Want a copy in print? Click here for back issues and subscription options.
