Hasbro Speaks on its Latest Collabs and Licensing Strategy

License Global: Hasbro has been delving into a lot of food and beverage collaborations lately. The CLUE, OUIJA and Scrabble x Mano’s Wine collab, the Dungeons & Dragons x Mythical Meats partnership, My Little Pony x Nowwa Coffee, NERF x Sonic kid’s meals and the KOOSH x Arby’s promotion. Why is this a category you’re focusing on this year, and how do these partnerships align with your brands? 

Matthew Proulx: At Hasbro, we’re focused on our ‘franchise-first’ strategy in continuously innovating and expanding the ways we bring our brands to life. Food and beverage is a daily need for consumers, so collaborating with meaningful partners in this category allows us to bring our IP into the essentials market to help strengthen our brand recognition in all-new ways. I think first and foremost, we seek partners that help drive our mutual businesses and ultimately deliver new branded experiences that are not only unique but align with the heart and soul of each of our brands. 

For our iconic board games, CLUE, OUIJA and Scrabble, audiences 21+ often play with friends while enjoying a glass of wine, so teaming up with Mano’s Wine became a natural extension to our brands and how some adult consumers like to experience gameplay. With Mythical Meats, they’re serving up some easy-to-eat snack sticks that are perfect for players to enjoy during their Dungeons & Dragons play sessions.  

Through Nowwa Coffee, Sonic and Arby’s, customers can look forward to more than just their favorite meals and beverages. At Nowwa Coffee’s My Little Pony experience, taking over 1500+ stores in Mainland China, visitors can look out for something extra special while purchasing their daily coffee. At Sonic’s 3,600 restaurants across the U.S., kids can enjoy one of the five NERF collectible premiums. With Arby’s, across its 3,400 restaurants in the U.S., customers can also get their hands on one of the 10 collectible KOOSH items included in the kids’ meals. Teaming up with such notable franchises allows us to reach all-new audiences in surprising and delightful formats. 

Peppa Pig has a lot going on, both with British Swim School and L’Oreal Ambre Solaire. Tell us about those deals. 

Learning is a key element of Peppa Pig, and British Swim School aims to be the premier “learn to swim” provider. Together, we’ve joined forces to teach the huge importance of water safety for young children aged 2-7. Swimming alone is so fundamental for kids, so having Peppa Pig along for the swim can help make this learning experience more enjoyable. In addition to the many branded activities being presented at the 350 locations across North America, we’ve created a “Peppa Pig Water Safety Week” in May and developed a grand prize, an all-expenses-paid trip to the popular Peppa Pig Theme Park in Florida. We’re super proud of all the details that went into creating such a comprehensive brand program – especially during the Queen of Preschool’s 20th anniversary year. 

As for L’Oreal Ambre Solaire, this is the second time we’re teaming up with the brand for a promotion, giving consumers a chance to win a VIP package to Peppa Pig World at Paultons Family Theme Park. Again, we’ve developed a grand prize initiative, but this time with a premium sun care brand that’s widely used among kids and caregivers as they go on their family trips, vacations and outings. Our first Peppa Pig x L’Oreal Ambre Solaire promotion at ASDA in May 2023 was a huge success, so we’re happy to bring this back again. 

Speaking of successes, Transformers also has a packed slate of deals. Tell us about the recent deals with Changan and ONEST.  

Vehicles are a key component to the Transformers brand, so Changan was another seamless partner for us. The automotive company’s new electric car, the Changan Qiyuan E07, is much like our beloved Transformers characters, as the vehicle features converting capabilities that allow it to change from SUV to pick-up truck.  

As a worldwide healthcare provider, ONEST has also helped us create a meaningful promotional program for Transformers this July amidst the brand’s 40th anniversary year. Through the high energy and action that our Autobots and Decepticons bring, our ONEST collaboration fits that mold for Transformers, helping to motivate and energize fans everywhere. 

Tell us about Hasbro’s overall collaborations and promotions strategy. How is Hasbro setting itself apart from the crowd? 

Affinity for our diverse brand catalog is being harnessed through our promotional programs with Fortune 500 companies from all around the world. At Hasbro, we put a special focus on being the partner of choice for these top companies to help drive our mutual businesses across key categories and to ultimately deliver all-new branded experiences for fans and families everywhere to enjoy.  

With a portfolio of 1900+ iconic brands, Hasbro sets itself apart by offering such powerhouse IP that brings exciting storytelling with compelling characters and settings, along with innovative products, immersive experiences and so much more. By launching our beloved brands across diverse promotional categories from food and beverage, auto, tech, lifestyle and more, we can drive our mutual businesses forward, while bringing joy and delight to customers everywhere. 

These brand-new promotions are being added to our long list of successful brand campaigns with world-renowned companies. In April 2024, we teamed up with Frito-Lay Variety Packs to show families how Frito-Lay snacks can add more joy to their snacking occasions and bring everyone together. Through two brands dedicated to inspiring fun each day, we brought Frito-Lay Variety Packs’ iconic snacks and Hasbro’s gaming experiences to life through TV spots and limited-edition Frito-Lay Variety Packs featuring popular Hasbro board games. To encourage families to hone their trapping skills in advance of St. Patrick’s Day 2024, we teamed up with General Mills to launch “Lucky’s Leprechaun Trap,” which is based on the Lucky Charms cereal and Mouse Trap game families know and love. 

Being able to create such meaningful promotions that serve audiences for both business and all-new fans continues to keep our brands fresh and new. The equity of our portfolio just enhances as we continuously bring these consumer-first campaigns to market. At Hasbro, we plan to continue keeping promotions at the forefront of our franchise-first strategy to keep our brands alive and thriving.