My question's a bit hefty, so do with it what you will:
The question I would be interested in knowing is what your marketing plan/strategies are? I have worked in marketing for a few years now and I honestly don't understand Hasbro's plan. I am aware that this question probably will go unanswered because it's not your policy to answer questions regarding these things, but I hope it is at least asked as food for thought.
- You do not advertise GI Joe anywhere... apparently not even to your retailers, where for the better part of this year Wal Mart discontinued the product, and Toys R Us has all but stopped even trying to put out new product, in favor of movie merchandise like Thor.
- You only play cartoons on a network (The Hub, of course) that is not readily accessible to children (yet you claim that you market more toward children, rather than the collector). I understand the desire to own a network for mass-marketing purposes... but if it weren't for my DVR I wouldn't know when the show was on, when a new episode was coming, or even what channel it's on, and I'm a 36 year old. How do you think that's working with children?
- You do not follow through with the cartoon you do have, putting it on 'hiatus' while you work on a new movie that will not see the light of day for well over a year. Leaving a vacuum that will only be filled with comics that are far too violent for children to read. And honestly, you expect us to believe that the same team working on a film is also working on your cartoon? I know how the industry works... and that's not how it rolls guys.
- Great ideas like the 30 for 30 gimmick are said to be on hold because you don't want to limit yourselves... when in fact we'd be lucky if we saw 30 new pieces of product in a year the way things are going.
- You do not cross-promote with GI Joe. Let's be honest, two of your better selling products you own: Transformers & NERF. You also own GI Joe... no licensing fees like your other products (Star Wars, Thor, Captain America, MU, etc.). CROSS-PROMOTE them! Have Joe based NERF gear, have Transformer/GI Joe crossovers do something new that will ignite interest! Maybe there's more to it than that, and you can't cross promote... who knows.
There is a lot of potential out there for marketing solutions to increase sales of your product and drive up brand interest, and the Hasbro marketing team is dropping the ball consistently. Time to think outside the box guys.