Hasbro Sells Game Manufacturing Plants; Focuses On "Global Brand Experiences"

It's kinda tangential to RPG news, so I wasn't originally going to cover this. But enough people have emailed me links to it that there's clearly interest in the subject. Hasbro has just sold its game manufacturing plants (one in Massachusetts, USA; and one in Waterford, Ireland) to Cartamundi, a Belgian company. They're not getting out of the publishing of games, just the physical manufacturing side, and this affects CCGs and boardgames rather than RPGs.

The plants produce Magic: The Gathering, Monopoly, and many other Hasbro games.

In a sentence familiar by now to D&D fans, Duncan Billing (executive vice president, chief global operations and business development officer) said “We will continue to focus on global brand building, driven by great storytelling and innovation”. The CEO, Brian Goldner, phrases it as "Hasbro is in the middle of transitioning itself from a toy and game company to an organization delivering global brand experiences." That's a phrase that will echo around the messageboards for a while....

The staff is being retained at both locations.

 

[DM Howard]

Even though they are still in the publishing business that doesn't bode well that they are getting out of their vertical integration.

 

[Raunalyn]

It looks like this could easily be tied to the layoff rumors as well.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Could someone please explain what " global brand experiences" means in the real world? What does one DO with a global brand experience? I play games, I play with and read game books. I honestly have no idea why I would buy, or what the hell I would do, with a global brand experience.

How does one enjoy a global brand experience? This isn't making a lot of sense.

 

[Curmudjinn]

It's executive talk for spend less money to make more.

 

[77IM]

"Global brand experience" means that they don't care so much about making and selling the Monopoly board game when people can instead play the Monopoly video game and read the Monopoly novels and watch the Monopoly movie and the Monopoly: Park Place mini-series on Showtime, etc. etc.

 

[ZeshinX]

Global brand experience. Execu-speak translated roughly as "We're gonna let others put out so much half-arsed, middling quality stuff with one of our logos on it, you'll be entirely sick of them and anything else we may let others put out there in the future."

It's an executive's ultimate wet pipe-dream. Control a swath of popular/trending IPs, but not actually spending money on producing/developing those IPs. License out those IPs to anyone willing to fork over the money to do so, then slap their own logo on it. Good example of that approach is the storyline horse offal that are the D&D storyline modules.

This will succeed. For a while. Eventually though, anything with their logos on it will be viewed as washed-out and empty trash, beneath even the level of "guilty pleasure".

 

[Zaruthustran]

Very interesting. They're dumping physical assets as well as payroll & pensions for (presumably) thousands of workers. The PR-speak says they're focusing on IP & brand extension.

Hmm... to me, this sounds like they're trimming fat to make themselves more attractive as an acquisition target. A Disney or Sony looking to grab a bushel of IP doesn't want or care about physical manufacturing plants or a bunch of expensive American laborers.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

While I detest corporate wank-speak, specialisation does seem to bring benefits just as mergers and acquisitions typically destroy value.

In any business I have owned or run, I prefer that manufacturing be handled by manufacturing specialists. It's not just simply about controlling costs: it's about maintaining focus.

 

[pming]

Hmmm... so, it seems to me, they are basically saying:

"We don't care about any of you or D&D, per se, as long as we can make money. When it stops making money, we're done with it and now we don't have to worry about all that pesky 'actual product production' and the employees, pensions, severance, etc....we can just quit at any time. But, uh, trust us... D&D is going strong so keep giving us money and keep buying all the stuff that others are making, because they are already giving us money so they can slap the D&D logo on their product, because we like their money more than yours, because, y'know, it's more, right? Jus' sayin'..."

*shrug* I've never been one for The End is Nigh! types...but I think I may have to invest in a stick, some paint and an old scrap of cardboard...

Oh well... I still have 1e, BECMI/RC, and 5e now, so I'm set for life anyway.

^_^

Paul L. Ming