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Board games boring kids
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February 10, 1998: 10:22 a.m. ET
Hasbro hopes new ad campaign will boost waning interest in traditional toys
From Correspondent Susan Lisovicz
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Best known for its board games and G.I. Joe figures, toymaker Hasbro Inc. is playing a new marketing strategy in an attempt to bolster fading consumer interest in traditional toys.
Collectively, board games such as Scrabble, Parcheezi, Yahtzee and Monopoly bring in $1.3 billion a year, about 40 percent of Hasbro's revenue. They are the equivalent of arch rival Mattel's cash cow Barbie. But slowing growth has Hasbro concerned that Americans are bored with board game, so it's launching a multi-million dollar campaign to encourage families to play games together.
"What our research shows is that kids and parents want to find a way that they can come back together. What we've done is we've taken that need and we've created a message that will target moms and families to let them know that we have great games that will serve that need," said Glenn Kilbride, Hasbro's vice president of marketing.
The $23 billion toy industry is traditionally resistant to economic downturns, but is facing some challenges.
"There's a lot of competition for a kid's time. You have the Internet. You have video games. Kids are being pulled in a lot of directions," said Gary Jacobson, managing director at Jefferies & Co.
Another trend hurting traditional toymakers is the growth of electronics.
Many companies, including Hasbro, are producing Interactive versions of their best known games and dolls. But many of the new hand-held toys don't encourage group play.
Silverlit Toys' Turbo Z, for example, the debut product of its new electronics unit, is programmed by a keyboard on the car itself.
"I think down the road, let's say three years from now, it will probably take as much as 50 percent of the business in electronics," said Kin Cheng, vice president of sales and marketing at Silverlit Toys.
Such projections explain why Hasbro's newest acquisition also is an electronic toy maker. The company is paying $335 million for Tiger Electronics, maker of Laser Tag and Giga Pets.
The deal comes on the first day of the international toy fair in New York.
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Hasbro
Silverlit Toys
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