The senior marketing director says Hasbro is in a “great position” as it heads into 2019. 

According to Craig, a strong festive performance for Hasbro has given the company ‘great momentum’ going into this year. “We opened a lot of new accounts and this, combined with our continued focus on new business development, specifically on our Fan category, will drive success throughout 2019,” he enthuses.

Alongside a number of very positive reactions to Hasbro’s Transformers and gaming lines, specifically Monopoly Cheaters and its evergreen games titles, Nerf Laser Ops was selected by Philip Schofield as his top toy for Christmas on ITV’s How To Spend it Well at Christmas, which lead to the product enjoying what Craig calls a “fantastic year”.

“Equally, the launch of our Nerf Nation apparel range in leading retailers has resulted in an incredible performance,” he adds. “This year, I’m excited to see our portfolio strengthen even further with the launches of Nerf Fortnite, Power Rangers, Overwatch, Top Wing, Moon & Me and the long-awaited Frozen 2 product lines. We also have fantastic product development coming in autumn across our ranges, so watch this space.”

When asked what he sees as the biggest challenges and opportunities for Hasbro this year, Craig points to the company’s diverse brands and its unique innovation within its product ranges. “This puts us in a great position going into this year,” he explains. “We have a clear focus to accelerate our fan and pre-school sectors moving forward, bringing us some exciting new opportunities. I’m feeling really positive coming out of previews, and of the Hong Kong and London Toy Fairs. However, retail disruption and Brexit are areas that we continue to monitor closely. At the same time, competition from categories outside of Toys & Games is growing and, as a collective industry, we need to ensure we are winning.”

“We are incredibly confident in the strength of our growing brand portfolio, and I’m really excited about 2019,” he ends.