Do toys sell? is something that you would wonder about in this digital era. Interestingly, it does, if one is to go by Hasbro India’s growth. And now the company seems to be cashing on this during the on-going ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The toy company with brands including Play-Doh, NERF, Transformers and Monopoly, introduced its new offering ‘Monopoly Cricket’. “Monopoly Cricket is one of the biggest launches which we have done in this year and in the past one or two years. It’s an opportunity to get two key fan led properties together, one is monopoly and the second one is cricket as cricket is a religion in India,” Lalit Parmar, country manager, Hasbro India, told BrandWagon Online.
The company’s profit after tax increased (PAT) 7X to Rs 7.77 crore in FY22 from Rs 0.99 crore (Rs 99 lakh) in FY21, as per the regulatory filings accessed by business intelligence platform, Tofler. While the company’s revenue from operations grew 33.36% to Rs 103.74 crore in FY22 from Rs 77.79 crore in FY21. The toy company which has also been spending on marketing and advertising upped its budget by 70% increase to Rs 12.53 crore in FY22 from Rs 7.36 crore in FY21. The company, which follows a mixed media strategy, declined to provide further details on its advertising and marketing strategy.
Meanwhile, at a global scale sales fell to $1.5 billion, missing projections of $1.65 billion as per a Bloomberg report. The maker of Monopoly and Transformers now expects its revenue to fall by 13-15%. Additionally, Hasbro said its entertainment segment was down 42%, attributing the decline in part to the writers and actors strikes in Hollywood.
Back in India, the launch of the new product is in partnership with Mosaic Games and priced at Rs 999. Following the company’s channel of distribution, the ‘Monopoly Cricket’ which is conceptualised exclusively for Indian audiences aged above the age of 8 years, will be sold on e-commerce platforms, novelty stores, merchandise platforms and local stores. “We partnered with a third party, an external design agency called Mozaic Games based out of Bengaluru. The idea is to get fans, kids and families to come together and experience the thrill of cricket in our game. So that has been one of the key objectives. I feel that this game democratises the entire gameplay because everyone is on the same level playing field when you’re sitting across and competing with each other to win the game. It’s a game of skill, strategy and luck,” Parmar said.
The company confirmed to be aligned with the government’s initiative of Make in India, and manufacturing ‘Monopoly Cricket’ in India.
Additionally, the company launched an ad campaign to promote the new product. “From a marketing perspective, we have done local communication development in India. Apart from that, there is also an in-store merchandising happening along with the influencers marketing on social media. We are also doing a lot of activity on e-commerce platforms to drive awareness and visibility for this particular version,” he explained.
The company further claimed that in India games and puzzles are one of the biggest subcategories, which has been consistently growing. “The idea for brands like us is to integrate technology rather than considering technology as a threat. Versions like super electronic banking and ultimate banking have electronic units and cards as part of the entire gameplay. So, we have never been shying away from technology but embracing them. There are a lot of games and opportunities in which we integrate new technologies such as AR and VR,” he added.