Disney+ Increases Hasbro’s Profits
Today, Hasbro announced its annual and quarterly financial results, and Disney+ is one of the key reasons why the companies revenues went up. CEO Brian D. Goldner spoke during an investors call and called out Disney+ as one of the key reasons.
Here are some key quotes from the investors call:
The fact that the library of Disney Princess films are now available together only gives us more opportunity to continue to work with Disney to bring to life those characters and product, and we see a major of course expansion of Disney+ across Europe in 2020, which benefits us.
It’s great to see the level of brand engagement that’s coming for the fan but also it’s really impressive to see how kids are coming into the brand and their engagement that comes from both The Rise of Skywalker, as well as for demand for The Mandalorian. We are very excited to see The Mandalorian Season 2 coming later this fall. Disney+ also has The Clone Wars that are on in the spring. There is also a live-action kids game show called Jedi Temple Challenge, which we think will continue to engage kids.
The Mandalorian black series figure was one of the top sellers in the fourth quarter, and Hasbro leveraged the global phenomenon of The Child, affectionately called Baby Yoda, to drive pre-order sales across several new products which shipped this year. Through new story and characters, young fans are increasingly engaging with Star Wars in major markets around the world.
What’s been fantastic is the success that The Walt Disney Company has seen with Disney+. We are very happy to see the success that they are having. The number of subscribers into the tens of millions. And the engagement with properties like The Mandalorian, we believe that that’s just the beginning of this next phase of engagement for fans and families around the world.
Hasbro’s response to how Disney+ is benefiting them is an interesting one, especially mentioning it so many times during the earnings call. Obviously there is a lot of interest from shareholders right now in Disney+ and the toy industry has been suffering for a while, since more children stop playing with toys much younger due to smart devices and games consoles, plus the loss of major chains like Toys R Us. So having something to have a positive spin on, is important to companies like Hasbro. Especially as they are so heavily focused on licensed toys and having consumers having access to Star Wars, Marvel and Disney Princesses constantly, is much easier on them.
Have you purchased more Disney merchandise since Disney+ launched?