Christiansen, Kateryna

Fowler, Kylee

Malan, Ashley

Neal, Colin

Ross, Casey

Table ofC O N T E N T S

History

Mission

Organizational StructureStrategyGoals and Objectives

Past IMC

Present IMC

Finances

Sales

Copy

Competitors

Target Audience

Summary

1

3

578910111213

Timeline 15Bibliography 14

H I S T O R Y

1

In its early years, Hasbro started as a textile business. It was founded by Henry, Hilal and Herman Has-senfeld; three Polish brothers who had immigrated to the United States. The company was founded in 1923 in Providence, Rhode Island as Hassenfeld Brothers Incorporated. Their sales of pencil boxes and cloth zipper pouches stayed strong, even through the Great Depression, and in 1935 they began to manufacture pencils be-cause their former pencil supplier raised prices.

In 1952, the company introduced Mr. Potato Head. It was the first toy to be advertised on television. Two years later, Hassenfeld became a major license for Disney characters, and by the end of the decade, the company became one of the largest private toy companies in the nation. Hasbro Canada Inc. was founded in 1961 and in just a few short years the GI Joe was released. In its first two years, G.I. Joe brought in between $35 and $40 million and accounted for nearly two-thirds of the company’s total sales.

In 1968, the company changed its name to Hasbro Industries and went public. The late 60’s and 70’s proved to be turbulent times for Hasbro. War toys had increasing disapproval and Hasbro was losing money quickly. The company acted on a need to branch out and began producing nursery toys. While this line, “Romper Room”, saw success, the company had several failed toys throughout the decade. Financially stormy years followed. But, by the early 1980’s, Hasbro had become the nation’s sixth-best-selling toymaker. In 1984 Hasbro bought out Milton Bradley, another one of the nation’s biggest toymakers.

The company began to manufacture toys in the late 1930’s as a result of World War II. They offered little toy medical sets and air-raid warden kits. By 1942, the company was primarily a toy company. After the war, they began making a girls makeup kit after one of the Hassenfeld brothers saw his daughter pretend to put on lipstick with a piece of candy.

Today, Hasbro Inc. is the world’s second largest toymaker The Game of Life entered the market in 1960 and has become an American tradition. Hasbro’s description of the game is: “While playing the game, families have had fun carrying out life’s little adventures by placing pink and blue peg people in cars while traveling a 3-D game board and making life decisions on the way to “retirement.” The retail price of the first produced game was $6.00 and was endorsed by the television star Art Linkletter. The Game of Life is available in 59 countries and 26 languages. There are 28 versions or themes of the Game of Life. The game is continuously being updated and changed to create a new experience for customers but it continues to be an American family favorite.

The acquisition of Milton Bradley is where The Game of Life comes into Hasbro’s story. Milton Bradley was started by a lithographer in 1860. His first invention was a board game called “The Checkered Game of Life” and was the precursor to what is now the popular board game, “The Game of Life.” Milton Bradley stayed in business for years through lightweight board games made for the Union troops during the Civil War and favorites such as chess and checkers. As time went on, Bradley invented original games such as Easy Money during the Great Depression and Concentration in the 1950’s. The acquisition of Playskool and the invention of Twister put Milton Bradley into the limelight. In 1984, Milton Bradley was in an unstable financial position and agreed to be bought by Hasbro for $360 million. The two companies complemented each other and saw success. For a while, the company even challenged Mattel’s position to be the largest toy company in the world.

Hasbro Inc. acquired Coleco Industries in 1989, giving Hasbro the rights to Cabbage Patch Kids, Scrabble and Parcheesi. Tonka corp. was also acquired by Hasbro in 1991. In the early 90’s, Hasbro struggled to enter the rapidly growing electronic industry but finally found success in producing CD-Rom versions of classic games like Monopoly.

2

M I S S I O N “The heart of Hasbro’s business is making great games, toys, lifestyle and entertainment products that are enjoyed by people of all ages worldwide. Hasbro intends to be the number-one company in the toy and game industry; the leading provider of play; and the number-one marketer, pioneer and partner in all channels and all customers.”

Hasbro also states, “As a world-class, branded play company our primary purpose is simple: to bring play to life for children and families around the world through our beloved brands. Our responsibilities, though, extend much further than the design studio or factory gate.”

In 2010 the company published their 3-fold list of priorities: Product Safety, Manufacturing Ethics and Environmental Sustainability. They are very focused on reducing their carbon footprint and have a goal to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 10% from 2008 levels by 2012. Another objective they set for this year is a commitment to eliminate polyvinyl chloride from all new toy and game packaging beginning in 2013.

Goals and Objectives

3

Hasbro’s strategy is innovation within their already successful brands. This means focusing in on their core brands, creating new toys within them and updating existing products. They create experiences out of these well-known brands through entertainment, digital and other media. The company out-licenses many of their brands for use in other industries such as digital gaming, apparel, school supplies and other non-toy products. They also use licensing agreements to manufacture toys from popular entertainment. An example of this is the line of Star Wars toys and action figures. This is in support of their mission to be the “leading provider of play.”

Hasbro Inc. is a publicly traded company that is led by a CEO and a board of directors. As of now, they have 5,800 global employees and 3,088 US employees. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The majority of its products are manufactured in East Asia.

Strategy

Organizational Structure

4

5

P A S T I M C

TV Commercials

The Game of Life has not been heavily advertised in the past. It has been promoted by their classic television commercials that have run throughout the decades, as well as through partnerships with other brands and companies. Most of their partnerships have been campaigns designed mainly for the other brands, but in each case The Game of Life was promoted nonetheless.

Commercials for The Game of Life have always been family-oriented, showing young children playing the game. Their target has always been made clear in the commercials, and the brand’s image has remained constant throughout the decades.

One partnership they had was with Visa in August 2007. They released a new version of the game called The Game of Life: Twists & Turns Edition, which replaced cash with a Visa-branded card for the game’s currency. According to a press release on the Hasbro Inc. website, this new version was a way to update the game to match modern-day life. The Visa cards in the game worked with a new electronic “LIFEPod,” an electronic banking unit that replaced the classic spin wheel. It tracked each player’s financial data as well as their status in the game. The winner of this version was not the player that accumulated the most money, but the one who earns the most “life points,” a combination of wealth and life experiences. The game got some bad PR for Visa, because people thought that they were teaching children bad habits of building debt, but overall it brought a lot of attention to both brands and was a popular version of the game. (Business Wire) Another partnership they had was with Rite Aid. In the beginning of 2010, Rite Aid launched a contest called the Rite Aid Game of Life, where customers received game boards and got a free game ticket each time they made a purchase. When they got the right combination of game tickets, they could win from a wide array of major prizes, from $20 gift cards to $250,000 cash. They could also win one of the Instant prizes, which were valued between $2 in cash to a $50,000 G37 Infiniti Convertible. The contest ran from January 3, 2010 to February 27, 2010. While this was not a direct campaign for The Game of Life, it brought the game to the front of peoples’ minds. (Riteaid.com)

Partnerships

6

Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont has held a “Game of Life” budgeting simulation for students every semester since 2011. The purpose of this is to get the students to think about what their financial situation could be after graduation. Again, while this is not a direct marketing effort made for The Game of Life, it serves as a public relations tool for the brand. (Champlain)

Events

There have been many versions of The Game of Life, and each time a new one comes out it brings attention to the brand. Most versions are associated with some other product that has its own niche of consumers, so this is a great way to increase sales. Some of the versions include: Super Jinsei Game Series (1994) in JapanThe Game of Life in Monstropolis (Monsters, Inc.) (2001)Sailor Moon Edition (Japan Only)The Game of Life Card Game (2002)Fame Edition (or Game of Life Junior/travel version) (2002)Star Wars: A Jedi’s Path (2002)Pirates of the Caribbean (2004)The Simpsons Edition (2004)Bikini Bottom SpongeBob SquarePants Edition (2004)Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)The Game of Life/Yahtzee/Payday Game Boy Advance gameTwists and Turns Edition (2007)The Game of Life Express (2007)The Game of Life Wii game (2008)Indiana Jones Edition (2008, Target exclusive)Pokémon Edition (Japan only)SpongeBob SquarePants Edition (2008)Family Guy Collectors Edition (2008)The Game of Life WiiWare game (2009) (Japan Only)The Wizard of Oz Edition (2009)The Game of Life - Haunted Mansion Theme Park Edition (2009)The Game of Life Classic Edition iPhone game (2009)The Game of Life High School Edition (aka “Pink Edition”)LIFE: Rock Star EditionGame Show Edition on The Hub (2011)

(Wikipedia)

“The Game of Life” Special Editions

P R E S

I M C

E N T

The most recent advertising partnership for The Game of Life has been with the Toyota Prius c. Toyota, along with its reputable current advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi LA, partnered with Hasbro to use The Game of Life to target city-dwelling millennials who are purchasing a car for the first time. The campaign used The Game of Life for a few different media, with the main ones being broadcast commercials and digital.

Partnerships

The Game of Life zAPPed Edition

The Game of Life has been kept up-to-date with each new version, and the latest one is no exception. The new “zAPPed” version lets you connect your iPad to the game board. The game still has the good family-oriented board game feeling, as you still get to move your car around the board and select your path to retirement, but on your iPad you can spin, get paid, sue other players, and make important decisions. You can even customize your peg character. (Hasbro Gaming)

The online media featured virtual board game. It included a series of videos with tips for real life, along with a vehicle configurator that let users customize their own Prius c with colors and trim. Everything in the campaign used bright colors and bold imagery to reflect The Game of Life brand. (Toyota)

7

8

Hasbro Inc. is a branded play company dedicated to fulfilling the fundamental need for children and families to play through creative expression of the Company’s world class brand portfolio, including TRANSFORMERS, MONOPOLY, PLAY-DOH, The Game of Life, NERF, and G.I. JOE. From toys and games, to television programming, motion pictures, digital gaming and a comprehensive licensing program, Hasbro strives to delight its global customers with innovative play and entertainment experiences, in a variety of forms and formats. The Hasbro Company develops and produces television programming and board games for more than 170 markets around the world, and for the U.S. Hasbro Inc. went public on December 18, 1984 with an opening price of $56.71 per share of the company stock. Within just one month of going public the company’s stock had risen so much that they decided to split the stock at a 5:2 stock split. Since Hasbro’s 1984 opening on the public market it has split its stock a total of 7 times. Because of their financial history with its investors’ returns, Hasbro is a safe place for new investors. In 1984 Hasbro Inc. acquired the Milton Bradley Company. This was the same year that Hasbro decided to become a publicly traded company. In 1984 because of the acquisition Hasbro was able to start producing and selling the Game of Life under its own name. This merger was a huge factor in the success of the Hasbro game companies success and what led to many people investing in the company. The graph below shows the finical growth of the Hasbro companies stock success. As of 2011 Hasbro Inc. had a Net Revenue of $4.29 billion and Net Earnings of $385.4 million. (Yahoo Finance)

F I N A N C E S

S A L E S

9

It is hard to measure exactly how much The Game of Life’s advertising and promotions have affected its sales, and there are no exact numbers available online. The brand has not advertised very heavily or consistently, but it is safe to speculate that the things they have done to push sales have certainly done the job. The brand has been able to effectively find creative ways to increase its sales. Their most prominent strategy has been partnering with other companies or brands, both through their direct advertising and through the hundreds of different editions of the game that have been released. Partnerships between brands usually increase sales on both sides, because the product appeals to consumers of both brands. For example, in 2006, The Game of Life released its “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” edition. This brought in sales from consumers that normally wouldn’t purchase The Game of Life, but who did because they were big fans of the movie. Without its many movie and television show themed editions, The Game of Life certainly wouldn’t be quite as successful as it is today. It is also important to take into account the many different editions of the game that haven’t been associated with other brands, but that have brought new interest to the game. “The Game of Life Card Game,” “The Game of Life Express,” and the latest, “The Game of Life zAPPed,” are all examples of this. They brought something new to the game that would make consumers that perhaps already even had other versions of the game already want to buy the new edition as well.

As a well-known brand and a tradition in many American families, The Game of Life doesn’t have to spend a lot in advertising to sell its products, as has been proven over the years. The game will keep selling as long as they keep their current strategy of releasing new editions and updating the game to keep it interesting.

10

C O M P E T I T O R S

“Hasbro” takes second place among toy-maker companies in the US, after “Mattel.” Apart from “Mattel”, “Hasbro” also competes with world-famous game companies, like “Jakks Pacific,” “Parker Brothers,” and “Milton Bradley.” More specifically, “The Game of Life” competes with other board games, such as “Monopoly,” “Clue,” “Risk,” “Catan,” and others. However, “The Game of Life” proved itself to be one of a few games with a unique selling proposition and implementation of new technologies (iPad). (Hoovers.com)

C O P Y The copy used to advertise The Game of Life has varied throughout the decades. In the 60’s the tagline, “Thats Life” was used and a song was created in one commercial that said, “You will learn about life when you play the game of life”. Also in the song was a pitch for Milton Bradley that said, “Milton Bradley has the best games in the world”. Later in the 80’s the tagline changed to, “You and your family have got to play it”.

More recently The Game of Life has used advertising differently than it did in the past. Instead of creating commercials for themselves they were featured in a Toyota campaign for the Prius C in 2012. The Commercial advertised the virtual game board while using the phrase, “Be a winner with the Prius C”. Today copy for the online version of The Game of Life reads, “It’s your life, where do you want to go?”

11

12

T A R G E T

The target demographic of people who play board games is between the ages of 25-34 and is primarily women. Women have an index number of 127 compared to men at 71. In addition, those with a college education or beyond are much more likely to play board games. Those who graduated college have an index number of 155 and those that did not graduate high school have an index of 32. Education is a key indicator of their involvement with board games. Targets work mainly in professional occupations, management, business and financial careers. They are most likely to have a household income of $75,000-149,000/year and likely have children age 11 or younger. The territories in the United States with the most board game players are the Midwest and Northeast. Marital status does not play a huge role in the demographic although married and engaged individuals are slightly more likely to play board games regularly. In terms of race, Black and Asian people are least likely to play board games while whites, American Indians and Alaska Natives are most likely to play them.

A U D I E N C E

In media, regular board game players don’t use any one medium extensively. However, the Internet seems to be the lowest used medium and newspaper is one of the highest used. Pay-per-view/last 12 months and video on demand/last 30 days had high index numbers. The most popular TV channels among board game players were HGTV, PBS Kids Sprout and TLC. The most popular magazines were Better Homes and Gardens, Cosmopolitan, Entrepreneur, Cooking Light and Everyday with Rachel Ray. The most popular websites were Yahoo Mail, Itunes, Pandora, Web MD.com and Amazon.com. Lastly, the best times to reach the target demographic on the radio are weekday drive times from 6-10AM, and 3-7PM. (Mediamark)

S U M M A R YThe Game of Life was created by Milton Bradley in 1860. It was his first game and originally called “The Check-ered Game of Life.” The original game used a 6-sided top (teetotum) instead of dice because it was too similar to gambling. The Game of Life today uses a spinning wheel instead of dice - inspired by the teetotum.

The Game of Life has not been advertised very heavily. It has been lightly promoted through broadcast television commercials and partnerships with other brands, as well as with its many different editions of the game. Nonetheless, it has remained as one of the most popular games out there since its beginning.

Now, The Game of Life is an American family tradition. The game has evolved over the years from a simple board game into new digital versions. The game continues to promote family and life values. It is played by families with young children and enriches family time. The game, which originally entertained men at the bar, is now a family past time.

13

14

B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Business Wire. “New Edition of THE GAME OF LIFE Now Takes Visa.” 8 March 2007. News release through Hasbro. <investor.hasbro.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=586159> Champlain College. “Champlain College Students Play the ‘Game of Life’.” 31 October, 2012. <http://www.champlain.edu/news-and-events/news/gameoflife.html>

Funding Universe. “Hasbro, Inc. History.” International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 16. St. James Press, 1997. <http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/hasbro-inc-history/>

Hasbro. “THE GAME OF LIFE Celebrates 50 Years.” 12 February 2010 Press Release. <http://investor.hasbro.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=586111> Hasbro Gaming. “THE GAME OF LIFE: zAPPed Edition.” 2013. <http://www.hasbro.com/games/en_US/shop/details.cfm?R=1BB09E0D-5056-900B-10A5-B2774C8FEA89:en_US>

Hoovers A D&B Company <http://www.hoovers.com/company-information/cs/company-profile.Hasbro_Inc.51fcb5c326082378.html> Mediamark Reporter. 2011. Retrieved from: <http://ureporter.mriplusonline.com/selectdemo.asp> Rite Aid. “GAME OF LIFE Rules.” Jan 2010. <http://www5.riteaid.com/game-of-life/rules> Toyota. “Toyota Debuts Integrated Marketing Campaign for All-New Prius c.” 12 March 2012. Toyota USA Newsroom. <http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+debuts+integrated+marketing+campaign+all-new+prius+c.htm> Wikipedia. “The Game of Life.” (Other Versions list). <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_of_Life>

Wikispaces. “Internal Analysis.” 29 Jan 2009: Web. 12 Nov 2009. <http://hasbro-parkerbros.wikispaces.com/Internal+Analysis> Yahoo Finance. 2013. Hasbro Inc. (HAS). <http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=HAS&ql=1>

T I M E L I N E

15

1860

1923

1960

1984

1991

Milton Bradley creates “the checkered game of life“

“Hasbro“ founded

“The Game of Life“ entered the market

“Hasbro” purchased Milton Bradley

“The Game of Life“ was modeled to reward children for good behavior

16

1998

2000

2008

2012

“The Game of Life“ was created into a CD-ROM edition

The 40th-year anniversary edition of “The Game of Life“

Creation of “Star Wars,“ “Spongebob,“ etc. editions

The iPad version created

17