Talking Toys: Hasbro’s Kim Boyd joins Women in Gaming Innovators campaign to support talent

Everything we do is guided by consumers and insights. We spend a lot of time and effort on basic research…and then we combine that with always monitoring things that have to do with cultural shifts [and] trends, just to make sure our groundwork is up to date. So, in terms of girls, in most cases we are talking about a generation of alpha girls, those born after 2010. of any generation.

We find that this generation of girls is technology driven. They are empowered and determined to take control of themselves and the world around them. They are extremely adaptable; they are curious. They’re creative, they love humor… but it’s because of all these things that we think about when we’re thinking about developing a new brand or a new gaming experience, or even if we’re thinking about developing new content, because we need to stay, we want to make sure that we All that was done was talk directly to the girl. If that’s the case, we’re talking about a girl-led franchise, and I’d say Phoebe is a great example of that.

Furby’s universal truth or brand truth is about expressing yourself. We call it “bringing your inner fur,” which essentially means being free to be yourself. If it’s weird or silly or funny, that’s okay. This idea of ​​self-expression is a thread that runs through Furby and permeates the entire gaming experience.

We did spend many years focusing specifically on this Gen Alpha girl, and in fact even went back to the drawing board with that particular brand through testing when we realized at one point it just wasn’t resonating with her… Even though we do a lot of insight work and groundwork, we may take some insights that may be girl-centric, we always make sure that all of our communications and marketing is geared toward a broader audience because we want all of our toys and brand inclusivity.

We have a diverse portfolio of brands targeting many different audiences, each with their own purpose and beliefs. So, for me, the magic is being able to combine brand belief with insight to deliver a truly unique gaming experience. Because we have such a rich portfolio of brands, we can serve a very broad group of consumers, which is great.

We want to ensure we are powering the town and our industry through a diverse group of individuals who reflect the purpose for which we were created. So, in a lot of ways, we need to create a clear pathway for young girls in this situation so that the things that we’re doing, for example, like you mentioned with Girl Up, having collaborations like Girl Up partner [for Girl Innovators of Play] Empowering our audience to speak directly to girls, exposing them to our industry and receiving mentorship.

it is [Girl Innovators of Play] It’s a great way to expose them to the industry, encourage their creativity, innovative thinking and their long-term goals of ultimately pursuing a career in the industry, and they contribute to the diversity we hope to have in the future. For those who are creating. Clearly, the more diverse our relationships with creators, the better the innovation will be.

We want to have common interests and common goals, and it’s important to us that they also want to promote innovation and entertainment. This is also critical to our relationship and partnership with Girl Up. Our commitment to inspiring and upskilling the next generation of innovators is so important. And then there’s how we do that together.

In the case of Girl Up, we work closely with them to understand the most natural and beneficial ways to talk to them [young girls]encourage them, and enhance some of their talents… Girl Innovators at Play are very focused on thinking, “Okay, we’re talking to adults, women in the industry or trying to get into the industry, but let’s Next up is thinking about the next generation. So Girl Up is just one partnership, but I hope we will have more partnerships because I know there are a lot of other great organizations that are equally interested in further developing our future innovators. .

When we started this project a year ago, it was all about promoting an inclusive and equitable toy play community. This is one of our top priorities. And then, obviously, we want to encourage more women to get involved in this field, increase awareness and exposure, and start creating a better path in this creative field.

Specifically, when we launched Women in Game Innovators, we also launched the Women in Game Innovators Challenge. It’s building a community, so to speak, and helping provide a clear path to market for these female innovators.

For the actual event itself, we want to have the right mix of experts and expertise and real tactical on-the-ground information. We want to hear something helpful, whether you submitted an invention idea last year, information about your social media presence, or have a booster or profile on social media. So I think you’re going to see a very diverse program this year.

We promote what we’re doing more actively because we want to cast the widest possible net, because we’re trying to grow this community…, and because we want to make sure that as many women as possible have access and exposure to this point.

Female Gaming Innovators and Girls Gaming Innovators are just one part of Hasbro’s larger goal to truly help advance equity in our space. We also work with other great organizations in the industry, like Women in Toys, which is a great organization that helps celebrate achievements because I think celebrating [and] It is important to expand the achievements of women in this field.

We are committed to once again elevating and amplifying our achievements and ensuring that more women receive attention and awareness. We can help create a clear path for those interested in having a more creative following into a more creative career path. Partnering with Women in Toys is just the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate some of these achievements.

Now more than ever, people need to connect through play, whether it’s a toy or a game. So we have this incredible opportunity as a manufacturer of toys and games, and Hasbro is really committed to ensuring diversity of thought and making sure that we’re creating a fair, diverse industry so that we can continue to provide the best Gaming experience – to really continue to inspire the next generation so that we can continue to fuel the pipeline.