Dive Brief:
- Hasbro named Chris Cocks as its new permanent CEO, effective Feb. 25. Cocks currently serves as president and chief operating officer of the toy company’s digital and role-playing games segment.
- Cocks replaces interim chief Rich Stoddart, a board director who stepped into the role after the company’s longtime CEO Brian Goldner died unexpectedly in October.
- Hasbro promoted Eric Nyman to the role of company president and COO, also effective Feb. 25. Nyman is currently chief consumer officer and COO of Hasbro’s consumer products segment. He replaces former COO John Frascotti, who retired last year.
Dive Insight:
Cocks is stepping into the chief executive spot as the toy maker goes through what seems a never-ending process of evolution and disruption.
The pandemic proved a boon for the toy industry writ large, as sports, school and other in-person activities were put on hold. Last year brought a boom in consumer demand, as well as massive, global supply chain headaches.
For the third quarter, Hasbro said $100 million worth of orders went unfilled during the period and recorded a 7% drop in operating income in its consumer products segment, due mainly to shipping constraints and shipping costs. Even with that pain, though, the company’s revenue overall rose 11%, and operating profits were up 9%, thanks to gains elsewhere in the business including its entertainment segment.
It’s notable, perhaps, that rather than toys, the company’s newly appointed CEO came up in a division that includes digital gaming and Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast subsidiary, which owns the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering role-playing game brands.
Under Cocks, Wizards of the Coast has doubled its revenue to $1 billion and “focused on cooperative game play, expanding new digital initiatives and creating a robust workforce of back-end developers, digital designers, 3D artists and producers,” according to Hasbro. All of that gives the new chief experience in retail, digital mediums, entertainment and other areas where Hasbro operates and wants to expand in.
Today Hasbro is much more than a toy maker. Its intellectual property alone has become a lucrative source of profits through entertainment partnerships. Entertainment and gaming today are two of Hasbro’s “growth pillars” tied to its strategic plan.
Hasbro Chair of the Board Tracy Leinbach said that in Cocks, “we have chosen a leader uniquely positioned to execute and evolve Hasbro’s Brand Blueprint strategy while continuing to generate growth and deliver strong shareholder returns.”
