By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Research shows that women make 70% of the buying decisions when it comes to toys and games, but only 30% of toy executives and 7% of toy inventors are women.
Kim Boyd, a veteran of the toy industry and a top decision-maker at the toy giant Hasbro, says that’s something that has to change in order to see more innovation.
Boyd was recently promoted to head Hasbro’s Global Toy Brands and Licensed Consumer Products unit so Hasbro develops more consistent franchise plans that consider all consumer touch points across toys, licensed merchandise, experiential opportunities, and out-licensed master toy relationships. In that position, she’s responsible for driving Hasbro’s brands globally with consumer-led innovation.
“Women have been behind some of Hasbro’s most iconic and enduring toy and game designs, from Candy Land (Eleanor Abbott) to Jenga (Leslie Scott), to so many more,” Boyd points out. “Our own successes have shown that the most enduring IP can come from women leadership, but it’s not enough to just have women leaders.
“Right now, women make up only about 7% of professional inventors. As an industry, we have so much work to do to welcome more women and underrepresented inventors into the fold,” she adds. “At Hasbro specifically, we know the products and experiences we create can have a huge impact on people’s lives. That’s why we believe the community of creators behind those toys and games must better reflect the players for whom we’re making them.”
It’s also something Boyd understands very well, having joined Hasbro in 2006, and having held several leadership positions herself. She’s led brand teams across multiple categories, including Action Brands, Gaming, Fashion and Preschool, along with her successful experience leading marketing across all Hasbro brands in the North American region for Hasbro’s toy and game business.
Boyd’s job is to intelligently and strategically guide Hasbro’s innovation in coming years, producing new products that are appealing to the buyers … but that’s hard to do when there aren’t that many women making the decisions.That’s why Boyd’s first big moves were to encourage more women to join the industry, through initiatives like the first Women Innovators of Play event, or the recent Women Innovators of Play Challenge.
“I firmly believe that it is important to have women leaders, not only for their contribution to the business, but also because they are role models for other women,” Boyd explains. “There were very few women that I wanted to “be just like” when I was coming up, but there was one. And for me, it only took one. Seeing that one example of a strong woman leader meant I could do it too, and that maybe I didn’t have to choose between being a good mom or a good wife or being good at my job. Having more women role models in positions of power opens doors for other women talent.”
The Hasbro: Women Innovators of Play event was held to educate participants on women’s contributions to the entertainment industry, and included discussions surrounding leadership, innovation, and creativity with prominent female mentors from the toy and entertainment industry. That group featured some of Hasbro’s women leaders including Gina Goetter, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Roberta Thompson, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer; and Tanya Thompson, Senior Director, Inventor Relations.
“We can’t just wait for change to happen or for the industry to decide to be more inclusive toward women,” Boyd says. “We must actively make the decision to be at the forefront by creating opportunities to nurture and boost talented women creators. That’s why we want the Hasbro game table to be the premier destination for both women players and creators.”
How Kim Boyd is Positioning Hasbro for Long-Term Growth
While encouraging women to join the Hasbro team is a priority, Boyd says the overall goal is to foster an overall atmosphere of innovation at Hasbro, by unleashing the creativity within the organization. That was the core goal behind the creation of her new team.
“In my new role, I am bringing together two critical components of our organization into one powerhouse team; our Global Toy Team and the Licensed Consumer Products team,” Boyd explains. “We’ll now be able to better maximize the full potential of our incredible portfolio of brands across all consumer touchpoints.”
Flattening and streamlining the teams within Hasbro is all geared toward what Boyd calls ‘magic moments’, when toys or games create a time of joy or delight for children, parents, and adult consumers. As well, those magic moments need to be extended throughout every channel in which Hasbro operates, creating more touch points with the fans.
“Every time a fan or a child interacts with our brands, we have an opportunity to deliver a magic moment,” Boyd says. “While these moments can be created with toys – a huge part of what we do – we also deliver through experiences, live events, entertainment, fashion and merchandise, to name a just few other channels.
“Our goal is to further elevate and unify those magic moments so that we deepen the engagement with existing fans and welcome new fans. We’ll also continue to service our valued partners and licensees with excellence and a bias to action. And I’m also focused on building an even stronger internal culture and elevating women leaders on my own team.”
Diversity In Teams Results in Better Decisions
Boyd is clear that her experience in the toy industry has shown her that more diverse teams come up with more and better ideas, and encourage development of products that speak to a wider customer base.
“Diversity of thought is critical to idea generation and personal experiences matter, especially in a consumer-focused business,” she argues. “Let’s also not forget that women make up close to half of the industry from an end-user standpoint, not to mention half of the global population!
“Most purchase decisions are made by women, so it only makes sense to have women in leadership roles. But the lack of representation in women’s leadership that spans the industry means we can’t harness the diversity of thought needed to create unique and exciting play experiences. We miss out on the perspectives, imagination and creativity needed to go after a wider market.”
There is also a seemingly obvious but often overlooked element to this philosophy. Whether it’s in entertainment, video games or toys, if a segment of the population doesn’t see themselves reflected in the film, TV series, video game or toy, they are less likely to purchase that product. Ignoring half the customer base on the planet, Boyd notes, is not a winning strategy.
“Games tap into a primal need: to be social and to be connected,” she says. “Another need, just as deep, is to seek out experiences where we see ourselves reflected. If we aren’t creating play experiences that reflect the consumer, and connecting them back to their wider community, we aren’t building lifelong fans.”
Hasbro Announces First Women Innovators of Play Virtual Event
The Women Innovators of Play program has for that reason become central to Hasbro’s innovation strategy, and in fact, organizing those recent events was among the first thing Boyd did in her new division.
Women Innovators of Play, which originally launched in 2023, is a program made up of both a free, virtual thought leadership event and a toy and game design Challenge. The overall goal, Boyd says, is to strengthen the pipeline of future talent across toys, games, and more broadly, STEM toys and games.
“We intentionally designed the event to be accessible and inclusive with a goal of galvanizing women to harness their brilliance and creativity to do their best work,” Boyd says. “The Challenge encourages women inventors of all backgrounds and experience levels to submit their toy and game ideas to receive funding, mentorship and a trip to Hasbro HQ. We got some really great submissions last year and hope our next big idea comes from this year’s challenge submissions.”
While the Challenge is over for this year, Boyd says Hasbro is committed to continuing the program, and building momentum for next year’s event, with the hard-nosed goal of identifying talented inventors and potential new executives, and of course, to bring toys and games created by women to the global market.
“If we can reach a mass audience and help bring a woman-led toy or game idea to market, we’ve been successful,” Boyd says.
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