Enhancing Hasbro brand by expanding social media reach

Hasbro has room to grow and enhance its products by incorporating different social media vehicles into their short-term and long-range plans. Television ad spots will continue to be a large part of their overall strategy. According to Nielsen ratings, kids ages 2-5 spend 32 hours a week watching TV, while children ages 6-11watch TV approximately 28 hours per week (2009, Nielsen). So, television still hits a large audience for Hasbro; however, reaching the adult populations (i.e., the parents) becomes more challenging. This is where social media vehicles such as the experiential marketing (“reliving” their favorite childhood Hasbro games and sharing those via on-line communities/websites), Twitter, Facebook and branded entertainment can really enhance that strategy.

The idea of meaningful marketing also is an important message to consider when developing a marketing strategy. In Tim Leberecht’s article, he notes that it is critical in social media to engage and activate customers “to co-create social content, which serves as the main catalyst for those cross-media conversations that provide the fabric for brands.” I love the metaphor of “fabric for brands” (2009, Leberecht). And while he was referring to the voice of a company, I think this same theory can be applied from a customer perspective.

Hasbro is in a unique position to capitalize on meaningful marketing. How many people have grown up playing Hasbro board games or collecting Hasbro toys? As I was talking with co-workers recently, we talked about how we used to love playing Operation, and how even today, young children carry on the tradition of loving operation (whether it be online via a video game or on the original board game). These special feelings have meaning for us, and those feelings are a chance for Hasbro to engage these consumers. Wouldn’t it be great to have a community site on Hasbro where consumers could tell stories of their favorite Hasbro toys and include photos or videos of them as young children (or even now their own children/grandchildren)? What better way to sell your brand! Coca-Cola is doing some experiential/meaningful marketing through their Open Happiness campaign -- http://cokeusa.com/coca-cola-stories.html. The campaign offers consumers to share their stories of why they love Coke – who knew romance could be found through the love of Coke?

Opportunities for Hasbro to engage consumers through on-line communities are also abound via Twitter and Facebook. By building followers/fans, Hasbro can easily engage customers by providing special discounts/coupons to those individuals through “Facebook freebies,” direct message discounts and social media sharing (2009, Van Grove). These special discounts will make them feel special, as long as you are careful not to offer similar discounts to the masses. Additionally, implementing a customer loyalty program and referral opportunities can provide more opportunities to market the products. These simple strategies ca n be incorporated to help build the community of Hasbro consumers. Hasbro is missing out, particularly this time of year, by not having these types of communication/marketing strategies in place. It would be great to see this done several times a year and possibly incorporated into special discounts on customer’s birthdays, etc. Implementing this on Facebook and Twitter is simply a no-brainer.

Another benefit of this “open” conversation with consumers is the ability to build ad campaigns developed around those conversations. As Jean-Philippe Maheu, chief digital officer for Ogilvy, states, “Ultimately, brands need to have a role in society. The best way to have a role in society is to understand how people are talking about things in real time" (2009, Steel). And while companies should rely on traditional research methods as well, hearing what customers are saying about you and learning from them can be a key piece to your overall marketing strategy and allow you to really tune-in to the wants/needs of those buying/using your product.

The last vehicle that is worth mentioning and further researching is branded entertainment. I love the example in Jaffe’s book of Macy’s as a company who has used branded entertainment in a very positive way (2005, Jaffe). As the holidays approach, we are now seeing the wonderfully done commercials for Macy’s where the word “Macy’s” is spoken in various movies and television shows. Hasbro actually is in the game when it comes to branded entertainment through such mediums as the Monopoly game at McDonald’s to the continued success of Transformers toys into a big-screen box office hits. Hasbro recently implemented a heavy ad push for "Family Fun Night" where they try to market its board games, as well as Wii video board  games. In addition to running in the mid- to late-morning, it also runs in the evening hours to hit that parent market. Ellen Degeneres also has been helping Hasbro market the family game night by playing some of the  games on her show, including Bop-It and Guesstures. In mid-fall, Hasbro teamed with Domino's and Target to offer unique discounts to encourage families to take part in family game night (2009, Powers) -- another form of branded entertainment. I think there are opportunities for Hasbro to further enhance its branded entertainment presence by integrating some more “personal” experiential marketing strategies that truly engage consumers.

The strategies noted above are just a few examples of social media vehicles that can be blended with traditional marketing plans to further expand a company’s reach to its consumers. It is important to once again reiterate that there is not a one size fits all strategy. Identifying the key social media ingredients will help define a recipe for success.

References:

Donaton, S. (2009, June 23). Branded entertainment that works. Forbes.com. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/23/scott-donaton-brandedcontent-cmo-network-donaton_print.html

Jafee, J. (2005). Life after the 30-second spot. Chapter 20 - Branded Entertainment pps. 266.

Leberecht, T. (2009). Wanted: Chief Meaning Officer. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/power/wanted-chief-meaning-officer.html-3

McDonough, P. (2009, October 26). TV viewing among kids at an eight-year high. Nielsen Wire. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/tv-viewing-among-kids-at-an-eight-year-high/

Powers, V. (2009, October 30). Hasbro’s Family Game Night teams with Domino’s Pizza: Free pizza, mini games. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from http://www.houstononthecheap.com/hasbros-family-game-night-teams-with-dominos-pizza-free-pizza-mini-games

Steel, E. (2009, November 23). Marketers find Web chat can be inspiring. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703819904574551562382557556.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Van Grove, J. (2009, November 18). 3 creative ways SMBs can use social media for holiday discounts. Retrieved November 22, 2009, from http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/3-creative-ways-smbs-can-use-social-media-for-holiday-discounts-jennifer-van-grove

Product Placement News (2009, October 6). Hasbro branded entertainment through the years. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.productplacement.biz/200910073244/News/Branded-Entertainment/hasbro-branded-entertainment-through-the-years.html