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Speaker 1: M Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties weekly podcast featuring conversations

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Speaker 1: with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment.

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Speaker 1: I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today.

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Speaker 1: My guest is Enon Cries, Chairman and CEO of Mattel.

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Speaker 1: He's the leader of one of the world's biggest toymakers,

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Speaker 1: and he's sitting on a treasure trove of i P

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Speaker 1: in the company's vault. Mattel brands like Hot Wheels, Masters

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Speaker 1: of the Universe, Uno, Fisher Price, American Girl, and of

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Speaker 1: course Barbie haven't been exploited as content as much as

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Speaker 1: other big toy names. Cries wants content to become a

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Speaker 1: growth engine in and of itself for Mattel. He knows

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Speaker 1: that a lot of the brands in Mattel's vault have

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Speaker 1: the kind of multigenerational appeal that is catnip to Hollywood.

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Speaker 1: Christ came to Mattel into the eighteen after a long

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Speaker 1: career in media. He was a key partner of haim

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Speaker 1: saban And launching Fox Kids, and he's served as CEO

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Speaker 1: of Endemol and Maker Studios. During his travels. In his

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Speaker 1: time at Mattel, Prize has won praise from investors for

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Speaker 1: executing a turnaround of the toy maker's fortunes through cost

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Speaker 1: cutting and focus. During our conversation, he also contrasts the

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Speaker 1: challenges and opportunities in the toy business with the market

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Speaker 1: in the other kind of entertainment business that he knows well.

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Speaker 1: They're both driven by hits, he observes, and both are

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Speaker 1: wildly unpredictable. That's all coming up after the break. Non Prize,

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Speaker 1: Chairman and CEO of Mattel, thank you so much for

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Speaker 1: joining me today. Thank you for inviting me. It's great

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Speaker 1: to be here. Something you know and you had a

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Speaker 1: long history. You had a long career in media entertainment

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Speaker 1: at very high levels, working as a senior manager at

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Speaker 1: Fox Fox at the time of big growth for Fox

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Speaker 1: in the US and overseas. You were the CEO of

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Speaker 1: End them All at a time when that company was

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Speaker 1: really in need of rehabilitation. And since you have been

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Speaker 1: the CEO of Mattel, where you have come in and

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Speaker 1: it has also been another turnaround campaign for you. I

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Speaker 1: want to talk about Mattel's core business, but first I

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Speaker 1: would like to start by talking to you at the

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Speaker 1: very high level coming into the retail toy sector after

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Speaker 1: a long and distinguished career in media and entertainment. Tell

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Speaker 1: me what you found was was similar to the way

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Speaker 1: media entertainment works, and what impressed you about the toy

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Speaker 1: business as being distinct about the toy business in the

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Speaker 1: way that media has so many of its own quirks

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Speaker 1: and uh, you know, quirks and and little surprises that

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Speaker 1: it has for people. What what stood out to you

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Speaker 1: and when you we're getting to know the toy and

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Speaker 1: retail business. Well, Mattel is one of America's most iconic company,

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Speaker 1: and I've always revered it. I looked at it from

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Speaker 1: from outside, being in in children's entertainment and obviously being

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Speaker 1: in the business in general. UM and Mattel at the

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Speaker 1: time when I initially joined the board, UH just was

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Speaker 1: in need of a turnaround and I was curious to

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Speaker 1: be part of that that situation. UH. And shortly after

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Speaker 1: I joined the board UM, I was offered the opportunity

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Speaker 1: to become chairman and CEO. And by that time I

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Speaker 1: realized that the opportunity for Mattel is to shift from

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Speaker 1: being what the company thought of yourself at the time

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Speaker 1: of being a toy manufacturing company into being an I

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Speaker 1: P company UH. And this is really underpinned by the

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Speaker 1: fact that Mattel owns one of the strongest catalog for

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Speaker 1: UH in children for children and family entertainment franchises in

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Speaker 1: the world. And to me, the opportunity was not only

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Speaker 1: to UH to UH to thrive as a toy company,

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Speaker 1: which is a great business in and of itself, but

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Speaker 1: also to extend what we do into highly accreative business

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Speaker 1: verticals that are driven by by big brands, big franchises

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Speaker 1: and commercialize the dis incredible portfolio of of Evergreen franchises

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Speaker 1: outside of the toy aisle. And this was really what

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Speaker 1: attracted me to the company and the opportunity to be

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Speaker 1: part of this journey. It's interesting because it sounds like

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Speaker 1: walking in the door, you saw I P, you saw

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Speaker 1: the potential for I P, which is the you know,

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Speaker 1: seemingly the most valuable commodity on earth. And it seems

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Speaker 1: like right there walking in the door, you were marrying.

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Speaker 1: You know, you were bringing together your experience and knowing

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Speaker 1: how to how the levels of media and television and

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Speaker 1: entertainment work. Can you give me an example of what

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Speaker 1: were some of the first things you did to realize

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Speaker 1: that strategy. Now, what our strategy was to uh really

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Speaker 1: had two parts to it. First is too, is to

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Speaker 1: become a high performing toy company. Uh. And there alone,

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Speaker 1: if you can uh you know, if you run the

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Speaker 1: company well, uh, the tremendous opportunity for upside. It's a

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Speaker 1: great business. The toy industry is a great industry. It's

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Speaker 1: a growth industry. And and when things work well for

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Speaker 1: toy companies, they thrive and do extremely well. So that

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Speaker 1: was step number one. Uh. And then the second part

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Speaker 1: was was to uh start to capture value from our

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Speaker 1: intellectual properties. Barbie, Hot Whales, Fisher Price, American Girl, you know,

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Speaker 1: Masters of the Universe, h Thomas the Tank, uh and

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Speaker 1: I can go on and on and on and just

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Speaker 1: name franchises and brands that have been around for decades,

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Speaker 1: in some cases three generations. And and yet the company

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Speaker 1: never really uh participated in other other verticals and never

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Speaker 1: really commercialized its intellectual property outside of the toy aisle. Yes,

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Speaker 1: we did some contents, uh, some television content and and

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Speaker 1: you know, and different things, but it was mostly designed

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Speaker 1: to sell more toys. What what our strategies said that

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Speaker 1: you know, and this is what this is. The journey

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Speaker 1: we're on is to participate in other verticals, uh, that

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Speaker 1: will be commercially successful in and of themselves, not in

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Speaker 1: order to sell more toys, to sell movie tickets and

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Speaker 1: exactly advertises. Let's ry that that engage consumers. And you know,

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Speaker 1: they're very successful content companies, successful television production companies, successful

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Speaker 1: movie company is successful digital companies. Ultimately in the media

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Speaker 1: world in entertainment, it's they're all driven by big brands,

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Speaker 1: big I p uh and and this is what we

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Speaker 1: what we own, what we bring to the table, and

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Speaker 1: you know, and and the analogy, the closest analogy will

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Speaker 1: be what happened with Marvel. That was a comic book publisher,

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Speaker 1: as we all know. But really what was interesting there

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Speaker 1: is the incredible I P that the company owned. And

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Speaker 1: looking at that analogy, we all know that in success,

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Speaker 1: in success, this this can be transformed transformative. In success,

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Speaker 1: this can be transformative. And and this is what attracted

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Speaker 1: me to the opportunity. And this is the road we're

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Speaker 1: on and making exciting progress on the journey. So you

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Speaker 1: are writing checks, you are financing your own content, You

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Speaker 1: are not partnering on the production side with people or

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Speaker 1: you doing a mix of both. So our approach is

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Speaker 1: to be a capitalize our our What we bring to

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Speaker 1: the table is the intellectual property those franchises that are

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Speaker 1: known and have a large built in fan base, and

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Speaker 1: then we collaborate with the best filmmakers, the best distributors,

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Speaker 1: the best studios out there per project. We in a

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Speaker 1: sense play quarterback in that we uh we passed the

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Speaker 1: ball to the best player, the best partner in in

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Speaker 1: in a per genre, her project, her opportunity, and we

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Speaker 1: can really optimize those relationships depending on the type of

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Speaker 1: IP that we are taking out. We do participate creatively.

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Speaker 1: We are producers on our project where we always bring

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Speaker 1: in our expertise and know how and the understanding of

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Speaker 1: the DNA, the brand purpose, the cultural relevance that made

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Speaker 1: them successful in the beginning. But we we are looking

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Speaker 1: to attract the best creators in the world to and

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Speaker 1: allow them to reimagine our brands and and and interpret

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Speaker 1: them through their own lens to create an engaging experience

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Speaker 1: for audiences and consumers, not in order to sell more toys.

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Speaker 1: We don't make movies to sell more toys. We we

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Speaker 1: try to make movies that people would want to watch uh,

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Speaker 1: and television content that will be engaging and entertaining. UH.

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Speaker 1: And yes, if things work out, we know what to

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Speaker 1: do with toys. But the mandate is to our creative

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Speaker 1: partners and to our own teams at Mattel Film and

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Speaker 1: Metel Television, is to make great content that people want

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Speaker 1: to watch, not try to sell more toys. And this

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Speaker 1: has been a real, uh, you know, a really important

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Speaker 1: part of our offering and why we believe we've been

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Speaker 1: able to attract, you know, some of the best creators

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Speaker 1: of our generation on the film side and the television side,

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Speaker 1: to to reimagine our franchises for the big screen, streaming platforms,

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Speaker 1: television and so forth. Well, on that note, you know,

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Speaker 1: the route that you are taking with you know, what's

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Speaker 1: going to be a very high profile Barbie movie is

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Speaker 1: very untraditional. You've got a director, Greta Gerwig, who is

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Speaker 1: you know, not the kind of you know, not the

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Speaker 1: kind of director that you would get for a movie

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Speaker 1: that if you wanted, if you were the goal was

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Speaker 1: to sell toys. Let's just say that one of the

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Speaker 1: you know, one of the fastest rising young directors in Hollywood,

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Speaker 1: let alone female directors. Can you talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: more about about why you went that approach. Obviously, this

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Speaker 1: is not going to be a Barbie adventure where she

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Speaker 1: ends up at a at a toy store where everybody

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Speaker 1: buys more by Barbie, Like, can you talk about why

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Speaker 1: this path for this movie. Our goal was to make

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Speaker 1: just an incredible movie, uh and great you know, quality

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Speaker 1: experience for consumers. And and Robbie Browner, who uh runs

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Speaker 1: MATEL MATEL Films, is very good at that also very

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Speaker 1: focused on quality. And we were looking to partner together

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Speaker 1: with Warner Brothers and Margot Robbie who at that time

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Speaker 1: was already attached to the project for the best the

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Speaker 1: best director uh in the world of this generation that

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Speaker 1: will imagine Barbie in in in a way that will

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Speaker 1: appeal to consumers of all generations and will be authentic,

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Speaker 1: will be authentic and authentic representation of Barbie means today.

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Speaker 1: Barbie evolved over the years and not everyone is aware,

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Speaker 1: but Barbie today is really a flag carrier for diversity

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Speaker 1: and inclusivity and empowering uh young young children, especially girls,

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Speaker 1: but not just girls in that regard. It's it's really

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Speaker 1: appealing to audiences across the world and the opportunity was

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Speaker 1: to UH to attract UH a director, a writer and

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Speaker 1: director in in in Greta and no band back her

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Speaker 1: partner as a writer to create an experience that will

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Speaker 1: be UH not not obvious, not what you would expect,

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Speaker 1: but very impactful, very engaging, and and and will will

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Speaker 1: share her vision for Barbie with audiences all over the world.

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Speaker 1: M How how on the television side are you producing

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Speaker 1: shows that are aimed at you know, children, pre teens

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Speaker 1: or you going for more of an adult audience. The

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Speaker 1: primary audience, UM is our you know, our core consumer

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Speaker 1: primarily children from a tele television. But what we find

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Speaker 1: is that our brands and franchises appeal to audiences that

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Speaker 1: are also older. Given that our given that our brands

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Speaker 1: go back several generations UM, sorry up to three generations

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Speaker 1: several decades. Rather UM, we find that the appeal to

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Speaker 1: audiences of of all ages. A great example is Masses

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Speaker 1: of the Universe, which we we is now we have

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Speaker 1: two series on on Netflix. There's another movie that we

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Speaker 1: are about to start production on this summer in partnership

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Speaker 1: with Netflix. And this is a great example for UH,

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Speaker 1: one of one of our intellectual properties that we are

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Speaker 1: reimagining that we are bringing back after decades where it

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Speaker 1: has not been commercialized, and reimagining it for today's audience,

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Speaker 1: today's consumers. Uh, it would be forty years old this year.

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Speaker 1: Masters of the Universe will be four years old this year,

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Speaker 1: and yet it's appealing uh for children, you know, young

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Speaker 1: audiences who never knew that it existed before, as well

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Speaker 1: as to uh, all their demographics that that used to

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Speaker 1: be big fans back in the days have collect collectible

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Speaker 1: items somewhere in a desk store. Yes, you know. What

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Speaker 1: was it like as you started, as you embarked on

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Speaker 1: this strategy of really elevating your i P. What was

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Speaker 1: the reception from Hollywood when you went to meet with

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Speaker 1: potential partners. Did they understand that this is a more

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Speaker 1: moment when you know I P with any kind of

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Speaker 1: established brand or built an audience is again the most

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Speaker 1: precious commodity. But did people understand what you were trying

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Speaker 1: to do or did it take a little bit of

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Speaker 1: explaining in education to get people to understand potential partners

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Speaker 1: to understand what you were trying to execute At Mattel Now,

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Speaker 1: we we were actually very pleasantly surprised by the response

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Speaker 1: and reaction. UM. You know, Robbie Branner has excellent relationship

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Speaker 1: within the creative community. I have my relationship. Cia played

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Speaker 1: the cue role also in making introductions and be living

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Speaker 1: in the opportunity as our agent on the film side.

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Speaker 1: And and together we very quickly engage with you know,

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Speaker 1: uh some of the best filmmakers UM in town and

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Speaker 1: got a lot of rest out of almost out of

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Speaker 1: the gate. Margot Robbie joined the Barbie project early on,

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Speaker 1: very early. Uh. Tom Hanks UM, Kiva Goldsman were very

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Speaker 1: interested in Major Matt Mason, we uh partner with with

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Speaker 1: just you know, some of the best creators almost you know,

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Speaker 1: almost from the beginning, whether you know, think of Pete

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Speaker 1: Farley for Wish Boat, or Daniel Kolua for Barney, Mark

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Speaker 1: Forrester for Thomas Thomas and Friends, UM, Lena Denham and

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Speaker 1: Lily Collins for Polly Pocket, Ben Diesel for you know

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Speaker 1: Rock and Sock and Roberts so um, just to name

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Speaker 1: a few. Uh. You get a feel for the type

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Speaker 1: of caliber, the caliber in the type of talent we attracted.

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Speaker 1: All the major studios were also interested in in and

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Speaker 1: of course when you when you bring forward uh, this

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Speaker 1: incredible treasure trove of franchises and intellectual property. It is unique.

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Speaker 1: I mean what is more unique is that you can

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Speaker 1: ask is how Commatal never did it before, because the

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Speaker 1: franchises and brands have always been there. And the answer

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Speaker 1: is that the approach back in the day was to

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Speaker 1: focus more about focus more on the toy side of

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Speaker 1: the company. We were thinking more as a toy company.

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Speaker 1: And as soon as we made the shift to thinking

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Speaker 1: of ourselves as an I P company, all these opportunities

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Speaker 1: open up and became very obvious. And today we have

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Speaker 1: fourteen movies in development. Uh, there are more U in

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Speaker 1: motion you know that we are working on. We will

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Speaker 1: have this year thirteen shows or series and special television

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Speaker 1: special you know, series and specials on air so to speak,

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Speaker 1: some in streaming someone on broadcast television. With twenty in

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Speaker 1: production and over twenty five development, we are not just

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Speaker 1: looking to do that with the big brands that everybody knows.

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Speaker 1: We're also bringing looking at some of the catalog and

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Speaker 1: and and are really identifying opportunities to reimagine some of

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Speaker 1: these brands UH into into film and television. Some of

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Speaker 1: those I used to be very successful and we are

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Speaker 1: reviving them such as Monster High, which is a great franchise,

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Speaker 1: UM that potentially it can be even more relevant today

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Speaker 1: than it was when it launched back in the day

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Speaker 1: ten years ago, about which is very much about the

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Speaker 1: diversity and inclusivity. And and we see that across the board.

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Speaker 1: How our portfolio and into intellectual property a really residinating

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Speaker 1: with the creative talent for both film and television UM

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Speaker 1: in a very exciting way. So it's it's UM. It's

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Speaker 1: great to see and it's a very exciting part of

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Speaker 1: the journey. Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back

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Speaker 1: with more from Mattel's CEO in On Cries. And we're

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Speaker 1: back with more about the booming business of toys and

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Speaker 1: content from Mattel's CEO Inn Cries. As you opened up

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Speaker 1: the vault and showed people you know what you had,

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Speaker 1: I have no doubt that you were probably approached by

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Speaker 1: let's do an overall deal or a first look deal

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Speaker 1: to have some kind of like you know, overarching partnership

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Speaker 1: with the studio or major platform. Did you did you

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Speaker 1: think about that going that route or do you prefer

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Speaker 1: to be able to be a free agent? Yeah, in

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Speaker 1: order to UH do what we do at scale, and

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Speaker 1: to be able to do it in a way that

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Speaker 1: that moves fast. We decided to be flexible and pick

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Speaker 1: the right partner per project, UM, per genre, and we're

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Speaker 1: different studios specialized in different opportunities, be able to really

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Speaker 1: partner with with with different players. That gives us the

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Speaker 1: ability not just to partner with the right UH studio,

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Speaker 1: but also to do things faster, not be UH constrained

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Speaker 1: or restricted by one studio's release schedule, which inevitably would

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Speaker 1: mean you are you'd be lucky to launch a movie

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Speaker 1: every two years or so. In the way we do it.

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Speaker 1: With having multiple projects in development with multiple studios, you

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Speaker 1: can do that, you can have more projects coming out

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Speaker 1: UM concurrently do that at scale where projects are not

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Speaker 1: in a related they all around their own course with

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Speaker 1: their own creative partners, and gives us a lot more

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Speaker 1: flexibility and the opportunity to do it faster and at

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Speaker 1: scale with a high likelihood of success. And the way

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Speaker 1: we do it, we you know, in partnering with the

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Speaker 1: best the best creative talent per project, we are increasing

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Speaker 1: the likelihood of success UM in a meaningfully but not

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Speaker 1: concentrating all of these different projects in one place. We

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Speaker 1: are we believe we were dramatically increase the likelihood of

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Speaker 1: success per individual project. And and of course the momentum

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Speaker 1: is building and we're able to attract better, stronger, UH

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Speaker 1: talent all the time. But we're very proud and happy

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Speaker 1: with the momentum we have so far. Again, sounds like

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Speaker 1: experience born of your of your earlier experience in media

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Speaker 1: and entertainment. Have you articulated any kind of revenue or

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Speaker 1: earnings target for your Metel Films and Television division, since

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Speaker 1: it sounds like it's such a it's a really significant

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Speaker 1: component of your of your strategy. We haven't articulated yet

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Speaker 1: the potential um. This is still in motion and and

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Speaker 1: we have been we have been focused on the toy

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Speaker 1: side where we're being very clear about our goals there.

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Speaker 1: In terms of potential growth on the I P side,

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Speaker 1: this um has not yet defined. But clearly we can

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Speaker 1: imagine if you take if you look at the analogy

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Speaker 1: that I mentioned earlier with Marvel or other companies that

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Speaker 1: do exactly uh some you know doing what we're doing

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Speaker 1: or have done this before, you can see what happens

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Speaker 1: in the event of success. You know, The beauty of

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Speaker 1: our strategy is that it's not new. You know, we're

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Speaker 1: not inventing the wheel to uh, to bring great franchises

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Speaker 1: great I p uh and into the into filming television

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Speaker 1: is not our invention. Uh. And and of course we

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Speaker 1: all know that when it works, uh, it can be

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Speaker 1: very meaningful. Uh even uh you know, our own competitors

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Speaker 1: did that very well. Uh. Lego made the movie very

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Speaker 1: successful movie out of bricks, um, you know, without characters,

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Speaker 1: and that did that really well. So what we are

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Speaker 1: doing is not not a new invention. It is all

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Speaker 1: about execution and all about working with the right people,

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Speaker 1: the right talent and and trust that they will be

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Speaker 1: able to um to deliver a great product to to

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Speaker 1: two consumers out there. You know it is fascinating and

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Speaker 1: and and that that there's there's a fast and furious

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Speaker 1: pen in in production. And Hot Wheels is at zero.

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Speaker 1: Hot Wheels is the number one vehicle vehicle uh product

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Speaker 1: toy the world has been around for more than fifty years,

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Speaker 1: yet you've never made even I had those little plastic

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Speaker 1: tracks when I was a kid, and I had those

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Speaker 1: little slot cars. Of course, you know, Hot White has

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Speaker 1: just had its fourth record year in a row, you know,

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Speaker 1: and we've been breaking our own record now for four

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Speaker 1: years in a row. What's driving that? Forgive the pun,

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Speaker 1: but what is what is fueling that growth? It's it's

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Speaker 1: just been really incredible work by our team to make

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Speaker 1: Hot Wheels more relevant, more culturally relevant than ever, uh

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Speaker 1: and having a clear brand purpose around around igniting the

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Speaker 1: challenge of spirit in every in every child, and Hot

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Speaker 1: Wheels is now resonating, you know, really strongly with consumers.

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Speaker 1: And yet this franchise did all of that with know

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Speaker 1: movie with no real content. So just imagine what happens

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Speaker 1: when we bring it to the market with such you know,

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Speaker 1: such such a large built in fan base that that

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Speaker 1: would do anything to do with we'd want anything to

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Speaker 1: do with with with with Hot Wheels if you create

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Speaker 1: an exciting movie for that for that audience. Now that

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Speaker 1: you're at Mattel, how do you how does the company

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Speaker 1: make sure that you're spending all of your paid media wisely?

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Speaker 1: How do you look at it now that you're now

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Speaker 1: that you're on the other side of that table. Yes,

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Speaker 1: we we we have been very deliberate in the way

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Speaker 1: we are. We we attract, appeal and engage consumers the

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Speaker 1: company involved the very meaningfully in the last few years.

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Speaker 1: Obviously social uh is a key part of what what

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Speaker 1: we do and how we engage consumers, especially given the

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Speaker 1: target demographic. But the way the way we do it

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Speaker 1: is we we've been very uh uh current in how

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Speaker 1: we reach consumers. We have been you know, we spend

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Speaker 1: obviously a significant amount of money on demand creation, but

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Speaker 1: also what what makes our situation very unique is that

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Speaker 1: our brands are so strong and so known that they

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Speaker 1: have their own following and their own inertia of of

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Speaker 1: consumer demand and in very high awareness. And because of

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Speaker 1: that we are able to attract people not just for

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Speaker 1: our content offering, but likewise for our director consumer offering,

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Speaker 1: which typically will need to spend a significant amount of

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Speaker 1: money to create awareness and demand. And here you have

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Speaker 1: a situation where people actually looking to find product and

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Speaker 1: searching for ways to engage with our brands. So uh,

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Speaker 1: the strength of this franchise is is a real asset

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Speaker 1: and and what you need to do as as the

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Speaker 1: owner as a proprietor is keep those franchises fresh, current,

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Speaker 1: culturally relevant and in today's world have a very clear purpose.

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Speaker 1: Because the way we think of what we do, especially

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Speaker 1: given the fact that we sell products for children, is

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Speaker 1: that we take our role um as a corporate citizen

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Speaker 1: very seriously and and always look to do the right thing. Uh.

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Speaker 1: We aim to contribute to a future uh that is

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Speaker 1: more diverse, UH, that is more equitable, um, that that

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Speaker 1: is more inclusive and of course sustainable. So these are

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Speaker 1: these are aspirations that are part of our purpose and

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Speaker 1: when we make product, when we sell product, we always

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Speaker 1: have that in sind and in today's world, this authenticity.

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Speaker 1: This is a clear purpose which for the company is

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Speaker 1: to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of

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Speaker 1: childhood and reach the full potential. UM. When we create product,

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Speaker 1: it's designed to uh to to uh entertain, develop and

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Speaker 1: inspire children through play. All of this is designed, uh

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Speaker 1: you know, you know, in a very deliberate way to

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Speaker 1: create a real purpose and really a reason why why why? Parents?

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Speaker 1: Why families? Well children will buy and engage with our product.

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Speaker 1: Given all the circumstances of this past year, did you

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Speaker 1: feel that supply chain tinch Would you have gotten more

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Speaker 1: product on shelves in the fourth quarter if were it

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Speaker 1: not for other global issues or were you okay, now

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Speaker 1: we were impacted. We were impacted. There was some manufacturing

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Speaker 1: closure that impacted the hot wheels, for example in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter. UH there were UH there was some little

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Speaker 1: closure primarily in Asia Asia Pacific that impacted fisher price.

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Speaker 1: But on the whole, we still managed to work through

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Speaker 1: these issues and ended up the year with the highest

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Speaker 1: growth rate the company had in decades. In spite of

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Speaker 1: these supply chain issues. And so we were impacted, but

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Speaker 1: still managed to navigate our way and and and and

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Speaker 1: achieve and achieve such a stronger year for a tail

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Speaker 1: as I said, you know, highest growth rate in decades

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Speaker 1: with being the achieving six consecutive quarters of growth and

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Speaker 1: and continue to grow our market here for the second

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Speaker 1: consecutive year. So it's been a pretty comprehensive year in

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Speaker 1: spite of supply chain and by the way, inflation as

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Speaker 1: well that had its own impact. How do you control

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Speaker 1: your cost and how do you manage through those issues?

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Speaker 1: But on the whole, it was a very successful year

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Speaker 1: for matail UM And you know, when we when we've

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Speaker 1: achieved those those results UM following UH several years of

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Speaker 1: restructuring and UH and transformation, we believe the way we

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Speaker 1: see it, we have completed our ten around and and

434
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 1: now in in growth mode and see our product resonating

435
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,360
Speaker 1: with consumers at level that the company has not seen

436
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: in years. Is it akin to like is it akin

437
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 1: when you launch a new product, a high profile view

438
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 1: product that you've put a lot of money and muscle behind.

439
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,320
Speaker 1: Is it akin to having a movie open or a

440
00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 1: TV show launch? Do you sit there biting your nails

441
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: waiting for those first retail you know, reports to come back. Yes,

442
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:01,560
Speaker 1: it's it's a it's a long time. We do do

443
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:07,000
Speaker 1: a lot of research. We have experts in the company,

444
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,360
Speaker 1: the best people in the industry that really understand how

445
00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:16,560
Speaker 1: to engage, how to create product that that will resonate

446
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 1: and uh and and and do what it's supposed to do.

447
00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:26,200
Speaker 1: But the this is really what this is our expertise.

448
00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 1: This is this is the confetence we have in our capabilities.

449
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: You you don't always know, and you can't really tell

450
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,680
Speaker 1: until the project launches, But by the time it hits

451
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:40,000
Speaker 1: the shelves, we have a pretty good feeling how this

452
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:44,120
Speaker 1: will work. Now, you know, we we are sell products

453
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: in more than approximately four hundred and ninety thousand stores.

454
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:56,080
Speaker 1: Uh so think about the supply chain system that ends up,

455
00:31:56,240 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 1: you know, putting products on shelves across so many stores.

456
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,479
Speaker 1: And separately, we're also about over thirty percent of our

457
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 1: businesses online retail and e commerce, which is you know,

458
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:12,000
Speaker 1: another completely different sales channel. But we have to service

459
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:16,400
Speaker 1: and cater and collaborate with our customers without with the retailers.

460
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 1: And when you make decisions for manufacturing, you need to

461
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 1: have a pretty good view and be able to focus

462
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,320
Speaker 1: demand to manufacture, to produce, to deliver the right amount

463
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: of product um uh. And so there's a lot of

464
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,560
Speaker 1: expertise and and and and capabilities that go into that,

465
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 1: into that work and into that process to make the

466
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 1: right decisions. You know. Thank you so much for talking

467
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 1: us through. As always, I always find it fascinating to

468
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:49,959
Speaker 1: learn a little bit about a business that is just

469
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 1: a little apart from media. My last question for you is,

470
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: tell me how did you what? What was the path,

471
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,560
Speaker 1: what what sparked your interest in working in media and

472
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:03,800
Speaker 1: television early on that led you to your to the

473
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:08,800
Speaker 1: various steps of your career and now to Mattel. I

474
00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 1: love pop culture. M I enjoy connecting UH with consumers

475
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 1: through content through media h throughout my career. I've always

476
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:29,520
Speaker 1: worked in UM in the creative organizations that with core

477
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 1: intellectual property assets UM and was able to work with

478
00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 1: creative people with creative talent and finding ways to reposition

479
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 1: those companies and uh and and and and create new

480
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: commercial models, new commercial opportunities to uh drive growth and

481
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,520
Speaker 1: do exciting things on the business side. So it's really

482
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: a combination to a combination of creative work, working with

483
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: creative talent and but do it in a commercially viable

484
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:08,239
Speaker 1: way that builds exciting businesses and and uh you know,

485
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:12,239
Speaker 1: this is would've done with Fox Kids, which I co

486
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:16,640
Speaker 1: founded with Jaim Saban, who himself you know, is a

487
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:22,359
Speaker 1: visionary and was a great partner with in them all,

488
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:27,680
Speaker 1: with the Maker Studios, which was also a pioneer in

489
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 1: in the short form online video industry, and of course

490
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,320
Speaker 1: with Mattel, which is uh, you know, an incredible company,

491
00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 1: incredible platform, owner of one of the most exciting portfolio

492
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:48,440
Speaker 1: of intellectual property for children and family, and an exciting

493
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:52,880
Speaker 1: opportunity to not just be successful in a high performing

494
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 1: toy company, but also rich and engage consumers in many

495
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:04,600
Speaker 1: other ways in other forms of content and entertainment. To

496
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:10,720
Speaker 1: UM impact children, families, and continue to strive to achieve

497
00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:20,640
Speaker 1: our purpose. Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us

498
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:24,160
Speaker 1: a review at Apple Podcasts. We love to hear from listeners,

499
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:27,160
Speaker 1: and please go to Variety dot com and click on

500
00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:31,520
Speaker 1: Newsletters to subscribe to our free, strictly business newsletter