by AutobotAlvaron » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:59 am
- Motto: "Strive Always for the Indomitable Victory of Good."
- Weapon: Double Beam Guns
I'm not so glad Hasbro thinks their lower sales in Transformers is acceptable for a "non-movie" year. It even appears to not concern them much, but it would be unwise to take potential future sales for granted, especially considering the fickle nature of a weakening and changing children's toy market. I suggest that improved distribution of the Transformers toys and TV series, plus a robust ad campaign would help draw attention to their TF characters and build up brand recognition; that would help increase Hasbro's bottom-line. To buy a product, consumers must know about it then like it, then be able to find it.
One problem Hasbro faces is the poor distribution of their products. That has to factor somewhere in their lower revenue lately. Surely it would help their profits if the big-box stores actually stocked their shelves with figures, even between Bay features. For months, local Walmart & Target stores have had only pathetic 18inch vertical strips of shelf space for Transformers, which have been full of empty pegs and lonely shelf-warming RID figures (non-Deluxe). I have yet to even see a CW Ultra Magnus or more than a couple of isolated CW deluxes. Shouldn't Hasbro address that?
One of Transformers main problems, in my opinion, is actually with brand/character exposure, outside of the movies. Most children now do not follow the comic, however cool or popular it is with the older fans, and many have not seen the recent cartoons either. In this era of seemingly universal access to the internet & television (via Dish, Cable, Netflix, Hulu etc.), there are millions of people who still have only basic cable channels or only digital antennae. These people have not been exposed to any Transformers television/cartoon media for years. So, how does that help sell figures?
In the G1 era, most people had only the three main channels (ABC, NBC, CBS), plus the old UHF ones where Transformers debuted locally. This fostered maximum brand-exposure to nearly all children in a way that can no longer be repeated. Back then, everyone could watch the series & the many colorful commercials to be enticed to buy anything from the figures themselves, to Under-roos, and TF paraphernalia was everywhere. Hasbro should really seek to syndicate their series to many outlets online, and on local TV channels to better reach a larger audience. This was a key to their early success and would certainly draw in more viewers and potential buyers for their toys.
Though a confirmed Transformers fan since G1, I do not like or approve of the many cost-cutting and quality-compromising techniques Hasbro (and Takara to a lesser degree) has implemented lately, however I do understand that the current toy-market is changing and perhaps even shrinking. Keeping their products available through increased distribution, and recognizable by syndicating their TV series would go a long way to increasing the popularity and profitability of the Transformers brand.
Last edited by
AutobotAlvaron on Tue Oct 20, 2015 12:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.