Hasbro wants to see more women developing toys and games -- and they've created the perfect opportunity to make that happen. The Hasbro Women Innovators of Play Challenge is soliciting new female-led toy and game ideas until Oct. 12, 2023, with three winners receiving a trip to the company's headquarters, a mentoring session with one of Hasbro's female executives, and a $10,000 cash prize. It's a big statement from the brand behind some of the best-known games in the world.
To get more insight into Women Innovators of Play and the world of toy and game development, CBR spoke with Tanya Thompson, Hasbro's Senior Director of Inventor Relations and Innovation, who is helping to spearhead the challenge. Here's what she had to say about how the game and toy world has evolved and how diversity can be encouraged in game creation and the products themselves. Fans who want to enter the challenge can do so now at Hasbro's website.
CBR: How would you say that the gaming space has evolved as entertainment continues to evolve? Is there anything that you're particularly excited to find through the Women Innovators of Play initiative?
Tanya Thompson: I've been working in the industry for 16 years. I definitely see changes from when I was a child. The gaming space is always, always evolving. We haven't limited [the challenge] to anything in particular. We're just looking for something that's suitable for the mass market because we are a mass-market company. But we're not saying, "The game must do this" or, "The toy should do that." We're open to seeing what people have. I love working with creators. They're always extremely interesting. I love looking at new ideas [and their] potential. That's my favorite part.
What fits into the mass market space? Because that doesn't mean that the product has to be generic, but it is a different approach to a toy or game idea.
Think of it in terms of we're a global company. We're going to put this toy or game throughout the world in our various markets. So you're talking about things that are really easy to understand, often language-neutral, there's some sort of [mass] appeal. If it follows a current trend, that's always helpful. You're looking for that magical moment that's really easy to communicate with your consumer. Someone is walking through an aisle in a market and not necessarily there to spend a lot of time. How can we grab their attention, make it easily understandable for them so they get it right away, and appealing so that they want to put it in their cart?
Has there ever been an idea that didn't sound like it would work, but as you went through the development process, you found that it was actually a great concept?
My very first product with Hasbro was a product called Don't Step In It. It's a bunch of dough poop piles, and you're blindfolded, and the goal is to not step in [them]. When I pitched that idea to the team, we were definitely looking for humor. It was in the era right after Pie Face, which was a huge success. I wasn't sure -- was that going too far? But the thing is, it's extremely relatable. People understand walking on a sidewalk or through a park trying to avoid poop piles. And so because it was understandable [to] a large number of people, it ended up being a huge success.
Women Innovators of Play is aimed at promoting female-led ideas, and Hasbro has several women like yourself in key positions throughout the company. Have there been any female colleagues or innovators who have helped shape your career path?
For me personally, I think in business, it's often about being heard [and] believing that you belong in that room. I've had a lot of people along the way that have supported me [and] have said, "Yes, you deserve to be at that table, and your voice should be heard." When I first started at Hasbro, there was a woman by the name of Samantha Lomow, who was president at the time. I was in this [leadership training], and she was there speaking on behalf of Hasbro. I connected with her there, and she said, "If you ever want to talk, my door is open." She opened her door to me, and I did take her up on it.
It was just really nice to know that she was encouraging me. I really needed that because I was pretty new at the company at the time. So it's people like that who go out of their way to support other people. Hasbro has always been a very open company. It matters who you are, what your ideas are, and what you have to say, rather than your gender or ethnicity or anything else.
As these ideas are developed, are there ways to be diverse and inclusive in not just who's making the products, but in the toys and games themselves?
If you look at our most recent launch of Clue, we rebranded Clue with a lot of different characters. Part of that rebrand was making sure that different ethnicities [and] genders were covered in the new characters. And I know that they likely do that on the toy side as well. I'm not as involved in the development on that side. But it's absolutely imperative these days for a child to look at a product and feel that that's a part of them like they belong there, so it's important to Hasbro.
How much fun is the development process? Obviously, you're talking about playing with toys, but there also is a business part that every idea has to go through.
A lot of people think we live like Tom Hanks in the movie Big -- and there's a lot of truth in that. I'm looking at a lot of games. I pitch them to the games team leadership, they decide which ones they think have potential, and then we narrow it down to something that we decide to take [to] shelf. And it's a fun process because you're playing with toys. You're playing games. But it's also a very rigorous process. You have to make sure you can manufacture it, that you've got the right package, that the rules are good, and they're not frustrating. There's a lot of work that goes into those products. But essentially, we get to play a lot because of our careers.
Hasbro's Women Innovators of Play Challenge runs through Oct. 12, 2023.