Best known for its Mr. Potato Head property, Hasbro’s Playskool brand is trying its hand at something new for its young audience—bottles and diapers to be exact.
Hasbro Properties Group, the licensing arm of Hasbro, Inc., has signed an exclusive deal with CVS/pharmacy to introduce Playskool-branded baby care products at more than 6,100 stores nationwide this fall. The deal, announced at the 2006 Licensing Show at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City this week, includes diapers, wipes, bottles, teethers, bottlebrushes and other feeding accessories.
“More and more moms are already making brand relationships prenatally,” said Lorrie Browning, Hasbro’s general manager of infant preschool. “The first thing on her mind is ‘how am I going to care for this child?’ It’s a way to get [our] brand message in front of moms early on.”
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hasbro has dabbled in baby care products in the past with individual licensees for feeders and teethers. Yet, the direct-to retail program with CVS marks the first time Hasbro has licensed a full-range of baby care products at one retailer, Browning said. The latest deal will help push Hasbro into a new market to reach new and existing mothers in a field largely dominated by Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark.
By introducing baby care products to parents sooner, Hasbro is banking on its loyal customers to keeping cash registers ringing for its popular toy line, Browning said.
“Our goal with CVS/pharmacy proprietary brands is to bring products to our customers that don’t exist in the current marketplace,” said Mike Bloom, Senior VP-merchandising at CVS/pharmacy, in a statement. “We find or create innovative product lines using leading technologies and offer these exclusively at CVS/pharmacy. The PLAYSKOOL Baby Care line is a great addition to our proprietary brand offerings bringing tremendous brand equity and name recognition to the category.”
The Playskool baby care product line will rollout this fall in CVS-owned stores on the West Coast. Store aisles will have dedicated Playskool item section branded with Playskool colors. All CVS stores will carry the new line by yearend.
In other news, Hasbro is in negotiations with licensees to extend its one of its top brands into the apparel, adult and kids publishing categories. The Licensing Show concluded on Thursday.
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