Davis Turns Child's Play Into Profits

摘要

Stephen davis is the president of Los Angeles-based Hasbro Studios. That means at the age of 49, he gets paid to sit at a conference table with other grown men and women, cull through Hasbro's 1,500 brands and ask, "What should we play with today: Scrabble, Operation or Monopoly, or with our Transformer action figures?" And when the toys are put away, he is then instrumental in converting playtime to primetime. "If you tell me that as a dad you watch The Hub or play Hasbro games with your kids, that is not surprising," says Davis. (Full disclosure: This reporter has a closet filled with Hasbro products, and three kids who love watching The Hub, the 50-50 network venture between Hasbro and Discovery Communications that replaced Discovery Kids last October. Though talking brand building with Davis is instructive whether you have removed a wrenched ankle while playing Operation recently or not.)