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Nerf Design and Marketing Teams Google Hangouts: Full Update

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Here’s everything we learned from the invite-only event!

On Wednesday, June 18th we had the unique opportunity to participate in a Google Hangouts Q&A session with Hasbro’s Nerf marketing and design teams (reportedly, the first one ever). And while we’ll always have more questions than time (or confidentiality) will allow us to ask, we nonetheless came away answers to some of your questions, as well as teasers for a few items we can expect to see and hear more about later this year.

Before we dive into the full Q&A, we should note that we were joined in the Google Hangouts session by Foam from Above, Shining Foam, Click Click Bamf, Nerf Haven, Basic Nerf, and Adult Fans of Nerf. Many of the questions below were submitted by these fine folks, as each blog was required to submit questions ahead of time, and we were then requested to take turns asking one question each until time ran out. Here are the questions asked by the group, along with the summarized responses provided by 4 members of the Nerf team from Hasbro that were in attendance (the below is being summarized from the real-time notes taken during the session):

A: It’s a very broooad question… and we (Hasbro) don’t want to talk about the competition. We’ve been the leader in the category for a long time, and we are very excited for the products we have this year. Hasbro spends a lot on consumer research. Seems like every 6 months there’s someone new (competitor), but Hasbro has tight marketing support and retailer buy-in, making them the leader in the category. They get information from around the world about competitors to see how consumers respond.

A: It’s possible, but it’s an economic challenge–a high percentage of the cost. The partnership with Duracell was noted. No immediate plans for a switch to rechargeables.

A: It’s tried and true, so will probably never go away completely, though there are ongoing issues (capacity, price points, etc.). Though they do investigate other things, like internal magazines, but they will probably never go away. Clips allow for kids to add-on, etc.

A: We see it coming in a sanctioned way, “sooner than you would imagine.” They’ve already started in the UK with 2 sanctioned Nerf arenas, inside a mall in an amusement-type arena. This is the “experiential NERF mall program” we have seen referenced in recent press releases. We might see more information on this in the next week or so.  

A: Names come from anywhere and everywhere, but sometimes the legality is the sticking point. Also, are there PR concerns, and are there trademark issues or translation issues? Sometimes it’s simply what the designer originally named it!

A: Target-type exclusives (4-5 months) are driving some of the re-shells/re-paints. They tried to pick fan-favorites for another run. ZED Squad is more on the “offensive,” hence the scopes. It’s more about the fantasy and deco, but performance has not changed, except for the use of Elite darts.

A: Hasbro engineers weren’t in the room, but they reckoned other product materials would add to the cost, though they are always looking at new materials. They’ve also looked at making darts out of other materials (since users go through a lot of darts, they’ve thought of environmental concerns).

A: Haven’t created new product for it, and it is still a Toys “R” Us exclusive. It’s bigger around the world (Singapore, in particular). But in the U.S., it’s just a TRU exclusive. Some of the blasters created at the end (Snapfire, Swarmfire) are among their favorites.

A: The segment didn’t justify the space at retail, but Zombie Strike made sense to bring it back (i.e., the sword). Perpetual Play is their partner in this for things Hasbro doesn’t produce, even though Hasbro may have developed the ideas (bombs, machetes, etc.).

A: ZED Squad is exclusive to Target with these things until 2015 and is a part of this; Hasbro wants to do the right items (but hinted they would expand this in 2015). Don’t want to rush it. They have plans for the future in this area and think you will be happy. When it comes to the second-hand market, you don’t know the quality or how they will attached… Hasbro is the expert and they want to bring the best products to market. They want it to come from the Nerf team, and it’s not being licensed out (so anything that may exist isn’t official). They last few years have been focused more on performance improvements, but they’ve intentionally kept the tac rails to “leave the door open.”

A: Always looking at that… it’s a bit of a cost savings on the production side. It’s a way to keep the play moving (they referenced the Fusefire as a current model).

A: Focusing on foam blasters for accessories for now. But they’re keeping rails on some water blasters for future potential uses. Batteries and other complications need to be factored in with water blasters.

A: Defniitely something they have looked at and is being considered.

 

Unfortunately, the Nerf team was pretty tight-lipped about up-and-coming products, but here are a few take-aways:

 

We appreciate everyone who took time to submit questions on Reddit, and only regret that were were not permitted to ask more than a couple of questions from the many that were proposed. We would also like to provide a sincere thank you to Hasbro and their fantastic PR agency for the opportunity to participate in this event. We’re looking forward to our next interaction with the brilliant minds behind the planet’s favorite foam blaster products!

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