Dream Teams: Hasbro’s Marianne James and Katie Frame

What’s the key to a cohesive collaborative relationship between your commercial and creative teams?
Katie: For me, it’s all about communication in an open, honest way. If the creative team’s working in a bubble, we’re not going to deliver the right product at the right time. It’s important we have constant communication with the commercial team, understand their retail plans and how we fulfil them from a creative perspective. There’s no point having the most brilliant creative concept if it doesn’t actually sell!

Marianne: Exactly. I’ll add that it’s not just about sharing information, it’s about creating a shared vision. The commercial team needs to understand the creative process, but the creative team also needs to grasp the commercial realities.

Do you find creatives have insights that impact commercial strategy, as much as commercial folk have ideas about effective creative?
Marianne: Absolutely. Creativity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Often, the creative team is at the forefront of identifying new trends, cultural shifts and emerging consumer preferences. Their deep understanding of how consumers interact with brands and products often informs our commercial strategy.

Katie: When commercial teams bring their expertise on pricing, distribution and retail dynamics, it lets us refine and scale creative ideas to maximise their impact. It’s not just about designing products that look good! We have to think about how consumers are going to connect with them.

We regularly contribute to commercial conversations, whether it’s through driving innovation as part of the product discussions or introducing new category opportunities because of a trend that’s just starting to bubble up.

“There’s no point having the most brilliant creative concept if it doesn’t actually sell!“

Is there a recent launch you’d point to as a good example of the benefits of commercial and creative teams working in lockstep?
Marianne: A really great example for me was our My Little Pony pop-up stores with MINISO in 2024. We were able to take the timeless appeal of the franchise and infuse it with fresh, modern elements that would resonate with new generations. Early on, we sat down together to talk about everything – from product ranges to retail strategy. It meant we could optimise everything to ensure the product not only looked fantastic but also hit all the right notes in terms of retail distribution and consumer appeal. The results were fantastic.

Katie: That’s a perfect example! The commercial and creative teams sat together to analyse targeted consumers, find the connection with My Little Pony brand DNA and create a beautiful bespoke product line dedicated to the local market.