Mattel doesn't need 'Barbie'-like returns for all its films: CEO

Mattel is still riding high following the success of Barbie. However, the toy company has 16 movies in development, with properties such as Masters of the Universe and Hot Wheels having projects in the works. It's part of the reason why Mattel Chairman and CEO Ynon Kreiz was named Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity's "Entertainment Person of the Year."

Speaking with Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi, Kreiz says that Mattel (MAT) offers the big franchises and brands that media companies are looking for, the kinds "that really elevate and pierce through the crowded market."

Kreiz explains that the foundation for Barbie's success was a "very strong brand that has a large, built-in fanbase." He adds that the Barbie playbook will be applied to other projects too, saying that even though some franchises may not have as big of a brand as Barbie, "by taking multiple shots on goal, with different partners, different creative executions, different distributors, each movie has its own path to be successful." Kreiz argues that for Mattel, not every movie needs to see Barbie levels of box office success for it to be a commercially strong project for the company.

Watch the video above to hear Kreiz explain how the company's plans to capitalize on its intellectual property continue to evolve.

Check out more from Yahoo Finance's coverage of the 2024 Cannes Lions festival here.

This post was written by Stephanie Mikulich.

Video transcript

All right.

Joining me now is a very special guest.

Mattel Chairman and CEO Anan Cries Anan First off, thank you for joining us and then secondarily, congrats on your award.

The entertainment person of the year here at Can Lyons.

Uh, you must be incredibly proud.

Well, thank you, Brian.

Great to be here with you.

And yes, I'm very honoured and humbled and happy to receive this award on behalf of everyone at Mattel who had so much to do with our incredible journey over the last few years.

This isn't your first rodeo here at can lions at this point, uh, in Mattel's life, what brings you here?

And then what are you hoping to achieve?

We came here as a team of people from Mattel to interact and engage with partners in the creative community.

Mattel at the core is a creative company driven by innovation.

And we very much look forward to continue to evolve our brand messages and continue to transform the company as we really embrace creativity and celebrate the appeal of our brands around the world.

I just want to acknowledge the obvious We we're on a beach, uh, at the pier can lions the Yahoo Beach house.

We have an umbrella here.

It started to rain.

So bear with us as we have this armed conversation.

It's just the reality of the French Riviera.

Um, how should investors think about your company now?

At this point, I see you at this event.

A lot of creators here.

A lot of media folks is Mattel, a media forward company.

Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company.

As the owner of one of the most prolific portfolio of Children and family entertainment franchises in the world, we have a unique opportunity to both continue to grow within the toy aisle in our core toy business that is performing well, gaining share.

And last year we had the highest share gain ever in the history of the company in the US and continue to capture value outside of the toy aisle through entertainment.

And this is not just movies, but also television, live events, consumer product and merchandise, digital experiences, music and other verticals that are all driven by big franchises, big brands.

And this is very much what we bring to the table in a world where everybody is looking for big franchises that really elevates and and and pierce through the clutter market with unlimited content.

Unlimited, uh, ubiquitous distribution.

Everybody's looking for big IP big brands, and you have it.

Uh, so what does that portfolio look like?

You know, as you try to capitalise on the major success of Barbie, how many films and and TV shows do you have in development?

We've announced 16 movies in development with some of the most, uh, creative partners in Hollywood, and we are very excited about some of these projects.

All of these projects have a unique opportunity.

We recently announced Masses of the Universe that will be released in June of 2026 from my time, So that's an exciting project.

This will have a theatrical distribution.

It's with Amazon as a partner, but it will also have a theatrical distribution.

We recently announced Monster High, another one of our big franchises in partnership with Oscar winning Akiva Goldsman, as well as Universal as a distributor.

We have American Girl in Development with Temple Hill, which is a great producer, and Paramount Studios and Temple Hill produced the twilight series of very prolific creators and the partnerships are really exciting in terms of the opportunity to take our brands and reimagine them for in theatrical distribution and, uh, and big and big movies.

I'm just gonna hold this umbrella here momentarily.

It is what it is.

Should investors think that every piece of content that you put out there is going to be a home run?

And how do you manage expectations?

Yes, we are not saying that every movie will be the next Barbie, but we absolutely intend to apply the same approach, the same methodology of collaborating with leading talent, amplifying their creative vision and infusing brand purpose and cultural relevance into all of our projects.

And this is very much what defined the Barbie movie.

The success of the movie, of course, was about a creative collaboration, the ultimate creative collaboration.

But it was really driven by the strength of of the Barbie brand and the the purpose and the cultural relevance that Greta Gerwig brought into this into the picture, of course, with incredible cast and a great story.

But the foundation is a very strong brand that has a large built in fan base and the same approach.

The same methodology will be applied to all of our projects.

Our brands have a built in fan base, and while not every movie would be the next Barbie, the opportunity, uh, can come from anywhere.

It doesn't need to be a big brand.

Uh, that will drive success.

So we and and, of course, by taking multiple shots on goal with different partners, different creative executions, different distributors.

Each movie has its own path to be successful.

And for Mattel, a movie doesn't have to reach the same level of box office success for, for that for that, to have a commercial impact.

And so we're very excited by this slate.

It's a portfolio approach, a portfolio strategy, and you will see how it unfolds in the coming years.

Is it hard to compete for eyeballs?

And I bring this up because I was talking to Kevin Mayer over at Candle Media and he has a whole bunch of content coming out, too, and he's focused on taking his company to a whole level.

Content led, But there's only so much content that could be out there.

We just had some poor, some point of of saturation.

I think what Mattel brings to the table is a very strong portfolio of heritage beloved brands that are societal, that have cultural impact, that already have a large built in fan base that go back two and even three generations, and that is very unique.

And if you look around, very few companies, if any, have the quality and strength of the brand portfolio that that that Mattel can play with, and we have a lot to play with and a lot to play for.

And Barbie was an obvious example.

But it's not just about Barbie and not just about movies, because brands resonate in culture in a way that very few franchises do.

And what is unique about brands is that the fans that follow these brands, they have an emotional connection with our franchises and that elevates your starting point.

So when we take a project to the market, we don't have to build it from scratch and create awareness and build this relationship.

It's already there, and once you have that in place with strong creative collaboration and of course, great experiences, great stories, great movies, great television series, great narratives, you can create things that stand out in a crowded market.

And the point is that in a world of of, uh, so much competition for share of mind, unlimited offering of content and ubiquitous distribution, the importance of big brands is higher than ever.

And this is exactly the opportunity that we have And what is unique about where our journey is that we also have a toy business that is profitable.

We expect it to grow and continue to grow and gain share.

And this is foundational.

Because once you have that established, you can, of course, continue to grow and expand outside of the toy aisle With that strong foundation, No other host is holding an umbrella.

I just wanna make I just wanna I just wanna make that point only for you.

No, no, no.

It's OK. No, you are a distinguished guest.

No, you're the entertainment person of the year at Ken Line.

You cannot hold this umbrella.

What is?

How concerned are you about?

We've talked about this in the past, but it's something that I've been thinking a lot more here on the ground the past week.

How concerned are you about the end game for linear networks?

Um, of course.

I'm sure you've seen the the the difficulties of Paramount ABC is dealing with, uh, challenges at its linear networks because of streaming.

What's that end point?

Um, is there a breaking point?

Yeah, the world is evolving, and technology is clearly having an impact on not just on on distribution platform, but also in the way people consume content and how to engage with it.

And of course, screen time is higher than ever, except that it comes in different forms, and the importance of entertainment is higher than ever.

And as the owner of the underlying rights of your intellectual properties, we have the opportunity to capture attention and en and engage with fans wherever they spend time.

And our job is to find and engage with with consumers and fans wherever they are.

So the fact that you own the underlying rights, as opposed to having to licence rights for a particular medium gives us the opportunity to continue to engage and commercialise our properties outside of the tow aisle in exciting ways in new and exciting ways.

Lastly, uh, you don't win an award like you're winning here.

Um, if you're not working your butt off, uh, over the course of decades.

For those, uh, on Yahoo Finance, that may not be familiar with your career path and trajectory.

How did you get this job?

Well, I, I, uh, was on the board of the company and was offered an opportunity to come in and lead it initially as chairman and then as as CEO at the time when the company was going through a transformation.

And we've been, uh, very focused on continuing to grow, uh, growing our our toy business.

And, uh, you follow the story.

So you've seen the turn of, uh, of, of, of our toy business our category structure, the strength of our brands, how we continue to win, share and lead with innovation, continued innovation of our product and the journey for Mattel as an IP company IP a company that is based.

The strategy is based on the strength of our portfolio of Of of IP, how that continues to evolve and how we start participating in other verticals.

And we've been at it for years.

We're now at the inflexion point where our entertainment offering is starting to come into its own fruition.

And you will see more and more projects, movies, television series, parks, digital experiences and games.

You're not beyond the inflexion point.

You still see yourself as Is Mattel still a turnaround or you're beyond that.

We're not in turnaround, but we are at the point where our entertainment strategy is coming to fruition.

We're still early in the strategy, even though we had some very strong, uh, success and and clear showcases for the potential of our IP the potential of Mattel films, television, digital parks and the other opportunities we have digital.

We have a very successful digital partnership with neti for mobile games, and there are multiple examples, whether it's parks or the new television series that we recently launched on Netflix for Hot Wheels.

That has been a top 10 series on Netflix in 69 countries in its first week.

So we are executing very, very successfully in each of the verticals where we participate.

Now it's about scale, the question used to be.

Can your brands translate to opportunities outside of toys?

Then the question was, Can you do that?

Do you have the experience and the capabilities now is Can you do more of it?

Not whether your brands do it, or you can do it.

But whether can you do more of it?

And of course we can.

And of course we are.

Now it's about scaling it.

And this is exactly the stage we're we're at and are very excited by the opportunities ahead.

Well, good luck on your journey.

Let's get you out of here.

Because I actually think it's gonna start to lightning soon.

Uh, Mizel J, Uh, and our cries Thanks for always making time for your finance.

Uh, we'll see you soon.