Saban Brands has bolstered its executive team with Mary Rafferty coming on as VP of toys and hard lines and Rob Hughes joining as marketing director.

The appointments fall in line with the company’s earlier announcement that it will invest more than US$500 million toward the acquisition of consumer brands and intellectual properties in various categories ranging from entertainment to fashion, lifestyle and celebrity and consumer brands.

In her new role, Rafferty will oversee toy licensing, product development and retail for Saban Brands properties, including opportunities with both Paul Frank and the new Power Rangers series debuting in 2011. Rafferty most recently worked with Spin Master on a national media campaign for a new fashion doll brand, working with partners such as Nickelodeon. She also spent eight years as the senior director of marketing at Mattel, where she managed all hard line categories including toys, electronics, sporting goods, publishing and music for brands such as Barbie and Hot Wheels.

For his part, Hughes will manage marketing campaigns focusing on Power Rangers and Paul Frank, as well as other future acquisitions. He comes to Saban Brands by way of Disney Channel where he spent more than two years as marketing manager for the network. At Disney, he developed the social networking initiative for Playhouse Disney that included Facebook pages for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny.