Continuing to implement its company-wide restructure, Hasbro has promoted two senior executives to bolster its digital capabilities and supply chain productivity.

Global play lead for Dungeons & Dragons and RPGs Dan Rawson has accepted an expanded role that will now see him head up the toyco’s direct-to-consumer business (Hasbro Direct), including Hasbro Pulse. Kwamina Crankson previously ran Hasbro Direct before leaving the company a year ago for a role at Hewlett Packard.  

The DTC business is not unfamiliar territory for Rawson, who currently manages Hasbro’s biggest DTC platform, D&D Beyond, which has amassed 18 million registered users to date. In his new position, he will look to increase revenue for Hasbro Pulse, particularly in the growing adult collectors market. (Adult collectors accounted for US$1.5 billion of Q1 2024’s toy sales, buying more than any other age group and outpacing preschoolers for the first time ever, according to the latest sales results from Circana.)

Hasbro Pulse launched in 2019, replacing 14-year-old ToyShop.com as the company’s premier direct-to-consumer platform. Designed as an online shop with deeper fan community engagement, Pulse’s features include a subscription club that allows fans to buy complete collections over time; a loyalty program; exclusive products; interviews with product designers, actors and authors; and an area where fans can submit product ideas to crowdsourcing hub HasLabs. Although Hasbro is yet to disclose a subscriber count for Pulse, in a blueprint for success outlined in 2022, the toyco stated it will expand the platform to Japan, China and South Korea by the end of 2024 in an effort to add 20 million additional users to the platform by 2027. 

Rawson, who joined the company in October 2022, previously served in senior e-commerce positions at companies including Microsoft and Amazon.

Stephaine Beal is taking over as Hasbro’s chief supply chain officer from Shane Azzi, who will exit the company at the end of the month to pursue a new opportunity, according to a release. Beal joined in July 2022 as SVP of global planning, process & governance and global supply chain. She recently oversaw a significant efficiency strategy to digitize planning processes across all of Hasbro’s businesses. In her new role she will continue to expose and correct inefficiencies to boost profitability.  

Effective immediately, these appointments come in the midst of a turnaround phase for Hasbro following layoffs at the end of 2023, a 24% drop in Q1 revenue this year and the resignation of Wizards of the Coast president Cynthia Williams in April. The company also recently rejigged its board of directors to better position for growth.