Hasbro’s Kelly Johnson on sparking nostalgia and attracting new fans during TRANSFORMERS’ 40th anniversary

Kelly, it’s great to connect. How did you come to be working in the world of brands? Was it always on the cards?
I have an eclectic career and personal background that spans special needs education, production, marketing and entertainment. While unbeknownst in the moment, I seemed to always drive back to storytelling and play as a preferred communication and engagement style. I’m a kid at heart and realise the power of brands to deliver excitement and ignite imaginations – while providing a safe space for people to connect and share their stories.

We are encouraged to never lose the spark that makes us unique – that can be challenging as one ages. Brands like TRANSFORMERS remind us to never settle for what is right in front of you… There is always more under the surface. Brands drive us back to that childlike wonder and awe we all experienced at one point.

Offering complex characters, inspiration and escapism to a world that at times can feel overwhelming… It truly is the best platform to work from.

You’re Global Director of Brand Management and Strategy for the TRANSFORMERS franchise. Did you have a relationship with the brand before joining Hasbro? Were you a fan?
When I first started at Hasbro 10 years ago, TRANSFORMERS was one of many brands of focus for the licensing team I was on. For the first five years of my career at Hasbro, the brand steadily became a more consistent and welcoming presence in my life. When an opportunity presented itself to work on the team for the film BUMBLEBEE, I was hooked.

“Technology is at the centre of the franchise, so there’s always more to explore there.”

I am constantly in awe of the current and past talent contributions to the brand and remain humbled by its legacy. I didn’t grow up with TRANSFORMERS, the brand grew me up, helping me forge friendships with people all around the world and igniting an epic adventure into the fandom of which I am thrilled to be a part of. As a lifelong learner, it’s the privilege of a lifetime to work on a boundless brand that is beloved by so many.

Lovely! It’s been a big year for the brand with the 40th anniversary celebrations. What makes for an effective anniversary campaign?
The TRANSFORMERS brand is a global powerhouse with millions of fans of all ages from around the world. What makes for an effective anniversary campaign is being able to create experiences that spark nostalgia for our OG fans, while still being able to attract the attention of today’s fans. This premise has been important to us in commemorating TRANSFORMERS’ 40th milestone.

Our goal for the 40th has been to highlight what has made the franchise such a fan favourite, drawing on the brand’s rich storytelling and characters to give multi-generational audiences the chance to more deeply explore the TRANSFOMERS universe through compelling experiences.

Well, it would appear mission accomplished! Can you talk us through some key beats of the 40th activity?
We started the year off strong by offering the TIL ALL ARE ONE: TRANSFORMERS 40th ANNIVERSARY EVENT, a special cinema experience to celebrate four decades of the TRANSFORMERS franchise that debuted across the US, UK and Mexico – along with select territories in Europe, Latin America and Asia, for one week only.

Featuring original voice actors like Peter Cullen, the original voice of Optimus Prime, and Frank Welker, the original voice of Megatron, the experience took fans back to the very beginning to revisit fan-favourite characters, recreating the enduring magic of the 1984 series, THE TRANSFORMERS.

Additionally, we debuted our 40th anniversary album – Hasbro presents TRANSFORMERS: Music from the Original Animated Series – which features music from the 1984 classic animated series. Originally released in 2019 with over 45 minutes of music, this re-issue album includes bonus tracks and a mixture of remastered orchestral and Eighties inspired synth tracks from the original tapes by composer, Rob Walsh. This album hit #1 on the Billboard charts for kids albums, an exciting first for the brand.

These are just a couple of examples of the many meaningful anniversary campaigns we launched this year for TRANSFORMERS. Not every IP has the privilege of experiencing the same longevity as TRANSFORMERS. 40 years of history and innovation is an accomplishment we were excited to celebrate! The TRANSFORMERS brand has a legacy of fandom that has allowed us to come up with new ways to expand the universe of our iconic Autobots and Decepticons.

With 40 years of heritage, there are many strings to pull at when crafting activity for the TRANSFORMERS franchise – and we’ve spoken to licensees that have played with the brand’s history across TV, toys, comics… When a brand has a rich archive, how do you unlock that in ways that resonate across categories?
For us, the key to unlocking these insights is by always putting the consumer first – it’s what we refer to as a consumer-centric approach.

An IP like the TRANSFORMERS franchise that spans four decades has expectations from fans to keep it grounded in core concepts while also delivering on premises that are fresh and exciting. We’re in constant dialogue with our consumers to discover what they love about the brand, as well as uncover where their unique play experiences have taken them.

“Our goal for the 40th has been to highlight what has made the franchise such a fan favourite.”

The TRANSFORMERS franchise has a great variety of new collaborations across our portfolio, including collabs with Mattel for a range of fan-focused launches like a Little People Collector set and our first-ever Hot Wheels collection – of which the first SKU sold out in less than 30 minutes!

Wow! Any other notable launches we should highlight?
We teamed up with Burger King, Egmont Story House and Toy Promotion for a special limited-edition and exclusive book campaign featuring the TRANSFORMERS brand, along with MY LITTLE PONY, for kids in the EMEA region. There’s a deal with Hachette Livre to release new titles based on the newly released TRANSFORMERS ONE film in LATAM… And in both markets, a collab with De Agostini to release their Optimus Prime partwork in Belgium and Mexico where fans can relive the exciting adventures of the beloved TRANSFORMERS characters.

Through strategic collaborations like these, we’re reimagining classic Hasbro IP for modern players where fans can create their own unique play experiences with these larger-than-life characters.

Is there an anniversary launch that you feel especially highlights how creative your partners can be with the brand?
Really, the opportunity for creativity from our partners has been boundless. There are so many great activations to highlight that the difficulty is in deciding which to mention – an awesome problem to have!

In the APAC market, our amazing licensee Blokees won a CLE Award in the 2024 Outstanding Licensee category for their TRANSFORMERS collection. As the company behind highly detailed model futures, kits, and collectibles, Blokees expanded our collaboration this year to include model kits inspired by TRANSFORMERS ONE. This prestigious recognition showcases the highly creative work that went into this collaboration. We are so proud to work with such innovative partners like Blokees to take our franchises to the next level.

It’s a remarkable slate of partnerships. Why do you feel the brand continues to thrive?
When we’re talking about any “continuation” we give a nod to nostalgia. This is a brand that got its start in 1984 with robot-toy figures and has continued to capture imaginations ever since. The continuity that makes it such a powerful IP is driven by consumers who have deep-seated memories of joy – who are then passing that down to their friends, families and loved ones, who are sharing that delight in turn. From a longevity perspective, we lean heavily into that nostalgia while also recognising that forming new memories also creates a need for crafting new experiences.

For the TRANSFORMERS franchise, 2024 has been all about treating our fans who have been with the brand since its origins 40 years ago, and those who have joined the action and adventure along the way. There’s a treasure trove of characters and storylines we can pull from which – when layered with consumer insights – allow us to manage and innovate within the franchise in a way that keeps it true to its legacy and promises exciting new directions.

And some of those fresh directions have included on the big and small screen.
Yes. We’ve seen huge success with our original animated kids’ series, TRANSFORMERS: EARTHSPARK, which is expected to drop a third season this year, and again, there’s the brand’s first fully CG-animated feature film, TRANSFORMERS ONE.

At CinemaCon, we unveiled a TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE film project with Paramount, which will be executive produced by Steven Spielberg. All these exciting projects follow last year’s TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS live-action movie. As you can see, we’ve reimagined the Autobots and Decepticons in various formats to continuously deliver something fresh for the brand.

You mentioned nostalgia earlier. How do you balance catering for long-time fans and drawing new audiences in? And how do you gauge when to be playful with the brand and when to ‘play it straight’?
Since 1984, the franchise has come to life through action-packed movies and TV shows, toys and so many more incredible “MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE” experiences for fans of all ages. As a reminder, the first live action TRANSFORMERS movie was created more than 15 years ago and gave rise to seven more major tentpole movies… This huge pop culture footprint has allowed the TRANSFORMERS brand to adapt into so many different formats and you can argue that all of them have pushed the boundaries in some way.

Knowing when to ‘play’ versus ‘play it straight’ is about inherently knowing which parts of the IP are open for interpretation. Ask any long-time fan, and they can tell you where they were when they first heard Optimus Prime’s iconic ‘Autobots, roll out’ or what it felt like when they first converted a bot character into its alt mode.

“The opportunity for creativity from our partners has been boundless.”

We know our fans, how they’re engaging with the brand and what direction their fandom is taking. In general, having that type of deep dialogue with our consumers gives us guidelines on where we can take the franchise next. There’s always some element of risk involved but we always make sure we take an insight-driven approach before we go in any direction. It all comes down to the brand’s enduring connection to multi-generational audiences, which I think has been made possible by the rich storytelling and characters of TRANSFORMERS.

Are there still elements of the brand that you feel could be ‘untapped’ or explored more in certain product categories?
We strive to have something TRANSFORMERS for every fan in every market. We’re continuing to expand across categories like digital gaming, fashion and collectibles alongside best-in-class partners to bring the visionary spirit of the TRANSFORMERS franchise to life in new and exciting ways.

Technology is at the centre of the franchise, so there’s always more to explore there as well. Keep an eye on these spaces!

Will do! Kelly, this has been great. Last question: What fuels your creativity?
First and foremost, I’m a relationship builder. My role is focused on global strategy and a really big part of that is working with teams that are based all over the world. When you’re doing this type of work you get to see firsthand how ideas and concepts get integrated depending on the market. There are core elements that have to stay true, but there are cultural and regional attitudes that can interpret a new offering in a variety of different ways.

Consumers really drive a lot of our creativity, it’s our job to listen. They have expectations on where the brand should and shouldn’t go. We have to synthesise those expectations and layer on our expertise to create something fresh and exciting.

What it all comes down to is that fuelling creativity and generating novel ideas doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You have to be immersed in the world of your consumer and in constant communication with your wider team to activate the insights that can be the foundation of the next great thing.

Great answer. Thanks again Kelly!