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- [00:04]
A
Every small business owner has that one moment that could have broken them. But remarkably it didn't. Hi, I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. And on season three of the Unshakeables my co host Kathleen Griffith and I are bringing you more incredible stories of overcoming the impossible. We're really proud to share that the Unshakeables is nominated for Best Branded podcast at the 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Listen to the Unshakeables wherever you get your podcasts and lear more@chase.com podcast JP Morgan Chase bank and a member FDIC Copyright 20 and 26 JP Morgan Chase Co.
- [00:42]
B
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news But we begin with Mattel. The toy maker which relies for a large part of its business on petroleum based plastics. It makes iconic brands like Barbie and Fisher Price has accelerated efforts to diversify its supply chain as it navigates oil price volatility and tariff uncertainty. Joining us now is the CEO in on Kreis. He joins us from the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference in Midtown Manhattan. In on thanks for your time. Let me first get your take on the war in Iran. It doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon. How are you dealing with it at Mattel?
- [01:24]
C
Well hi Matt, thanks for inviting me. You know, like the rest of the world we are following developments and we' see where things go. We believe over the next few days or a couple of weeks it will be easier to know where things are heading.
- [01:39]
D
It feels like it's just constant supply chain disruption. Perhaps you've gotten more used to trying to tackle it in on after Covid and tariffs. But now there's this concern what happens to petroleum based products like those like toys? That happens at Mattel. How do you think about hedging higher oil prices? How do you deal with that internally?
- [02:03]
C
Well, supply chain is one of our competitive advantages. Over the last few years we continue to diversify and evolve our supply chain and develop a system that is flexible and modular and is able to respond and adapt to changing market conditions. Typically when supply chain is tested we stand out. We stand out and we navigate situations. It's not that we're insulated, but we have the system. We have the capabilities and expertise to navigate changing market conditions.
- [02:37]
B
We heard from Donald Trump at the beginning of his second term saying that, you know, maybe kids only need one or two dolls, not 30. No one gave the message to my daughters but we've seen toy prices actually come down in the last few months. Obviously there was A rise when we put the tariffs on. And I think we've got this brilliantly charted by our economics correspondent Michael McKee. But then we've seen drops in December, in January, in February, we're seeing toy and game prices falling. Can you explain that drop?
- [03:15]
C
Well, the toy industry is a growth industry. It grew in 23 out of the last 25 years. It grew strongly last year at over 6%. And we saw positive consumer demand for our product in the fourth quarter and the full year, both in the US and internationally. So we do see demand for our products. We saw it last year. Growth came from both prices, but also, also, also volume. So the industry is healthy. We know that play is a fundamental human behavior that parents will always prioritize spending money on their children, especially when it comes to quality product and trusted. And it's also a strategic category for retailers and that it's driving foot traffic and toy shoppers spend more time in store and typically have a bigger basket. So it is a strategic category for retailers. And we expect the toy industry to continue to be resilient, not completely insulated, but resilient in challenging economic times. And we believe it's a growth industry that will continue to grow over time.
- [04:26]
D
Just on that point, you know, have you seen any change in behavior over the past week and a half?
- [04:33]
C
No, too early to tell. Too early to tell. But as I said, this is an industry that is driven by innovation and big brands. The importance of big brands is higher than ever in a world of unlimited shelf space and ubiquitous distribution. That this is not just in toys, it's also in entertainment and other consumer facing parts of the industry, of the economy. So big brands are always going to stand out. And this is exactly the core part of our strategy. How do we leverage the strength of our brands? The fact that people are proactively looking for opportunities to engage with our brands to create experiences and product that stand out and continue to excite and delight fans all over the world.
- [05:19]
B
How do you do that with Hot Wheels specifically in on because Barbie, you know, I see everywhere and we all watched the movie and there's no question about where to pick up those products. With Hot Wheels and Matchbox, I'm not really sure where to go to get these things. Sometimes I see them like on an otherwise empty shelf at Best Buy or occasionally they're in the supermarket at the checkout. But I don't really see the kind of visibility for those cars that I do for the dolls.
- [05:54]
C
Well, Hot Wheels achieved last year its eighth consecutive record high and we expect another strong double digit growth year for Hot Wheels in 2026. Hot Wheels is perhaps one of the best representation of our brand strategy and how we continue to grow our IP driven play and family entertainment business. You're seeing innovation in Hot Wheels. We're expanding play patterns, user demographics. We're seeing a very large contingent of adult fan and collectors. We're offering more content, more experiences, stunt shows, the Hot Wheels Legend Tour, mobile games, and it's becoming a lifestyle brand. It's much more than a toy, it's a lifestyle brand and we sell products in 500,000 stores globally. Hot Wheels is in every single one of them. And the good news, bad news in what you just described is that in some cases we cannot keep up with demand. There is a lot of excitement around Hot Wheels and you should also look at Mattel brickshop, which is our Hot Wheels branded building set, play pattern. That is that something is something we launched last year is and selling like hotcakes. We cannot keep up with demand. It's really about innovation and bringing these brands to life in new ways that delight fans and continue to evolve and expand the experience beyond the toy aisle
- [07:29]
D
in the world of innovation. I think the other thing people are quite excited about in on is your partnership, your collaboration with Open Air. When are we going to see our first AI produced toy In On? When might we get something out of that partnership?
- [07:46]
C
You know, we continue to innovate in different ways and look to embrace technology and benefit from our ability to find new ways to engage fans when it comes to AI. We believe this will be a meaningful addition to how we work, how we innovate, how and how we do things more efficiently, more productively, faster, at lower cost. In terms of integrating technology and AI into our product and experiences, we believe that this will represent an exciting way for us to, to, to reinvent and amplify existing play patterns and at the same time do it very responsibly given the implication of AI. So we're very mindful of privacy, of safety and how do we embed and integrate the technology in a responsible way. We will be able to share more later this year, but we're very excited by the things we're working on. And again, it's all down to innovation and changing paradigms and looking at new ways to, to, to reach and engage fans all over the world.
- [08:58]
D
All right, thank you very much for joining us. Enjoy the rest of the conference. That is in on Christ CEO of Mattel.