Nearly 500 Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce members heard from Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks about the power of play and successful business growth strategies as part of the 2024 Fall Economic Outlook Luncheon held Monday, September 16 at the Rhode Island Convention Center. 

In a featured conversation with Chamber President Laurie White, Chris spoke about fostering creativity, accelerating innovation, building stronger teams, modeling leadership and experiencing the magical moments of play. 

"If you’re growth oriented, and others around you have a growth mindset, magic can happen," Chris said. 

 

View all the event photos.

He offered four recommendations around leadership:

• Assemble the right team
• Build the right vision
• Role model the right behaviors
• Build systems of capacity (create tools and procedures to drive business)

 

From Providence Business News: Hasbro CEO bullish on the ‘power of play’

The self-described gamer-turned CEO is guided by a two-part philosophy that he argues applies to any sector and any customer, whether a construction or pharmaceutical company or a 5-year-old child.

A fundamental insight remains: “what the customer wants,” he said, adding the second part is needed to sustain company success in the long term.

“It’s what we call ‘spark,’” he said. “If insight is the tinder. Then spark is what creates the fire … You have to have to have passion. Especially in creative endeavor. You not only have to understand the consumer. You have to be the consumer.” 

From Providence Business First: Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks talks 'magical moments' at Providence event

He touched upon topics of leadership —(surround yourself with creative and talented people, model the right behavior, and make room for "spark") — brand strategy (leverage your intellectual property to engage customers of all ages) and parenting (play board games with your kids, and learn their video games instead of fighting with them over screen time).

Cocks, who became CEO at Hasbro in February 2022, has been pushing a multi-pronged turnaround plan. He and his refreshed team are leaning into the digital world, doubling down on licensing deals, and finding efficiencies in the consumer products division.

"At the end of the day, it's all about talent," said Cocks. "So if you have people who are growth-oriented, and you are growth-mindset oriented, I think a lot of magical things can happen."