Mattel Inc. is parting ways with another one of its top
executives at a time when the struggling toy maker is trying to
spark its creative culture and end a long string of poor
results.
Tim Kilpin, who earlier this year was in the running to lead the
struggling toymaker's turnaround, left his job on Monday and will
stay on at the company in an advisory capacity until November,
according to a securities filing. The company said he was entitled
to severance as part of his "covered termination."
He is the highest profile departure since Chief Executive Bryan
Stockton was fired in January after a second straight holiday
season of lackluster toys and poor execution with retailers.
Another senior executive, Geoff Massingberd, in June lost his job
running Mega Brands Inc., a building set company Mattel acquired
last year.
Mr. Kilpin, who in January was promoted to lead all commercial
operations, was considered a possible contender to replace Mr.
Stockton along with Richard Dickson, who ran Mattel brands such as
Hot Wheels and Barbie.
The top job went to Christopher Sinclair , a longtime Mattel
board member, in April. Mr. Dickson, who returned to Mattel last
year chiefly to reinvigorate brand management, became president and
chief operating officer, giving him the inside track to the corner
office.
In the ongoing reshuffling, Mr. Kilpin in June was named to lead
Toy Box, a newly created unit tasked with managing Mattel's stable
of smaller brands, as well as inventing new toys and quickly
bringing them to market.
Mr. Kilpin's new role was far removed from his prior assignments
overseeing some of Mattel's marquee properties, like Hot Wheels and
Barbie, which get the bulk of resources and attention at Mattel.
The Toy Box portfolio includes lesser brands like Polly Pocket,
Matchbox cars and Pictionary.
Company executives said Mattel needed such an entrepreneurially
minded division to compete in the fast-changing toy landscape and
felt Mr. Kilpin, who oversaw the successful launch of Monster High
dolls and once oversaw all boys and girls brands, has the
background to oversee it.
Mattel will name a new head of the Toy Box division shortly,
according to a company memo reviewed by The Wall Street
Journal.
The toy maker is in the midst of a long slump, with overall
sales falling for seven straight quarters, led by massive declines
by its flagship Barbie doll and its large Fisher-Price division.
Current and former executives say that Mattel's creative division
was stymied by an overriding focus on profits, rather than
inventing hot new toys.
Mr. Kilpin is closely associated with Mattel and its culture. He
started at the company in 1984 as a packaging copywriter for
Masters of the Universe and other boys toys. After a stint at
Disney Co., he returned to Mattel in 2003 and held a number of
roles, including head of the international operations. He also
founded the company band, The Toys.
Mr. Sinclair is quickly moving to stabilize the toy maker,
pushing for faster development of toys, encouraging partnership
with technology companies like Google Inc. and cutting costs. The
company laid off a few hundred employees in March, while other
midlevel executives have also left.
Mattel's struggles have cost it to slip behind rival Hasbro Inc.
as the largest toy company in the U.S. based on market
capitalization. Despite having annual sales around 40% less than
Mattel, Hasbro's market capitalization of $9.9 billion is about $2
billion higher than Mattel.
Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
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