In a new magazine article, Hasbro appears to have confirmed that there will be an all-encompassing revamp of the My Little Pony brand in 2026.
Hasbro has divulged few details about what will come after G5. For now, though, their licensing team is focused on nostalgia; the MLP brand has recently been buoyed by the success of G4 licensing in China.
The magazine article, "Retro Vibes Boost Pony", appeared on September 15 in the trade publication Licensing Source Book. Much of the article is basically a list of MLP brand partnerships from the last 2 years, but Hasbro has also taken the opportunity to spell out their current and future strategy for MLP.
Hasbro's Marianne James is quoted saying that MLP's focus on nostalgia will continue "into 2025" and will include more Basic Fun pony figurines.
Our focus for licensing into 2025 is celebrating MY LITTLE PONY across the generations with some fantastic partners, collabs and products, including retro figures from Basic Fun!, along with an array of licensed items across categories.
In 2023, G1 and G4 were already being featured more as part of the 40th anniversary theming, and they have continued to become more prominent within the brand. My Little Pony: Make Your Mark has now fully released in mainland China, but of the Chinese licensing partners mentioned in the 2nd-last paragraph of the article, Reesee, Costa and Kayou focus solely on G4, and only Miniso and Xtep have done anything with G5.
In Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks's remarks to investors in July 2024, Kayou's G4 trading cards were specifically mentioned as a driver of good financial results for Hasbro's consumer products licensing, and were framed as part of MLP's "resurgence" in China.
As for what to expect after 2025, Marianne James states that in "2026 and beyond", there will be a "total brand evolution" encompassing multiple aspects of the MLP brand. She also says that this revamp will be "insight-led". Based on how marketers use the term "brand insights", this likely means that the revamp's direction is to be determined by Hasbro's understanding of the target audience. Ideally, this data would allow Hasbro to create something with wide appeal.
We will continue to drive retro demand and the pop culture trend by leaning into fashion, home and health and beauty brand partnerships, like what we've done with Bums and Roses and Catrice Cosmetics. These loud and proud celebrations of MY LITTLE PONY’s glorious 40+ year heritage will springboard us into 2026 and beyond, with the launch of our insight-led total brand evolution across content, branding, products, and marketing. Watch this space!
Thanks to D001 for the heads-up.
