When Hasbro wanted a hand lifting its decades-old My Little Pony toy line out of the realm of kitsch last year, it turned to a tiny Brooklyn, New York, creative agency called Thunderdog Studios. The result: a New York gallery show full of Ponies, each uniquely decorated by a different woman artist.
Now, that was cool. Which is exactly what Hasbro was after. The question: Why did a $3 billion toy giant with 6,000 employees need the help? Even Thunderdog, now preparing to freshen up the toy giant’s Transformers line, is at a loss, sort of. “We’re all very young. When we’re in the boardroom, we feel like, ‘What are we doing here?'” admits president Tristan Eaton. “We’re waiting for them to realize we’re just a bunch of kids.”
We should’ve seen this coming. For decades, business pundits (and, okay, we) have lauded the merits of lean, flexible organizations: Embrace the activities that truly add value; jettison everything else. And companies have done so, outsourcing their IT departments, human resources, copy shops, even manufacturing and distribution.
But this is something different, and more sinister. Companies are outsourcing cool. They’re paying other companies–smaller, more-limber, closer-to-the-ground outsiders–to help them keep up with customers’ rapidly changing tastes and demands. Talk about a core competency! It’s like farming out your soul–or at least, asking someone what you should wear in the morning.
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