Executive Vice President & Chief Franchise Officer, Mattel
Search every verified Josh Silverman interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Josh Silverman, Executive Vice President and Chief Franchise Officer at Mattel, discussed the company's approach to reimagining intellectual property at the TV Kids Festival in February 2025. He described a strategy the company calls "newstalgia," which he said aims to preserve the core DNA of a brand while modernizing it for contemporary audiences. As an example, he cited the relaunch of "Barney's World," a preschool series airing on Max, Cartoon Network, and Jito, which he said was designed to appeal to Millennial and Gen Z parents who grew up with the character while introducing Barney to a new generation. Silverman also noted that Mattel is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2025 with plans including nostalgia picture books, digital games, exhibitions, and the opening of the Mattel Adventure Park. In a September 2021 interview, Silverman commented on Mattel's financial performance, stating that the company had achieved its best fourth quarter in 15 years and double-digit sales growth for two consecutive quarters. He attributed the results to a multi-year strategy and reported that over the prior three years, gross margin had improved by over 1,100 basis points, cash flow had improved by nearly $500 million, and operating income had increased by more than $650 million.
“When reimagining IP, there's a time and a place for both embracing heritage and refreshing for today's audience. For example, with Barney, we wanted to keep what makes Barney Barney but also modernize it to resonate with preschoolers today, creating what we call 'newstalgia'—brand new for kids but nostalgic for parents...”
“Barney's World is an opportunity to bring Barney back to preschoolers with new content airing on Max, Cartoon Network, and Jito. We recognize Barney's passionate fan base, often Millennials and Gen Z who are now parents, and this allows us to relaunch the franchise authentically while addressing core messages like self...”
“At Mattel, our goal is to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Barney provides comfort and happiness in a fast-paced and complex world, sparking conversations between parents and children about kindness, self-love, and community.”
“We continue to mine our portfolio by polishing and bringing back properties like Monster High and Polly, extending their universes with prequels, sequels, and new characters, while also creating new stories for iconic toys like Uno and View-Master that previously had no story.”
“This year Mattel is celebrating its 80th anniversary with exciting plans across iconic brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, Barney, Fisher-Price, and Uno, including nostalgia picture books, digital games, exhibitions, and the opening of our first themed park experience, Mattel Adventure Park.”
“This was an exceptional quarter for Mattel with our best performance in years, with strong consumer demand and another milestone year for the company.”
“For the second quarter in a row we achieved double digit sales growth, we outpaced the industry and gained share on a global basis.”
“Our results exceeded expectation on many levels with the highest fourth quarter growth in 15 years, with a significant increase in profitability.”
“Our full year operating income was two and a half times higher than last year.”
“This is not just about the quarter or the year; it's about a multi-year strategy that is tracking very well, which puts us in a strong position to continue to increase profitability and accelerate our growth in 2021 and beyond.”
“We made significant progress in improving our profitability; our gross margin has increased for the 10th consecutive quarter and this is only getting better and stronger in terms of cash flow.”
“Over the last three years, our gross margin improved by over 1100 points, our cash flow improved by almost 500 million dollars, and our operating income is up more than 650 million dollars.”
“This was the second quarter in a row where we improved our top line by double digit.”
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