LeapFrog Enterprises CEO John Barbour wants to transform the company and reignite long-term business growth.
During the company’s June 12 fourth-quarter earnings conference call, Barbour noted that net sales and net income fell in the fourth quarter and year-over-year as well.
Although retail sales of LeapTV have significantly missed company expectations, Barbour said company officials remain enthusiastic about its future power to create memorable customer experiences and increased customer engagement.
“This innovative platform has already won a number of independent awards, including the highly prestigious KAPi Award for Innovation in Children’s Media, and consumer reviews to date have been strong,” Barbour said, according to Seeking Alpha. “Given our disappointing financial performance in fiscal 2015, we have undertaken a major strategic review of our go-forward business model, product, and operating plans. We’re one of the most trusted and valuable brands in the industry, with an arsenal of very unique and powerful assets, including an award-winning and rich content library, and we plan to effectively leverage these trends to grow and transform our business.”
Barbour noted that the company’s strategic review process included a comprehensive research study that provided deep insights into the ways millennial parents think about the learning and development of their children.
“We then leverage these learnings through a LeapFrog brand review which has helped guide our go-forward product strategy and brand messaging,” he explained. “We found that while education remains a core need, many parents are also searching for solutions that expand their child’s world, and help them develop in a more holistic and well-rounded way. Millennial parents are concerned about their child’s educational, emotional, and creative development. Based on our research, we believe demand is growing for fun experiences that engage, inspire, and enrich a child’s intellectual curiosity.”
Barbour believes the company is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these opportunities through the extension and evolution of the brand, products, and services.
“Our return to growth will be built in the valuable assets that the company has developed over its rich history of innovation and learning,” he said. “LeapFrog is one of the most trusted brands in the industry.”
Barbour supported his comments with a recent Piper Jaffray survey of nearly 700 mothers that found the most positively perceived brands in the industry are Lego, Fisher-Price, and LeapFrog.
“LeapFrog held the highest positive perception at 77%, followed by Hasbro’s portfolio of brands at 61%, and Mattel at 56%,” he said. “LeapFrog was also the No. 1 positively perceived brand among moms of preschoolers aged three to five years old.”