AI in marketing is moving past content and ad targeting into the brand characters themselves. A recent move from Hasbro shows where this is heading.
Hasbro, the American toy and entertainment company behind brands like Transformers, Monopoly, and Mr. Potato Head, has launched Sixth Wall. It is an AI studio that officially licenses its characters for AI-powered and interactive experiences.
Twelve characters are available at launch through the ElevenLabs Iconic Marketplace. The list includes Optimus Prime, Megatron, Cobra Commander, Mr. Potato Head, and faces from Clue, with more on the way later this year.
What Is “Behavioral Licensing”?
Hasbro calls its approach “Behavioral Licensing.” Traditional licensing covers a character’s image or name. This goes further, licensing how a character speaks, responds, and behaves in a live interaction.
It runs on a proprietary system called CharacterOS, which manages each character’s personality and voice while setting safety boundaries. In short, a brand can let people talk to Optimus Prime, and Hasbro keeps Optimus sounding like Optimus.
The voice work comes from authorised actors under a compensation model, limited to AI experiences rather than films or TV. Peter Cullen, who has voiced Optimus Prime since the 1980s, is among those taking part.
Why This Matters for AI in Marketing
The motivation is familiar to any brand team. Unauthorised AI versions of popular characters have spread across chat, voice, and gaming platforms, often off-brand. Sixth Wall offers an approved, governed alternative.
The applications go beyond entertainment. Hasbro points to conversational games, robotics, AI brand ambassadors, and touchpoints like store greetings and call-waiting moments. Picture a customer on hold chatting with a familiar character.
That is the bigger signal. As AI in marketing matures, branded conversational agents become a real engagement channel, and a character’s personality becomes a licensed, governed asset.
The Open Questions
There are real concerns too. A MediaSmarts expert speaking to CBC News flagged parasocial relationships, advertising, and privacy. Children, in particular, may treat human-like AI characters as if they have real agency.
Hasbro says Sixth Wall targets users aged 13 and older plus enterprise use cases, and that it is not building AI products for young children. For any brand exploring conversational AI, that balance of engagement and trust is the part to get right early.
The Takeaway
AI in marketing is shifting from a tool you use to an environment you operate inside. Brand voice and trust now have to hold up across live, AI-driven conversations, not just static campaigns.
If your brand is thinking about how conversational AI and consistent brand voice fit into your customer journey, the team at Engage Positive is happy to talk it through.
