Netflix has hired Brazilian executive Roberto Stanichi as vice president of global consumer products and experiences, taking him from Mattel, where he was president and chief marketing and brand officer, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap reported on 5 November. He will oversee the streamer’s global consumer-products licensing and retail business and its experiences division, including Netflix House, and will report to chief marketing officer Marian Lee.
Key facts
- Hire: Roberto Stanichi, VP, global consumer products and experiences; reports to CMO Marian Lee
- Prior role: president, chief marketing and brand officer, Mattel (Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl); exit effective 10 November per Mattel
- Brief: global licensing and retail; live and permanent experiences including Netflix House (Philadelphia / King of Prussia and Dallas open; Las Vegas planned for 2027)
- Brazil angle (Tela Viva): Netflix will deal directly with Brazilian brand partners on product licensing from 2027; Stanichi’s appointment coincides with that shift
What he inherits
Stanichi spent nearly 20 years at Mattel and was instrumental, the streamer says, in the co-master toy partnership between Mattel and Hasbro for Netflix’s animated hit KPop Demon Hunters. Earlier roles included leadership posts at Spin Master and PepsiCo. He is São Paulo–born, with degrees from FEA-USP and an MBA from FGV, Tela Viva notes.
The hire fills the gap left when Josh Simon left as head of consumer products in August 2025 to become Funko’s chief executive. It also follows Greg Lombardo’s recent exit as Netflix VP of creative and production for global experiences. Lee called Stanichi’s record “turning iconic characters and stories into global brands that resonate across generations.” Stanichi, in a statement carried by Netflix to the trades, said the job is to expand fandom “into physical worlds, products, and experiences.”
Netflix’s consumer-products line began with Stranger Things Season 1 and now spans franchises including Bridgerton and KPop Demon Hunters. On the experiences side, the company says it has launched more than 50 formats, reaching about 15 million fans across 490 openings in more than 300 cities – temporary attractions such as The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience and Squid Game: The Experience, plus the permanent Netflix House venues. A third House on the Las Vegas Strip is slated for 2027.
Brazil’s licensing shift
Tela Viva’s Brazilian report ties the appointment to a local commercial change already announced: from 2027 Netflix will operate product licensing in Brazil directly with brand partners rather than through intermediate licence structures. The outlet cites recent local results – a Comfort fabric softener tied to Bridgerton Secrets that beat its sales target by more than 4.5 times, and Seara’s Stranger Things–themed pizza leading licensed food products in its category – as evidence of the category’s scale. Those are brand-reported figures carried by the trade, not audited film revenue.
Mattel, in the same news cycle, named Steve Totzke president and chief operating officer with an expanded brief covering marketing and brand – Stanichi’s former patch – as Roger Lynch settles in as chief executive after Ynon Kreiz left for Skydance.
Our reading
For rights holders and brand partners, the signal is that Netflix is putting a career toy-and-IP marketer, not a pure content executive, over the products and House P&L after Simon’s and Lombardo’s exits. The Brazil direct-licensing shift from 2027 matters for LatAm FMCG and toy licensees who will negotiate with the streamer rather than a middle layer. What the announcements do not disclose is the division’s revenue, margin targets or how many roles sit under the new VP – the next useful document would be a licensing-market keynote or an earnings call that breaks out consumer products and experiences as a line.
Related: Netflix’s Other Worlds Stranger Things prequel for 2028; Fox’s $22bn Roku close; New York Times Company talks for Letterboxd.