Marketing Lessons From One Of The World's Most Iconic Brands - Lego
It would be tough to find someone who hasn’t heard of Lego. The incredible brand brings joy to many people’s lives through their inspiring and fun toys. The Lego Group communicates its brand values through 6 key elements; imagination, fun, caring, creativity, learning, and quality.
‘Caring is about our desire to make a positive difference in the lives of children, for our colleagues, our partners, and the world we live in.’
Whilst Lego is one of the most iconic brands in the world, to reach this success they have had to test, alter, and work hard on an incredible marketing strategy. This has resulted in reaching a global audience, whilst targeting people of all ages. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, Lego are known as the leading manufacturers of play materials across the world…But how did they get here? Below, we are going to explore a few killer marketing lessons from The Lego Group in how they have made this growth.
Involve Customers
Lego has a huge, powerful community. Through online groups crowdsourcing creative constructions, to having your lego designs featured on their pages and even shops! Lego has great success in how they engage with their customers, encouraging users to keep playing with their purchases. One of the brand’s innovative customer engagement ideas is their use of contests. Through Lego Ideas, you can showcase your builds, with the chance to win vouchers, rare items, and even trips. Another includes product ideas, where you submit your proposal to other Lego fans; if you receive more than 10,000 votes for your piece, you have the chance for it to be developed into a real lego set!
Know Your Target Audience
For many of us, thinking that Lego is for children is a heightened thought, and it also was for Lego. However, in recent years the brand hit an important turning point. They started to realise, that in fact, their audience was also steering towards adults. This was a huge landmark, which changed their marketing strategy going forward. The increase in adult consumers meant that Lego had to re-think their campaigns, using adult-focused products including builds based on horror houses, old classics, and vehicles to name a few. No longer were the lego bricks underneath parents feet, but instead in their hands.
Incredible Content Marketing
Lego has made use of every single platform and media; from social media and games, through to The Lego Movie shown across the globe. Their brand on YouTube is extensive, with 6 different channels including LEGO Access, LEGO, LEGO Discover, LEGO FanTube, and LEGO Little Ones: With their main channel being the largest on YouTube, claiming a huge 12.5 million subscribers. The use of multiple channels allows them to streamline content, and engage specific interests and target groups. Lego also uses multimedia storytelling, with products announced having their own characters, trailers, games, and much more to excite customers. The company takes, and utilises digital platforms to the max, creating various different online communities, sharing content from both themselves and users, and showing they truly care about their audience.
Digital Experiences
Lego builds memorable, and valued digital experiences. One includes the announcement of their augmented and virtual reality games. Lego Hidden Side allows people to scan their constructions using a mobile or tablet, with hidden pieces in your build appearing on the screen. Their VR experience also enables you to see a whole new world around you, and interact with other players inside the game. The Lego team are passionate about creating another level to their customers’ experience with their products, and have managed to do this through technology. Another app that they have built includes The LEGO Boost app, which brings your creations to life. Here, you can interact with Lego models, which can move, talk, and even respond to real-world events.
What Can We Learn From Lego?
I think one of the key elements that we can learn from Lego in marketing is to always find ways to engage with our customers. This forms strong, loyal relationships that fuels businesses. Not only does it strengthen brands, but also creates powerful communities amongst customers.
“As marketers, our work needs to reflect, represent and welcome the broad spectrum of people we see in the world,”
– Julia Goldin, Product & Marketing Officer
