If the number of Lego bricks were averaged out among the world’spopulation, each person would own approximately 86 bricks. Thesesimple blocks have propelled the family-owned LEGO Group to theworld’s largest global toymaker. The company manufacturesapproximately 86,667 Legos per minute. Traditionally geared moretoward young boys, Lego used market research to expand its targetmarket toward girls with new product lines. It also usescrowdsourcing to elicit new ideas for Lego sets.
The LEGO Group is a Denmark-based company founded in 1932 bycarpenter Ole Kirk Kristiansen. In 1947 the firm decided to produceplastic toys after purchasing an injection-molding machine. Amongthese toys were plastic bricks aimed toward young children.Kristiansen’s son Godtfred, who would head the company after hisfather’s death, began investigating ways to design these plasticbricks. He conceived of an interlocking system design that wouldallow children to connect the bricks together easily. In 1958 hepatented the stud-and-tube coupling system, a system that wouldpopular-ize Lego toys on a global dimension. Although GodfredKristiansen considered Lego products to be for both genders, thiswas not the case at the begin-ning of the 21st century. Legos wereconsidered to be more of a boy’s toy. However,
this
began to change a few years ago when Lego made a strategicdeci-sion to develop prod-uct lines for girls. This decision wasnot taken lightly. Lego spent four years interviewing thisdemographic and their families to understand the preferences anddesires of young girls. Researchers observed girls at play to notethe differences between
girls and boys. One of the biggest observations that Legodis-covered is that young girls tend to like to role-play, makingLego mini-figures an important part of the Lego experience. Theyalso discovered that girls tend to pay more attention to color. Inall, 3,500 girls were interviewed or observed. This type of marketresearch has paid off for Lego in
the development of a highly successful product line. Based on theirobservations, Lego developed Lego Friends sets. These sets consistof five female mini-figures living in the fictional city ofHeartlake City. These sets were developed in a variety of colorsthat young girls seem to prefer, including pink, turquoise, andlavender. The colors were not without controversy as some consumerswere concerned that Lego Friends reinforced gender stereotypes.However, they became a hit among young girls. Lego Friends soldtwice as well as expected and has helped The LEGO Group triple itsrevenue since 2007.
One reason for Lego’s recent success might be due to its
tendency to step outside of the box. A decade ago, the future ofLego as an independent firm was threatened, forcing the CEO torevamp operations and re-position the firm. Lego’s emphasis onadults and young girls—as well as its strong partnerships withcompanies like Mar-vel—have come far in rejuvenating the firm.Another way that Lego is able to solicit creative ideas is bygetting fans actively involved. Lego has a crowd-sourcing platformthrough a Japanese partner called Lego Ideas. The platform solicitsconsumer-generated ideas for new play sets. Con-sumers can submittheir ideas and vote
for the sets they think should be developed into new prod-ucts.Lego reviews those ideas that receive 10,000 or more votes forpossible development. If an idea is chosen for devel-opment, thecreator of the idea receives one percent of the product’s total netsales. This is a benefit for Lego because it helps generate newproduct ideas that it might not have con-sidered on its own. Legoalso ensures that its employees are creative contributors. Jobapplicants interested in design jobs with Lego are invited tosketch and build Lego sets that will be reviewed by the firm to seeif the applicant is a good fit. Lego continues to use marketingresearch to determine
new opportunities for product lines. The firm has even used MRIscans of children at play to examine which parts of the
brain light up during interactions with specific toys. This use ofnew and advanced tools for marketing research is inte-gral for Legoto maintain its top spot as the world’s largest toymaker.66
Questions for Discussion
1. Describe the marketing research process Lego under-took todevelop Lego Friends. Why do you think this was important to theproduct’s success?
2. How does Lego get consumers involved in marketingresearch?
3. Why is it important for Lego to use new tools to continu-allygather market research from its target markets?