Company Profile - Lego

The brick that makes everyone tick

Isabel Graham, head of Marketing at the Lego Group, talks to Toy World about the company’s latest toy and entertainment launches, its approach to experiential retail, and what new ranges we can look forward to this year.

Isabel Graham

How has 2023 been for The Lego Group so far?

Back in March, we reported strong global earnings for the full year of 2022. Revenue for the full year grew +17% compared with the same period last year. 2022 was a milestone year for the Lego Group as we celebrated our 90th anniversary, with lots going on to mark the milestone birthday.

The first six months of 2023 at the Lego Group have been just as busy, with a number of exciting launches, partnership announcements and more. Imagination, creativity and fun continue to remain at the heart of Lego Play, ensuring that it is as culturally relevant, for builders of all ages, today as it always has been.

To spotlight some of my personal 2023 highlights to date: March saw us launch a Lego Botanicals Flower Stall in Waterloo station, to drive awareness and consideration of the Lego Botanicals range as an alternative to real flowers for Mother’s Day gifting. In April we celebrated Easter with Lego brick treasure hunts and in May we launched Lego Dreamzzz, a new homegrown entertainment IP inspired by the creativity of children’s dreams. In May we opened our first store south of the river, in Battersea, and launched the latest series of Lego Ninjago Dragons Rising by inviting families to a viewing party at Lego Store Leicester Square. Finally, most recently, we announced that we’ve teamed up with the stars of women’s football to inspire children to ‘Play Unstoppable’.

Which major new product launches have been generating the most excitement and why?

We’ve strengthened our already strong portfolio with new launches that offer creativity for all ages and interests whilst keeping the brick at the heart of everything we do.

The launch of Lego Dreamzzz has been a really exciting one. As a leading player in the toy industry, innovation is always at the core of what we do and it’s important to us to stay at the forefront of the future of play. Lego Dreamzzz broadens our portfolio with an increased focus on storytelling, imagination and experimentation – this isn’t just the launch of a new franchise of products, we are introducing a new entertainment IP for our biggest

Lego fans: kids. The products, coming soon, will be totally different to anything you’ve seen from the Lego Group, mashing together the real world and the dream world, resulting in models that look like no other Lego set that’s come before.

Another very special launch this year was that of the re-imagined Lego Friends universe, which arrives a decade on from its initial launch. Including an all-new line up of characters and accompanying TV-series, it forms part of our mission at The Lego Group to help kids and parents navigate friendship in the modern world.

We’ve continued to drive excitement amongst motoring fans with our diverse portfolio of vehicles, which in the last six months includes everything from a Lego Creator Land Rover Classic Defender, aimed at builders aged 8+, all the way up to a Lego Technic 2022 Ford GT and Lego Technic Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar, celebrating 100 years of racing at Le Mans in 2023.

We also launched the new vintage Lego Icons Pac-Man Arcade set. Ideal for any gamer or Lego fan, as it really is one of the most famous and nostalgic games of all time, it’s a product which has generated lots of excitement.

The Lego Group’s recently opened Battersea store sees the company continue to place emphasis on experiential shopping. Why do you believe this to be so important?

Retail expansion and innovation is an important area that we will continue to invest in. Our physical store experiences are becoming more immersive and entertaining. Our research has shown us that shoppers want more engaging retail experiences, and that despite the growth in eCommerce, physical retail remains one of the most important platforms for discovering new products.

Like our other stores, our new Lego Store Battersea includes several hands-on play experiences that will immerse fans of all ages. The Battersea Power Station Big Build pays homage to the local community, featuring 14,500 Bricks and taking 160 hours to build, while the Interactive Lego Brick Mosaic Wall features a stylised depiction of the Battersea Power Station. Users are guided to push a button on the console which activates sequential lighting, culminating in the illumination of the light bulb atop the console to represent the ‘spark of imagination’. It features 108,291 bricks and took 336 hours to build.

What’s the reaction to Lego Dreamzzz been like?

Reactions so far have been overwhelmingly positive, with kids (and adults) loving the new characters and narrative, which explores what happens when dreams become real, ordinary kids become extraordinary and creativity is a superpower. New characters, including Izzy, Mateo and more (Zee-blob is already a much-loved character less than a month after launching), all have relatable qualities and personality traits that children of all ages are identifying with.

I believe it’s been so well received because children helped to shape Lego Dreamzzz. It was tested with over 30,000 kids from around the world to ensure it truly reflects the way their creative imaginations work whilst dreaming. We launched Lego Dreamzzz very differently too, from a celebrity attended premier event to viewing parties that anyone could join, with kids favourite influencers including Amazing Arabella, Jaadin the Kyd and more. There was also the opportunity to become a Chief Dream Creator and visit Billund to meet the makers of Lego Dreamzzz: we’ve made this as inclusive and accessible to as many kids as possible. In August, we’re launching a new range of 10 products. To reflect the two worlds in the new franchise - the Dream World and the Waking World - each product contains the best of both universes, mashing up different passions and resulting in models that look like no other Lego set before it. The ambition is to encourage kids to build their dreams into reality. Initial reactions to the product range have been really positive, and we’re excited to launch on 1st August so more Lego builders can bring their wildest dreams to brick-built life.

The Lego Dreamzzz product builds are a hybrid of formulaic step-by-step and free building. Is this based on consumer feedback regarding the nature of most Lego builds these days?

Lego Dreamzzz as an IP is all about inspiring kid’s limitless creativity, which is why the SKUs have been designed to offer endless building opportunities and allow kids to explore their dreams and creativity through Lego bricks.

The Lego Dreamzzz product builds give children more freedom to build and rebuild. About 80% of an initial Lego Dreamzzz build is completed by following instructions. This section now looks almost like a comic book, featuring missions to complete as you build, to help kids feel like they are truly building a story. For the final 20%, however, the choice of what to make is left up to them. The aim is that kids will be in the mind frame to continually build and rebuild during their play.

How does the Lego Group go above and beyond to support its retail partners, from big-box chains to single-store indies?

Our retail partners are key in achieving our joint business objectives and we work very closely with them on a day-to-day basis to create and execute the best possible campaigns. We have been, and will continue to, invest heavily across all channels for nationwide campaigns as well as retailer specific occasions.

As part of the Lego Friends Universe re-launch, this year we’ve launched pop up Lego Friends stores in Harrods, hosted Make and Take events at Smyths where consumer got to take their Lego Friends builds home, run competitions with retailers to win Lego Friends Bundles, we had a Lego Friends Hamleys window takeover – plus tonnes of online takeovers too, with homepage banners, dedicated landing pages and more.

We work closely with retailers to deliver the right type of physical retail experiences as we know that an inspiring and engaging shopping experience remains a powerful tool to drive brand engagement.

Consumers are seeing their expendable income squeezed this year. Is the Lego Group focusing at all on bringing down RRPs or offering more low- to mid-priced options?

With the rising cost of living, we’re well aware that families are being squeezed more than ever. At the Lego Group we’re proud to offer a large range of products with price points to suit a range of budgets. Lego products are created to offer endless and timeless play experiences for kids of all ages. Our focus is to deliver great play experiences to children all over the world, offering the opportunity to rebuild, recreate and assemble whatever their imagination dreams up, offering plenty of play value for decades.

That’s why I am so excited about the Lego Dreamzzz range, with the option to build and rebuild that final 20% of the product, and with that endless storytelling opportunities.

What big opportunities does The Lego Group plan to capitalise on throughout the remainder of this year and into 2024?

Back in May we launched Play Unstoppable, a new initiative focused on celebrating the endless potential of girls when they are given opportunities to play without limits. The Lego Group has partnered with some of the biggest change makers in Women’s Football in support of this movement: former USA Women’s team Captain Megan Rapinoe, the multi-talented Yūki Nagasato, world-class striker Sam Kerr and global superstar Asisat Oshoala. We’ll be activating the campaign on a local level as well with some exciting partnerships and activity due to be announced soon.

What kind of product launches can we expect for Q3/Q4?

The Lego Dreamzzz range, launching in August, will see products based on the new TV show including the Nightmare Shark Ship, where Mateo, Izzie and Nova battled the Nightmare King, plus Mateo and Z-Blob the Robot, a brick-built, robot version of everyone’s favourite character Z-Blob and Izzy and Bunchu the Bunny, which can be built in roller-skate or bee mode.

Our IP range continues to bring brick-built versions of favourite fictional characters and scenes to life. These are always very popular as we look ahead to the festive season. For Harry Potter fans, we’ve launched the first ever Lego Brick model of Dobby. He is such a beloved character from the Wizarding World, so we’re excited for kids to be able to recreate magical moments and create their own stories with the set, alongside the wider Harry Potter SKUs.

Older Lego builders can explore the world of Middleearth with The Lord of the Rings Rivendell, recreate Darth Vader’s personal flagship, and capture every detail of one of the largest Imperial starships ever created with the Lego Star Wars the Executor Super Star Destroyer.

And for our core ranges, we have a number of exciting launches for Lego fans of all ages. The Lego Friends Universe continues to grow, and new for Q3/4 we’re launching a multicoloured Community Center representative of all the things kids love to do. The levels of the building can be rearranged so kids can tailor their build. There’s a recording studio, an art studio, a chill-out zone for gamers and a pool, so loads of opportunities for storytelling.

Lego City has a strong portfolio that launched in June for kids who have a wide array of hobbies. The Lego City Ski and Climbing Centre is packed with facilities for fun winter activities, while the Lego City Custom Car Garage is the perfect play set for kids who love cool automobiles.