By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
The world’s largest toy company is launching a branding blitzkrieg in what it says will be LEGO’s “biggest ever global brand campaign.”
That’s saying something, as the European brick maker has ridden branding and licensing to expand its reach far beyond building toy cars with plastic bricks.
Today, LEGO Group is a major player in film and television, theme parks, and in the licensing of major brands into category leading products. The company’s more complex sets command prices of several hundred dollars, and are aimed at a market of sophisticated adults.
In 2021, fuelled by the deployability of its signature block sets, LEGO topped all toy companies worldwide with $8.4 billion in revenue, a full billion dollars over its closest competitor Bandai Namco ($7.3 billion), and $2 billion more than Hasbro ($6.4 billion). LEGO has expanded massively in all global markets, and has been particularly successful in China, a notoriously difficult market for Western brands.
Now the LEGO Group has launched a global brand campaign celebrating the power of play and the creativity of its fans in the lead up to its 90th anniversary on Aug. 10, 2022.
Four years after the launch of its successful Rebuild the World brand platform, the company says it’s latest effort “will showcase playful inspiration, activities and collaborations after new LEGO research shows play is fundamental to wellbeing and happiness for the whole family.”
The new campaign invites fans to come together and prioritize play for nine weeks this summer in the company’s first ever full takeover of LEGO.com, social media, e-commerce channels, stores and LEGOLAND parks with the LEGO Foundation and LEGO House’s support.
Last week, LEGO released a new ‘hero film’ that celebrates the impact playful building and creation has made on the world in the last nine decades.
The new We Are All Builders film starts and ends with children and their boundless imaginations and optimism reimagining the world around them with LEGO bricks as they rebuild it into a friendlier, more inclusive and more playful place than before.
That film was also the official kick-off for a calendar of activities across the summer, culminating in the LEGO Group’s World Play Day on Aug. 10, 2022, which is the brand’s 90th anniversary.
Some of the events scheduled for this year from the LEGO campaign literature include:
• Giving its 24,000+ colleagues around the world time off to celebrate and experience the power of play together on June 10, the LEGO Group’s annual LEGO Play Day.
• Turning LEGO stores into playgrounds from June 10, with fun, anniversary-themed building activities for visitors and display areas for creations to be showcased.
• Celebrating the role of play in the lives of world-renowned creatives such as Alicia Keys, Yotam Ottolenghi and Peggy Gou.
• Inspiring families with exciting building challenges and a ‘What Brick Are You?’ quiz, available on LEGO.com, LEGO social media channels and LEGO Life.
• Honouring awesome adult fans of LEGO by showing how they have never stopped playing, creating and inspiring us as a brand.
• Bringing LEGO fans and families together for an exciting look behind-the-scenes of LEGO HQ with LEGO CON on June 18.
• Showcasing the way children can turn mundane moments into playful adventures, and provide inspiration to help their parents to do the same, as part of the LEGO Foundation’s #PlayPledge movement.
• Collaborating with entertainment, art and design, music, fashion, sports and gaming partners to create playful spaces and experiences for communities around the world.
• Recreating iconic LEGO models to provide hours of fun and nostalgia for the family with the LEGO Classic 90 Years of Play set. A further, anniversary exclusive set is also still to be revealed.
• Inviting LEGOLAND guests in select parks to Play YOUR Way as they experience five different types of play activities and collect badges while exploring LEGOLAND.
• And, helping fans of all ages experience a world of playful learning activities with 25 million LEGO bricks at LEGO House in Billund, the Home of the Brick.
The Importance of Play
As LEGO promotes its own brand, it’s also trying to promote the importance of play for children and adults.
The new LEGO Play Well 2022 study polled 55,000 parents and children in 30 countries and found almost all parents think play helps children develop lifelong skills like creativity (93%), communication (92%), problem-solving skills (92%), and confidence (91%). Play also makes the whole family happier, builds stronger family bonds and improves their wellbeing according to 95% of parents, the study found.
“Play has always been the cornerstone of humanity,” said Julia Goldin, Chief Product and Marketing Officer. “It’s not only fun, but it’s crucial to helping children develop essential life skills, strengthening family bonds and building communities. But with competing pressures on the lives of parents and children, play is often deprioritised.
“To mark our 90th Anniversary this summer, we’re launching our largest ever celebration of play to inspire people around the world to play more; whatever their age, location or interests. We’re delighted to be joined by a host of the world’s most creative brands and personalities that are just as passionate as we are about play and reminding the world how easy, fun and beneficial it can be.”
The 90th anniversary campaign was developed by the LEGO Group’s Global Brand Development team as part of the brand’s global brand platform Rebuild the World. The creative was developed in a close collaboration between the LEGO Agency and colleagues from across the LEGO entities including LEGOLAND, LEGO House, the LEGO Foundation and colleagues from LEGO stories and factories globally.
LEGO says the fully integrated global campaign will run across a variety of channels including TV, digital, out of home, cinema (UK), e-commerce channels and in the retail stores in over 25 countries. It will also be supported by a series of local activations and playful events in markets where the LEGO Group has a presence.