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Hello, everyone! Hope you are all having a great summer. We’re very pleased by
the response to our initial offering of LEGO bulk packs, and we hope that
you’re looking forward to the many exciting initiatives we have lined up for
the fall. But more on that in a later post....
In a discussion I had with Todd and Suzanne last week, Todd suggested that we
might want to offer some clarification regarding the respective roles and
activities of LEGO Direct and LEGO Shop At Home, as there may have been some
confusion as to whether these are interchangeable (they are not) and whether
they’re even related (they are).
Though we don’t feel that there is any real “identity crisis” regarding the
roles of LEGO Direct and LEGO Shop At Home, and we don't consider any
confusion that might have occurred up to now to be substantial, I trust that
the following will set the record straight.
LEGO Direct is a business unit of the LEGO Company. Among its responsibilities
is the management of direct commerce to consumers. These commerce activities --
both on the Internet and through catalogs -- are (or will be) conducted under
the service mark of "LEGO Shop at Home;" this includes the sale of bulk
elements as well as standard retail product. (In fact, all direct-to-consumer
commerce globally, online and off, will be conducted under the LEGO Shop At
Home tradename.) Also among the responsibilities of LEGO Direct are the
development and management of direct-to-consumer communities (especially the
LEGO Club), both online and off, and consumer relationship building
activities, again all on a global basis. These community/relationship
activities will be conducted under the tradename of LEGO Direct.
Thus, LEGO Direct is both an internal business unit of The LEGO Company --
with a rather broad brief -- and the tradename of a consumer-facing entity --
with a narrower and more targeted brief of direct consumer relationship
management. As Senior Vice President of LEGO Direct (the LEGO Company business
entity), I am responsible globally for direct-to-consumer commerce (LEGO Shop
at Home) as well as consumer relationship activities. (LEGO Direct the
business unit has further responsibilities, such as the creation and
management of all LEGO Company Internet initiatives, support for retail
partners online, etc., but these aren’t really germane to this discussion.)
It is natural that LEGO Shop At Home and LEGO Direct, in their consumer-facing
incarnations, should be interconnected: LEGO Direct is tasked with interacting
with consumers -- which includes soliciting consumer input (from a variety of
sources) as to possible product offerings (including bulk element wants); that
input is used to help determine the assortment which will be made available to
consumers through LEGO Shop At Home. I suspect it is this interconnection that
has created any potential confusion. LEGO Direct is responsible for
determining and creating the assortment to be sold; but only LEGO Shop at Home
actually sells the product. Is this too fine a distinction? We hope not --
because we want our consumers to work with LEGO Direct to tell us their
desires and wants in terms of available product; that's part of our job in
relationship building. But the ability to purchase directly from LEGO will --
and always has been -- the function and responsibility of LEGO Shop at Home.
So Todd was correct to point out that “LEGO Direct” is not selling bulk items –
LEGO Shop At Home is. LEGO Direct should be associated with bulk purchases
insofar as we want to know our consumer's wants and suggestions; but only LEGO
Shop at Home should be associated with bulk purchases insofar as the actual
product transaction is concerned.
As we go forward, we will be more careful about not using the two tradenames
in a confusing manner, and we will ensure that our individual postings are as
clear as possible (e.g. discussions of community wants will be under the aegis
of LEGO Direct; product availability posts under that of LEGO Shop At Home) in
order to avoid any potential future problems.
Play Well,
-- Brad
Brad Justus
Senior Vice President, LEGO Direct
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Brad Justus wrote:
> As we go forward, we will be more careful about not using the two tradenames
> in a confusing manner, and we will ensure that our individual postings are as
> clear as possible (e.g. discussions of community wants will be under the aegis
> of LEGO Direct; product availability posts under that of LEGO Shop At Home) in
> order to avoid any potential future problems.
That certainly clears things up. It does seem a bit confusing though
when the packages from LEGO Shop At Home arrive with a return label
saying LDMI, though perhaps that is usual practice in this kind of
setup. It is more understandable that the invoice is printed by LEGO
Direct Marketting Inc.
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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In lugnet.lego.direct, Brad Justus writes:
> [...]
> In a discussion I had with Todd and Suzanne last week, Todd suggested that we
> might want to offer some clarification regarding the respective roles and
> activities of LEGO Direct and LEGO Shop At Home,
Just to set the record straight, this was actually requested on June 22 via
email and not during the FTF discussion on July 19, and it was not a mere
"suggestion" that LD "might" want to offer some clarification, but rather a
very serious formal request (concerns summarized below).
> as there may have been some confusion as to whether these are interchangeable
> (they are not) and whether they're even related (they are).
The concerns were related to Brad's having created and encouraged strong
associations between the following:
1. The name "Brad Justus" and the name "LEGO Direct" -- i.e., Brad Justus is
the Senior Vice President of a division of LEGO called "LEGO Direct".
2. The name "LEGO Direct" and the promise of bulk purchases of LEGO elements
from LEGO -- i.e., LEGO Direct will sell bulk elements.
3. The name "LEGO Direct" and the promise of direct-to-consumer sales via the
Internet -- i.e., LEGO Direct will do via the Internet what LEGO Shop at
Home Service currently does via telephone.
and a mild association between:
4. The name "LEGO Direct" and the promise of direct-to-consumer presence
(online as well as offline, including community building activities).
I stated to Brad that my understanding was that #1 and #4 were correct and that
it had recently come to my attention that #2 and #3 were incorrect, and asked
(I think I actually used the word "admonish") Brad to set the record straight
as soon as possible via public announcement on LUGNET, including statements
apprising the community what LEGO Direct the business is and is not; what LEGO
Direct the name is and is not; that LEGO Direct the business is a competitor
to LUGNET, specifically in the area of community building and possibly other
areas as well; and that LEGO Direct the business does not equal bulk sales;
that LSAH is the actual name under which bulk purchases of LEGO elements will
be sold via the Internet.
> Though we don't feel that there is any real "identity crisis" regarding the
> roles of LEGO Direct and LEGO Shop At Home, and we don't consider any
> confusion that might have occurred up to now to be substantial, I trust that
> the following will set the record straight.
> [...]
It certainly sets the record straight vis-a-vis bulk purchases, and that is
*excellent*, but Brad, I had hoped as part of your message that you would come
out and state today in no uncertain terms that part of your job is or will be
to create or hire people to create areas of www.lego.com which will compete
with certain aspects of LUGNET.
Steven H. said on the phone a few weeks ago that LEGO Direct won't really
compete with LUGNET (and I can understand this POV from his angle being the
chief of LSAH) but I recall that you mentioned [sans request, agreement, or
understanding that the information be held in confidence] in a phone
conversation in April that you intended to create message boards on
www.lego.com and that the larger picture was "Community, Content, and
Commerce" serving enthusiasts of "Any Age, Any Stage" (i.e., not necessarily
limited to a particular age group or experience level with the product).
I'd like to see the relationship between LEGO Direct and LUGNET go forward
with a fully open understanding that there is inevitably going to be some
overlap (and that's OK!) and that you, as chief of operations of LEGO Direct,
have (naturally and understandably) a very wide variety of motives and not
necessarily only bulk purchases or other direct-to-consumer sales. Is that
a fair assessment?
Best regards,
--Todd Lehman
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