Subject:
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Re: Why do you love bley?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.color
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Date:
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Sun, 13 May 2007 01:44:01 GMT
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Viewed:
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5380 times
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In lugnet.color, David Laswell wrote:
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Not every marketing decision works out as well as intended. In the initial
announcement, TLC said that they had done marketing groups in the interest of
supposedly bringing four colors more in line with the rest of the LEGO color
palette, and that the individuals polled unanimously agreed that the three
revised grey colors and the revised brown color “looked better” than the old
versions. Got that?
Now, everyone in known AFOLdom nearly unanimously agreed that this idea was
crap because everyone could tell firstly that the colors (most specifically
dark-bley) don’t match the rest of the color palette as well as the old
ones. Well, except Tim. But he’s admitted to being color-blind, so take his
opinion with a shaker of salt. Got that?
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This is, again, crap. You’re making a gross generalization about an incredibly
diverse group of people. A large number of people I’ve personally talked to
think the bleys DO work better with Lego’s color scheme; their issue with the
color change was the change *itself,* not the new colors. Whether it “is more
in line with Lego’s color palette,” I don’t know. I think that was a standard
marketing reason made up because it “sounded better” than up the real reason,
whatever that may be.
As for Tim’s opinion, I’ve known him long enough to generally trust it. His
sense of color has been, in my experience, quite solid.
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Right around the time that the color change happened, these display boxes
started showing up en masse in stores (well, apparently not for the
underpriveleged souls living outside of the US, but what can you do), where
before they had never been anything more than an occassional thing that
showed up for a few months and then went away (these appear to be
semi-permanent, with just the contents being rotated out). And the display
boxes are being used in stores that almost exclusively use cool-white
flourescent lighting, which is the only light source I’ve come across yet
that actually makes the old greys look bad. It would not be out of the
question that TLC would be concerned about how well an expensive in-store
promotional display program would appeal, visually, to the potential
customers. Got that?
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Again, crap. Unless Toys R Us makes up 95% of their sales, why would they
change colors based on pretty much ONE store chain? Nevermind that my local
TRUs have had displays since the 80s, usually for a number of years on end
(often showing product not available anymore). Your premise is just flawed
overall.
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Now, combining that admittedly small amount of evidence, it is my belief that
the intended purpose behind the color change was to enhance the rather
antique look of the affected colors (most notably light-grey and dark-grey)
for display purposes. It is also my belief that, aside from alienating a
fair chunk of known AFOLdom, and giving a few military builders (and certain
colorblind individuals) a few colors that they find more significantly
appealling, it hasn’t had any major impact on sales. Given how short of a
time period in which most kids still play with toys these days, a substantial
percentage of their customer base from when the color change first hit has
already moved on to other interests, and has been replaced in turn by a new
group that has little to no experience with the pre-2004 colors. And judging
by how many new Bricklink sellers have no clue as to the color change until
one of their customers informs them, I’m guessing that only a tiny fraction
of the remaining crossover youth crowd has noticed. So, again, intent does
not always equal outcome. But there had to be an underlying reason behind
the color change before it ever hit the point of marketing focus groups, and
the only reason we’ve ever been told was to bring them more in line with the
existing colors, which doesn’t fly. If it was true, the fact that they
red-shifted brown and blue-shifted the greys would mean that the rest of the
color palette should be dominated by purples, and currently the only opaque
purple-ish shades that appear to be in regular use (I can only think of
dark-purple from the HP Knight Bus and that really odd shade of blue from
KK2) were first used around or after 2004.
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First of all, the “alienation” of AFOLdom, is entirely of the AFOL’s choosing.
I hope one day they realise Lego’s market is *children.* This is an issue for a
different debate. And the problem with Bricklink is due to bad *naming* on
Bricklink. The colors should have been listed right away as “new light grey”
and “old light grey.” Again, an issue for a different debate. Lego doesn’t,
and I honestly think they shouldn’t, take us into major consideration when
making major company decisions. We aren’t the target, we don’t make up a huge
portion of their income, etc. One day we as a community will realize that. But
again, your premise is flawed, especially the purple comment. I doubt “bringing
the colors into line with the rest of the palette” means “making the colors more
similar.” That’s just obtuse. I’m sure they meant something more like
vibrancy, or as DaveE said, “pop.”
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So again, in case I’m still not being clear enough. I believe the INTENT
was to make them more visually appealling in the in-store display boxes,
under cool-white flourescent lighting. I believe the focus groups were
conducted under cool-white flourescent lighting. And I believe it has not
significantly impacted their bottom line for either the positive or the
negative. It’s just pissed off a number of their most loyal customers and
gone largely unnoticed by the rest of the world.
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The visual appearance may well have been part of the idea behind the color
change, but the visual appeal JUST in display models? Again, crap. Also,
pissing “off a number of their most loyal customers”? It’s their choice to be
pissed off. Expecting a children’s toy company to focus more on the small adult
fan community is just arrogance.
Jeff
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Why do you love bley?
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| (...) Not every marketing decision works out as well as intended. In the initial announcement, TLC said that they had done marketing groups in the interest of supposedly bringing four colors more in line with the rest of the LEGO color palette, and (...) (18 years ago, 11-May-07, to lugnet.color, FTX)
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