Subject:
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BricksWest 2003 Keynote and Q&A Session Transcrits
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.events
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Date:
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Wed, 19 Feb 2003 22:04:59 GMT
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1998 times
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Brad Justis, Sr. VP Of Lego Direct , Q&A @ Brickswest 2003 (2-15-2003)
Transcript of Keynote Speech & Q&A Session provided by Ahui Herrera
(jedi_agh_@yahoo.com) & Larry Pieniazek (lpieniazek@mercator.com). Larry
Pieniazek was typing in real-time as the event occurred while Ahui Herrera
recorded the event. This version is a combination of Larry’s real-time
transcripts and Ahui’s audio tape.
Notes
LEGO refers to the The LEGO Company
Lego Direct (LD) refers to the LEGO Business Unit which includes Shop@Home &
Website
Lego refers to the physical brick.
(Questions with b, c, d, etc… are follow-on questions by the same person)
(Brad walks to the front of the room and crowd begins to say SING, SING,
SING… This is because right before Brad walked to the front there was
karaoke night happening.)
Brad: I can sing or I can show, your pick.
Crowd: SHOW, SHOW, SHOW…
Brad: I though as much, although I really do not think I can top that so I
will just go home now. Actually what I find most freighting is the fact
that all that happened with out an open bar.
(Crowd cheers)
Brad: All that just goes to show that Lego is the best drug there is.
(Crowd cheers)
Brad: Hum, before I start questions there is just a couple of things I would
like to say. 2003 is actually a pretty significant year for the company.
We are going to be or actually we already started a new brand campaign,
which in many ways is an old brand campaign. I think what you are really
going to see, some of you have already seen through various leaks and what
not that we have a line of products coming out this year that go back to the
classic sets of the 60s and 70s very much about basic creatively using your
imagination. It is very much about basic creatively, not saying here is
what the castle looks like, here are the instructions on how to build the
castle and when you are done the castle should look like this. But rather
putting the burden back on you in terms of using creative and imagination
and creating what is there in your head.
Internally we talk about the new brand strategy, as far as I am concerned
it’s the old brand. It’s a new commitment to our roots.
(Crowd cheers as Brad and Jake prepare to show the crowd some sets and a poster)
Bard: First of all this is a poster, I taught it was some of the new ad
campaigns but those are not done yet. This is just a general poster of the
new tag line for the company, which is “play on…” Which is essential our way
of saying we don’t want the Lego experience ever to end.
(Jake displays the poster)
Bard: This is my lovely assistant Jake
(Crowd cheers as Jake shows the poster and lifts up his leg pant to show
some leg. Someone in the crowd screams HIGHER)
Brad: They mean the poster. So this is the um… this is featuring a number
of the new sets called make & create sets, designer kits and inventor kits
that are going to be coming out. We have about 10 of those that we will be
giving away. We also have a number of these new sets with us as well. As
was mentioned before we are going to have a community round table tomorrow
morning at 11. The company is concentrating a lot, this is our flagship
line, this is our number priority this year, as I said getting back to our
roots. As part of that what we are really looking to do is to get much more
involved, in helping to support events like this, vents like LEGOWORLD in
the Netherlands which drew 40 thousand people in 4 days, hum.. events like
bricksfest, events like NW BrickCon, in the end LEGO is about not how
cleaver our designers our we do some great stuff but ultimately its about
hum.. these are tool kits for your imagination. Hum.. and really ultimately
our brand and our brand message is the importance of creative and
imagination and learning and fun is much better coming from you and not us.
What we are going to do tomorrow morning is open these up and play with them
as we have the round table. You will also see that we also have some nice
idea books in them as well. Also Steve (barille) will talk about ILCO. I’m
not going to get into details I will leave that up to Steve and the other guys.
Nice shoes, Bionicle shoes.. (Brad notices a little boy’s shoes sitting in
front on him)
Crowd: Adult sizes please
Brad: SPAM Nike, Tell them. Hum.. ILCO is a very good model for us as a
company to work with a large number of groups. We get contacted with a
large number of Lego train clubs. They tend to want the same number of
things. LD is charged with working with all the enthusiast all over the
world and hum… frankly given that we have limited resources it is much
easier working with an umbrella organization like ILCO. So we are very much
behind over what they are doing and I will leave it up to Steve and his
group to roll this out over the next coming weeks.
One last bit as we mentioned we have several people who are involved in some
of the larger consumer events in the USA to Enfield, CT (LEGO America HQ) to
talk about not how LEGO can take over these events that is the last thing we
want to do but what are the things we can do that you can not do. I have
been going around internally in the company and saying we don’t have to go
into every event and think we have to send in the master builders and have
them create the 40 foot tall sculptor. That is not what its about we should
be supporting you as much as we can to do the things you do. All you had to
do is go over the park today and look at the faces of the kids to see how
important it is for you guys to do what you are doing. Our job is to do the
things you cannot do, to help you with venues, to help you with marketing,
public relations, to get the word out, to get people aware of this kind of
stuff. That was what the decision was at Enfield and we will pick that up
again here with all of you present.
I think what was is also significant as I anticipate all the questions
coming is this is about us specifically focusing on adults as a market. It
is about people who are, who have an enthusiasm and a passion for the brand
and the fact that you want to share that enthusiasm and that passion not
only with each other but also with kids and their families. That may be for
us the most significant part of adult enthusiasm. Particularly the people
who want to get out there and inspire each other and the kids. I was
watching the kids at the dinner and … miniland is great…you can build a
giant empire state building but you are never going to have that in your
living room and they see the stuff that you have created and they know they
can build that if they really sit down and concentrate. That really is the
importance of what you are doing. I encourage you to continue doing that we
love to see it, probably the most important thing I can say, on behalf of
the company, is that we trust you with our brand. We know that you will not
do the things that will violate the trust, you know what this brand is
about, even you Brendan (P. Smith)
(Crowd laughs)
Brad: you guys much as anybody show off the creative, the passion, what you
can do with just a few simple bricks. So please keep it up and with that I
will open it up for questions with the usual that I am not going to talk
about stuff that is coming out. Except for the things that may or may not
be in those boxes.
(Bard points to the floor where he has several boxes)
Q1: Why are we limiting the age to 99 as the top end (for the new designer sets)
A1: because 3 digits don’t fit
Q2: What’s in the box?
Q2: there are actually a lot of boxes
Q3: Is there a contact or procedure for requesting consideration of a region
for a LIC or Lego store? For example SF bay area could use a store
A3: no, there is not.. that decision is made by the Brand Retail group, based
on factors like available space, lego sales, demographics, operations. It’s
not just a matter of people wanting to have a lego store. Also where the heavy
concentration of LUGs and club members are goes into the determination as well.
Q4: when are these (new designer sets) new wonderful things coming out
A4: in April
Q5: when is preorder
A5: Jake did you bring paper? (Crowd laughs) a special catalog will come out
just before Easter
(Jake pulls out two new legends Main Street and the Constellation)
Q6:a Bulk Bricks, how is it going? What’s next?
A6a: going fine, we go through our process… knock out the ones that don’t sell
and bring out new ones… we have inventory limitations we must check. There
will never be a situation where we will have everything at the same time.
Q6b: every a request line for more
A6b: the online page that no one seems to use any more… there are potential
to go a couple of different ways we are also looking at production times, we
just have to
be constrained by production
Q7: any way of getting advance notice on things that come and go?
A7: the cypress tree was an unusual situation because we were basically
squeezing the last possible life of an existing model… it would not have
been prudent
to say that “this was it for them” as someone would have scooped them up and
seen them on bricklink.com the following morning. Other stuff we cannot
predict how fast it is going to come and go well its not really practical
Q8: Can it be asked “what are you low on” on the S@H call?
A8: you can do that
Q9: are the customized mosaics coming back?
A9: yes, we upgraded some of the technology on the site and the interface
between the mosaic and the backend needed to be changed as well.
Q10: Color Mosaics?
A10: we can do them or new sets… not both… we think more sets are better
Q11: there are neat things in the LL parks like dogs, ducks,
squirrels etc. have you considered doing building instructions….
A11: There are no instructions because they are park models, they we not
done from instructions…. Where it’s captured, it’s in the proprietary cad
program… it COULD be done but resources are not there, we all have budgets
and fames we have to work in we priority what we can do within those frames
and what makes the most senses.
Q12: Is there a catalog of all the large sculptures that have been
done? Some sort of photo or review or?
A12: no, it’s never been cataloged, Shows and Events doesn’t even
necessarily track all the in stores they have ever done… you’re talking 10s
of thousands of models…
Q13: Can LD do new molds yet has authorization been granted or policy changed?
A13: no, no policy change yet. We can take advantage of the creation of new
models but we are not commissioning new molds. At the beginning we needed to
prove that we could create exclusive sets like the statue of liberty and
have them sell well. In order to do that we had to keep cost down and not
create new molds, since then we have taken it as a point of pride for us to
only do it all with existing molds. It was done to show all of you and even
our set developers that we don’t always have to create new parts to cerate
great sets.
Q14: new sets S@H only?
A14: no, these will be at retail, This is are number one priority and there
will be tv campaigns , etc. The question we will be asking is what will you
make.
Q15: Bill Ward: The Stature of liberty was thought to be a big enough hit…
will we see more sculptures… we saw stuff on clearance at Target fast. In
general are you going to continue doing them or go in a different direction?
A15: it depends on the sculpture, the fact that a set gets clearance is not
necessarily a reflection of how well it is doing, it is a reflection of
their inventory management problems, ... we are happy with the sculptures we
will do them where appropriate. Even the dragon did very well. Some things
are more suitable for direct retail than mass retail. (S@H and parks and
etc)… they are high price points and do well in these channels 80% of toys
are 10 and under… this is not the same.
Q16: for support, will there be coordination of contests (at TRU, etc) and
stuff with local clubs to leverage the clubs?
A16: That is a possibility down the road, that is the kind of thing that
required a lot coordination, than we may be able to deliver as a company
right now knowing what is going on locally it may not be something that we
can do, certainly we will welcome it, but I am not sure it is something we
can start right away.
(Kid #1 – Little Boy)
Q17: what happened to the My Own Creation
A17: it is alive… there have been 3 sets… the black smith shop and two other
sets, the train cars.
(Kid #2 – Little Girl)
Q18: What’s next for contracts… you did Star Wars and Harry Potter? Why
don’t we do Lord of the Rings?
A 18: Who put you up to that? A couple of reasons the license is held by
someone else already and it is not the kind of thing we want to do aspects
of it are very dark, very adult. Not in line with our values.
Q19: Why were you singling me (Brendan Smith) out? Do I do something that
is contrary to values, or that I am doing things that are congruent?
A19: the latter… three are people that have questioned what you are doing…
but again the fact that you are here and the fact that I think that you
think carefully what you are doing… Lego is or can be a means of expression
of art form. We are not going to judge as a company what is good or bad we
would not be happy with something exceedingly violent but again its about
supporting your creatively.
Q20: Flower bulk pack?
A20: Not planned
Q21: other marvel characters coming beyond Spiderman?
A21: contract is with Sony Pictures not with Marvel, so no.
Q22: bulk animal packs?
A22: Again anything is possible in bulk packs, animal, flowers but we have
limited resources. We hear a lot of “I like X so you should make X” for
example Pitchforks. S@H reaches an audience of millions of people. I have to
decide based on broad commercial appeal.
Q23: any chance of a broader discount? The current discount only works for
certain things.
A23: we are looking at that. We look at how many people are taking
advantage of the discounts. It is an issue…
Q24: more dark gray 2x4 bricks?
A24: I don’t know
Q25: what feedback from corporate Denmark about initiatives and the
community? Are they fully supporting this or is this an “American thing”
A25: I am on the global management team, I am part of corporate Denmark and
they are fully on board, this is not just an American thing. I am sharing
what I am doing with the rest of the company.
Q26: why no red letter days here in the US?
A26: that’s a trademark of a third party in the UK. They organize a lot of
things not
just LEGOLAND days. We have looked at the possibility of doing it ourselves.
Right now there is no third party that does this. We think its very
interesting its been very successful.
Q27: Thanks for the earth tons in the tubs what about more foliage?
A27: we will pass it along
Q28: Can you share objectives of LD?
A28: our objective is to help the brand help the company… we want to be the
worlds strongest brand among families with children. We are getting there
according to independent metrics and it shows that we are really getting
there. Being the strongest brand is not something that just happens by ads,
having a legoland park or putting boxes at TRU… this happens due to the
ability of the company to forge relationships and partnerships with the
consumers. That is LD focus. We do it on a number of fronts. Clubs,
lego.com, providing support for community events, not just the brickfest but
other worldwide events. We will be doing the same in Europe as well.
LegoWorld in the Netherlands is not OUR show. It is a co-produced show and
it is done with foxKids, De Bousteen, and the event hall itself… there are a
lot of partners
involved. Our job is to make more of these events happen. We do it thorough
event s through the club, through developing products that people want to get
based on our guess. and in response to input . Someone said LEGO will never
make an ISD… so we did make it because it would blow people away.
Q29: so Lego Death Star?
A29: I have to go now (crowd laughter)
Also the MOC program, which I think is ultimately the purest expression of
partnership with consumers. That stuff is tremendous, and we should be
putting that in boxes and on shelves, expects more. That is the brief of
Lego Direct.
Q30: is LEGO going to be involved in advertising or in supporting non-LEGO
organizations.
A30: we are not sure. We DID help provide publicity for this event. We are
looking to mix our assets in with yours to be effective because we know you
do not have access to all we do
Q31: Over the years LEGO has been color blind regarding minifigs? Is it
going away? What about the basketball sets?
A31: It’s a new dimension.. it is the first time when we have done real
people. It is time for the minifig to evolve, this is the 25th birthday of
the minifig. This is a celebration. In the world of lego in the world of
systems sets in the world of pirates and castle and town and space it is
okay to have yellow minifigs. In Madison square garden you want to see Kobe
and Shaq and you cannot do that with yellow minfigs. Star wars actors are
portraying characters… not saying we are or aren’t going to have a black
Lando, but I would think a licensed situation is a bit different than castle
or town or pirates.
Q32: longer term strategy licenses vs new development?
A32: we don’t want to do a LOT of licenses…. We choose very judiciously. We
have two major licenses (SW, HP) and some smaller ones (spider man, Jurassic
park, pooh, bob the builder) the majority should be pure LEGO. Basic
building is the heart and
soul of the company.
Q33: after basketball, any chance for other sports teams
A33: we have a long term commitment to the sports theme
Q34: chances for a Susan Williams minifig
A:34 it would be a collector’s item
Q35: are you licensed for all the HP movies, books, or just what is out?
A35: no comment, we do not comment on our contracts
Q36: track geometry improvement
A36: not yet
Q37: truck shows coming this year?
A37: no, they are going to be different kinds of things for make and create.
Showing off what people make and create is better than a truck show with
model built models. Doing a train show or a show with a LUG is better… a
truck rolls in, it’s there,
then it is gone. You guys do a show and you are there after the show is
over. You have meeting and can drum up new members
Q38: how much argument about what Technic is? Is it being used less frequently?
A38; I don’t know, I do not tend to get involved in that. There are a number
of new Technic sets more like old days than anything lately
(Kid #2 – Little Girl)
Q39: Why no flames in yellow?
A39: this kid is making out like a bandit. I do not know
(Kid #1 – Little Boy)
Q40: will there be new bionicle?
A41: do you want new bionicles, there will be new bionicles
Q41: will you be doing promo with the outlets? Or imagination centers?
A41: James T is doing that in Atlanta already… It is happening store by
store, community by community I work closely with brand retail and they are
hearing the message.
Q42: future of mindstorms?
A42: no comment there is a future but I cannot be commenting
Q43: should I be saving money for next Christmas for a 5000 piece set?
A43: You should always be saving money. Larger than the ISD? That would be
hard… there will always be thing coing out at Christmas… no comment on
exactly HOW big they will be
Q44: more mini sets?
A44: yes, there will be another wave in the summer
Q45: easier way to get the tie fighter mini set? (then going to ebay)
A45: it’s a promo to give awareness of the minis. They will not be sold
Q46: will it be released as a set?
A46: That is not the indent but it’s an official set and there are 73 variations
(This answers was directed to Abner who collected LEGO set variations)
Q47: mini death star
A47: (no answer)
Q48: Take one SKU and make it a multi-pack of just one color… start
with the rare colors like dark red and dark blue It is hard for us to get
alternate colors. Give us a new color every 6 months.
A48: We are doing that with plates now…
(SKU == Stock Keeping Unit…. The retail thing that you track items with)
Q49: when can we see Scottish Argyle as a pattern?
A49: we will put it on the list
Q50: Did micro fig stuff help you?
A50: yes, they have been kicking around for a long time. It was a matter of
how do you launch them. We have to get the system sets out first and
establish the brnnd it was not a nature thing to come out with in 1995
(END Q&A BEGNING ANNOCUMENTS)
We are working with NASA and the planetary society… two rovers
will be leaving the cape bound for Mars within the year. We are working with
them on this to generate more awareness about space with kids. Because 1) it
is neat and in sync with ours as a brand… discovery, push limits of
imaginations, turn dreams into reality… and 2) the companies we talk to
through FLL tell us kids to day are not interested enough in science and
technology… where are the engineers of tomorrow coming from? the space
program in the 60s created an entire generation of engineers and scientists…
this is a huge concern. NASA has 3 times within 5 years of retirement as
they do under 30 years old.
We want to get behind this exploration as and because it may be a way
for us to contribute to solving this problem of not having enough
technologists… there is a dvd on the lander and it is being held in place
with Lego bricks… in the middle is a minifig and it will tell the story of
the lander via minifig eyes.
New space sets:
A new rover model… we had a contest to name them… looks like sojoiurner. But
not that exactly. These will come out mid year. It has a suspension. You can
put an RCX in to it and program it.
3 smaller sets that are “science kits” one is about going to the moon so is
an apollo rocket and a luner lander, one is mars exploration and one is
the International space station.
We are not just doing instructions… we are getting the engineers to write
content to go into booklets about the sets and what is it like to go out in
space.
Also doing a space shuttle model called “Discovery” it is a partnership with
the Discovery channel. It has been on the drawing board for a long time and
we are NOT going to postpone these, come out as scheduled as a tribute to
the Columbia astronauts. NASA agrees, do NOT pull it from the shelves. Get
it into peoples minds and get kids excited
The payload on board is the Hubble space telescope (with robotic arm)
In 1903, 100 years ago, the Wright brothers took their first flight… showed
a Wright Flyer model, it’s all tan and brown… will be available mid summer
(june julyish). Will be direct only, no retail,
Last bit: it has been said we have neglected this or that, the other hiting
in trains… so we did 8 wide… JUST KIDDING.
We have instead decided to do structures… there is an engine shed that
hinges and opens up, lots of detail inside (red and dark grey) It can be
used both as a wide 2 stall or a narrow single or you can butt two together
to make a bigger one.,.. has a lathe etc.
The solar panels on the hubble and the rover are PLACEHOLDERS only not real
yet, they are in development. (they were cardboard)
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: BricksWest 2003 Keynote and Q&A Session Transcrits
|
| (...) [SNIP] (...) [SNIP] (...) Did I understand right that some of you at BricksWest got to play with the new creator sets at the round table? These sets look really neat and a lot of fun. I was curious about the many different models you can make. (...) (21 years ago, 19-Feb-03, to lugnet.events)
| | | Re: BricksWest 2003 Keynote and Q&A Session Transcrits
|
| (...) Just to clarify, I don't know how well it comes across in a written transcript, but at the time he said this, I really wasn't sure whether this was some sort of admonishment toward me or what. @8^) (...) OK, I don't remember exactly how I (...) (21 years ago, 21-Feb-03, to lugnet.events)
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