Subject:
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Re: Met a LEGO rep...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 4 Dec 1998 23:34:07 GMT
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Viewed:
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1325 times
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Steve Berry wrote:
> A bit off the initial subject, but...
>
> Gang, I've said it before, but I'm almost certain LEGO conducts its own
> focus groups (including play sessions) with children and their parents. I
> still think Town Jr. and other simplified designs are the result of their
> focus groups. I can't imagine a company as large as LEGO would develop
> product lines without conducting its own focus groups. Obviously, their
> emphasis is still on the kids. If the kids in LEGO's focus groups are
> saying the old designs were too complex to be fun, things like TOWN Jr. is
> the result. I'm just basing this on what I know from working in the
> marketing/public relations field.
I would hope that they conduct a focus group for a $1Billion company. If they
didn't, they would lose touch to what kids want real quick.
> If NFL teams conduct focus groups before making a uniform change, I'm sure
> LEGO does focus groups too. Maybe sales were dropping for LEGO in the
> early 90s? In this scenario, they had to do something and maybe simplified
> designs were the result. Maybe they wanted to market to the younger age
> range in that 5-12 category, perhaps feeling they've already lost the 10-12
> year olds to video games?
Unfortunately, could this be the 'Dumbening Down' of Lego? Hopefully not.
Though
my interests lie primarily in Technic and Model Team, both of which are geared
towards difficulty, and complexity.
> A majority of kids these days just seem to like the instant, but
> non-creative gratification of action figures and video games. I blame that
> on television, the parents who look to TV as a babysitter and technology in
> general. LEGO has to compete with all of that. But I digress...
Thankfully not everyone is the same. My 5yr old son would rather play with
Lego
than Nintendo/Cartoons on the majority of occasions.
> The strange thing is sometimes what other parents tell me contradicts this
> theory. These are the parents who say their kids like KNEX better than
> LEGO. I've never purchased KNEX before, but that stuff sure seems more
> complicated to build than LEGO. Is that accurate?
I have the K'Nex Roller Coaster. That is not real complex if you pay attention
to detail. I was used to the Lego Instructions that go step by step, when I
got
the RC, they have sections that are built at once, and you have the challenge
of
keeping track on where you are.
Personally, I like Lego over K'Nex ... MANY more pieces, and the building
options
are greater.
K'Nex is also larger for fewer pieces. Which makes the box deceiving. I
didn't
realize that the completed RC was 8 FEET long by 5 FEET, and had 26 FEET
of track, even though it said it on the box, I didn't guess the enormity of it.
> Maybe things are going to change. I read someone's post on RTL, who was
> from Europe, say he heard a rumor that LEGO was going back to a building
> emphasis -- at least over there, not necessarily in the United States. I
> hope that's true, and I hope they'd bring that philosophy over to the U.S.
> If not, it says something bad about the kids in this country.
Math scores do as well.
> Sorry for the rambling,
> Steve Berry
-Lee.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Met a LEGO rep...
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| A bit off the initial subject, but... Gang, I've said it before, but I'm almost certain LEGO conducts its own focus groups (including play sessions) with children and their parents. I still think Town Jr. and other simplified designs are the result (...) (26 years ago, 4-Dec-98, to lugnet.general)
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