Subject:
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LEGO name branding = Builder's Reverie
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Sun, 2 Apr 2000 06:14:41 GMT
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In lugnet.general, Todd Lehman writes:
> I mean that LEGO desperately needs (IMHO) to break the association with
> "lego" or "legos" meaning any old random kind of plastic building bricks
> to the average consumer -- not that it necessarily needs to break the
> association between the name "LEGO" and the idea of "LEGO brand building
> bricks."
I agree that TLC needs to accomplish this to remain competitive. How and why
this will prove difficult is a big subject. Here's a short list of problems:
1. Quality control of the brick has dropped -- to be number one, the product
itself must be of the HIGHEST quality. Anything less than outstanding means
that they can just join the pack of plastic brick makers.
2. Brick design is currently abysmal [i.e. castle walls, juniorization].
3. Price per brick. [Suggested price should result in nothing more costly
than 1 brick = $0.10 USD, see SW sets and competing brands for a reality check
price-wise. A 450 pc. set should never cost close to $90 USD and there should
be price uniformity between themes and set sizes.]
4. The Competition is INDEED improving. Ritvik/MegaBloks, in particular, has
some pretty cool set designs now and the brick quality is getting better. One
of the advantages that TLC has over the competition, and it was something TYCO
understood very well, is its reliance on 1 x Y brick construction over the 2 x
Y brick reliant constructions of the competition. Its all about the 1 x Y
brick!
5. Advertising should stress not the toy that can be built with a set, but
that one can immediately abandon that single suggested structure and build
anything one wants with the BRICKS! [This is sort of a playability issue that
requires some careful thinking -- is it better to play with a SW toy, or to
play with that for a while, take it apart, build something else, and then play
with that newly constructed whoozywhatsit?]
As Todd points out, they suffer BIG TIME of branding problems. Lego may
identify a type of toy rather than a brand name of a toy maker in common
parlance (that old Xerox = photocopy problem, and look at what Xerox is going
through and everything they missed as an opportunity -- can you say "Gooey"!?).
I am reminded of the McDonald's commercial where the parents are reading or
something while the kids are in the background building with their Happy Meal
Lego sets. Everyone here seemed to really enjoy that commercial. I think
that they closely identified with both the parents enjoying their peace AND
the kids engaged in that "builder's reverie." I know that everyone was having
that "neither-neither" space buzz when they saw that commercial.
And that's the missing piece of the puzzle: TLC must learn to advertise the
notion of "builder's reverie." That's how to win the game before its begun,
equate your product with ACTUALLY being high from creativity.
-- Richard (And now for Saturday Night proper...)
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: LEGO name branding = Builder's Reverie
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| (...) Agreed. I'm sure many people have noticed lately that they are de-molding the bricks WAY too soon. Grab a nice new set with long 1x bricks in it - look at the sides of those bricks. Many of them will have sags in them from being pulled from (...) (25 years ago, 2-Apr-00, to lugnet.general)
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