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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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