Brick Buy Brick

 

We love a bit of Lego in our house (two small boys: aged 4 and 6). For the last few years a steady influx of kits have come through our door (or down the chimney, if you know what I mean). Each successive box more impressive than the last. Lego's doing some pretty amazing, creative stuff nowadays, with the beginning of 2010 seeing a flurry of new things. The Film/TV tie-ins are interesting but the exclusive-to-Lego sets are, in my view, more inspiring; superbly designed with commendable attention to detail.

If you're into it, I'm telling you things you probably already know but if you're not, if you've missed what Lego have been up to lately I think it would make an interesting brand case study. It's a classic, designer-friendly, toy but it's the level of commitment they've clearly applied to brand and product development and the business of Lego that would make an intriguing study. Like any great brand, they've invested on the ground level with tremendous creativity and what must be significant manufacturing capability; while I'm often impressed by how standard parts are ingeniously deployed across products our boys are delighted to discover, with a new kit, a new, previously unseen component.

Then there's the sales and marketing: Starting with prices that range from the incredibly accessible to the near-obstructively substantial, it's a brand you can get into easily and dream of greater and greater things. A content-rich website supplements the core Lego audience nicely and is growing and growing. Lego themed accessories are, generally, spot-on-brand; the keyrings were a sublimely simple but beautifully clever idea that we've bought into totally. The new(ish) board games are very well thought through. In stark contrast, the Playstation (etc) games have yet to grab us…but that's just us. There's plenty going on to get you hooked.

Towards the end of last year Lego released DesignbyMe: free downloadable software that allows you to design your own kit. In theory that's amazing: you can design a virtual model along with the box and then order it! I've not tried it yet, and apparently there were a few hick-ups with pricing, but that sounds impressive to me.

I suppose being complete converts excludes objectivity. And, although we have a small (tiny actually) arsenal of lethal weaponry, it's a very wholesome product that few could have a problem with. But it seems to me that as multi-channel modern brands go, Lego's not resting on it's laurels; it's working hard, doing an admirable job and I'm not sure if anything else comes close.

(Photos by Seth, aged 4)

Comments

[Kevin Mears]

I'm glad to see that Lego seems to having a bit of a renaissance. Nostalgia for the sets one grew up with, combined with respect for the design philosophy is a heady mix.

It seems there was a time when Lego seemed to have lost their way and made sets that were fairly uninspired, and they have come through that and are innovating again.

I found it interesting that you could see the influence of Mecha http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=159559 feeding back into the sets they produced.

I have to say though, i'm still not convinced by the Bionicle range. I guess middle aged men aren't really the audience for that one though!

[Ian Devlin]

I loved Lego when I was a kid, spent hours and hours building models and then breaking them again when I got bored. I use to love making working Transformers, M.A.S.K. and Star Wars toys (all multi-coloured of course). I even built a working version of the Ghost Castle board game!

[i like local*]

I'm a huge Lego fan, and think they're a fascinating company. There's definitely a lot of material there for a substantial case study, but just playing with it is good too :)

-Aideen