I have always been a big fan of LEGO (i.e., the famous brick-toy created by the world-known Danish toy company, whose name means similar to “play well”). I still am. Growing up, my sister and I played with these toy bricks and built anything and everything our imagination enabled. These days, I spend time on the living room floor with my 4.5yo and follow complex instructions to build out Ninjago ships, just like in the Netflix movies, and ginormous MACs that can launch lego pieces a few feet based on pure mechanics. I also joyfully watch as my son continues to redesign and rebuild them into new never-imagined-before creations and tells new stories as he goes. LEGO is a toy that truly fuels “imagination land” to expand (movie reference: Inside Out).
The other day I visited Target and noticed a new, additional aisle with LEGO. After just two seconds browsing, it was clear the products weren’t aimed for the usual children age groups, but for adults. There were collectibles and art pieces, very complex creations. Even the age suggestion on the boxes said 18+. It got me thinking. This is truly a genius move related to product development - or should I say product re-imagination.
I don’t know if you know the origin of the LEGO success saga, but it started with creating wooden toys back in 1932. Not bricks. They had one of the first partnerships from Europe with Disney. I have personally seen a LEGO-toy in the form of a rolling, wooden Pluto, pulled by a leather leash.
It wasn’t until 1949 that LEGO produced its first brick-looking toy, which has since evolved to today’s LEGO brick style. The lego brick stayed end-build agnostic for quite some time. In more recent decades, LEGO started to provide specific sets with instructions for targeted creations.
When I came to work closer with them in the last decade through their big data initiatives, data showed that girls were underrepresented in their end user segments. This data analysis motivated them to build out an entirely new product series to better serve young women’s game and play patterns, which statistically showed to be more about storytelling and sharing with friends.
In recent years, LEGO, through clever brand partnerships, has created new product lines and reached wider through movie and gaming media - e.g., the Marvel superheroes, Ninjago, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Minecraft, and others.
Just recently (at least from my consumer perspective) the collectibles entered the market - different car brands, famous city landmarks, famous art pieces.
Now, why am I writing about LEGO? Well, I wish any entrepreneur out there will get inspired, the way I continuously am, by LEGO’s visionary and re-imagination. It is like they repeatedly ask themselves: what else can we do? While using the same core concepts. They have over and over again created new business lines by finding new customer segments and understanding how to satisfy them. It is pretty much the same tech but entirely different products serving different customer segments!!
Tech is different from product. Product is what is sellable and what satisfies a desire or need in a customer segment. The tech is merely how you deliver it.
In conclusion, I leave you with a few of the many inspirational takeaways I have collected from the LEGO success saga over the years:
Tech is just a means to deliver a product
Product is what satisfies a customer’s desire or need
Customer success comes from customer joy using the product
Continuously grow by finding new customer segments and what they need, and find a way that your tech, with minor adjustments and cost, can serve a product in that space
Create select and targeted partnerships that will propel your business - partner spray will just waste your precious time and resources
Continuously reinvent yourself and your business
Spread joy in the world
Stick to your core values - especially through transitions
Let me know what else you take away from LEGO’s story and its almost century-long success? What legacy do you intend to build and reimagine?
Thanks for an insightful and inspiring piece. It’s equally clear how Minecraft was inspired by Lego in creating a limitless imaginary virtual world- and the ensuing success.
Excellent example and a brilliant way to describe the difference between tech and product.