Lego - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Discovering New Ideas by Reaching out to Customers

May 8, 2024

Business is all about giving the customer what they want, but sometimes it can be difficult to figure out exactly what that is. Some brands get to know their fans by giving them a platform that directly asks for their input, providing companies with much-needed ideas while customers feel included in the development process. For example, in 2008 Lego launched its initiative Lego Ideas where builders submit original designs to be evaluated among a wider community of enthusiasts. If an Continue reading →

Branding, Entrepreneurship, Entertainment, Lego, Product Distribution, E-commerce, Product Development, Marketing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] Why Lego Is Way More than a Toy Company

February 3, 2023

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Lego grew to be the world’s largest toymaker by appealing to many different kinds of customers, from kids and collectors to corporations looking for fun team-building activities. The Danish company manages to reach lots of people by licensing popular properties like Stars Wars and Marvel for a range of content like movies, TV shows, and video games. This video looks at how Lego drives toy sales by branching out into entertainment that reinforces its brand and grows its customer Continue reading →

Licensing, Branding, Entertainment, Marketing, Lego, Global, Television, Movies

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Videos

Using Lego to Build Office Creativity

September 2, 2022

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Last year, the Danish building-block company Lego earned more than 7 billion euros in sales, making it far and away the top toymaker in the world. Once on the brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s, Lego turned things around when it focused exclusively on construction bricks along with licensed sets based on popular franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter. Now the company’s dominance extends even into the offices of the world’s biggest corporations as part of team-building exercises Continue reading →

Entertainment, Lego, Management, Office Culture, Motivation, Team building, Training, Human Resources

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management

Lack of Growth Convinces Lego to “Reset”

October 3, 2017

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The last decade has been a good one for the Danish company Lego. After surviving a brush with bankruptcy in 2004, the famous toymaker regrouped and pursued an aggressive sales strategy focused on creating popular product lines. The plan worked as brands like Lego Architecture and the Mindstorms series attracted thousands of fans both young and old. By 2010 profits had quadrupled from the same time two years before. The company has since released two hit movies while continuing to Continue reading →

Innovation, Lego, Management, Toys, Product Development

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price

How Studying the Ways Kids Play Changed Lego

April 30, 2015

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In an earlier newsletter, we included a story about how Lego built its mighty block empire on a strong foundation of licensed products. The Danish company continues to make a variety of sets with characters from popular franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter, accounting for a third of Lego’s sales. As the toy company became more dominant in the last year, however, it started to focus more on promoting its own brand rather than others’. The 2014 The Lego Continue reading →

Consumer Research, Demographics, Product Development, Licensing, Entertainment, Lego

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 8: Organizational Culture and Structure, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

Lego’s Licensing Empire

April 21, 2014

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When it comes to entertainment, kids today have more options than ever before. Increasingly, though, they’ll opt to play a game on a mobile device like a smartphone or iPad. This is bad news for toy makers, who have watched a large amount of their market share shift to gadgets. Except for Lego, that is. The Danish stackable bricks brand reached a low point in 2003 after experimenting with the design of some of its products. Since then, Lego’s focus Continue reading →

Star Wars, Marketing, Product Development, Licensing, Entertainment, Distribution, Lego

Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution

Dynamic Pricing: A New Form of Sticker Shock

April 19, 2013

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Information moves so fast in today’s Internet-enabled world that it can be difficult for companies to keep up. In the case of online retail, demand for a product can shift minute-by-minute, making accurate pricing an extremely difficult task. That’s why many businesses are opting to price their goods “dynamically” rather than relying on a single concrete number.

Although new to some retailers, dynamic pricing has been common in the airline industry for years. In order to lessen the likelihood Continue reading →

Lego, Sports, Retail, Pricing, Dynamic Pricing, Innovation, St. Louis Cardinals

Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion