LEGO: Not just the building blocks
January 28, 2009 by Katherine Liew
Filed under Marketing
It’s entirely possible that the marketing folks at LEGO were big fans of their product in their earlier years, because they’ve clearly had practice at turning these little plastic blocks into much more.
LEGO has a long history of building their fanbase by just giving us a fresh perspective on what’s really a simple concept. From Star Wars endorsements and LEGOLand to LEGO ice cube trays and external hard drives, they have built and adapted their product in interesting ways.
And they’re still doing it…
A recent announcement is a collaboration with Metaio (Germany) which will change retail displays… As you can see above, the LEGO Digital Box will allow customers to see in 3D how the contents of each box will look once assembled. All that users will need to do is hold the box up to a camera at the top of each ‘Digital Box’.
It will definitely be a popular in-store attraction, but we will have to wait until November to find out how it affects sales.
Another recent announcement, made at this year’s CES was this:
The soon-to-be-released LEGO digital camera in collaboration with DigiBlue will definitely appeal to those LEGO fans who feel like they’re too old to play with blocks anymore. Although the LEGO watch has already been done, a new range of portable electronics will be an interesting replacement for some of the unique DIY LEGO products to be found online.
The great thing about LEGO is that even though they’re extended their product lines it never feels like they’re pushing the limits of the brand.
If this is what the kids of tomorrow will be playing with, they’ll have a good example of creativity.
Story 1 and Image: NotCot
Story 2 and Image: Kids Tech Review
Lego’s digital camera does not seem like a serious line extension, but more of a collectors item for fans. Only fans of Lego would ever buy such a product. They should stick to making blocks.