About 10 years ago, LEGO noticed that people were starting to use the internet to discuss issues related to its products. These comments included several opinions about LEGO’s new releases and alternative ways of constructing its models.

“At first, we didn’t really like it and we were a bit concerned about the various information that started to appear on different internet pages,” Tormod Askildsen, Head of  LEGO Community Development, says. “This was mainly because we weren’t used to it and didn’t know how to deal with it. But then we realized that we could actually benefit from it.”

LEGO therefore started to develop its own internet platforms to create a dialog with its customers. The communities include all kinds of users and even though the main target group for LEGO’s well known multi-colored bricks is children, a lot of adults are also interested in LEGO. The users are divided into three focus groups depending on age; 12 years and below, teenagers and adults. Lead users are regularly asked for their opinions and feedback.

“It is important for us to build personal relationships with LEGO fans and to have a dialog with those who are really interested in our products,” Askildsen says. “We obviously don’t have big social platforms with millions of users like Facebook or LinkedIn, but our LEGO brand communities are definitely an important complement to our research and development programs.”

One example is the LEGO “ambassadors’ forum”, which includes 40 LEGO fans aged 19 to 65 from 22 countries. All members of the forum have been selected to take part in the discussion groups by their local LEGO user group, including people that have a great interest in Lego, and give user feedback to LEGO.

“People from my team communicate with this group more or less on a daily basis, discussing different themes, ideas or to brainstorm,” Askildsen says. “The ambassadors report on our discussions on blogs, create picture galleries and have further discussions with their local LEGO group members. The most interesting ideas are then fed into LEGO’s new products, with permission from the LEGO ambassadors, of course.”

Other online groups are the LEGO Certified Professionals, created by LEGO enthusiasts who regularly run LEGO fairs and events, as well as the FIRST LEGO League, which is an annual venture to inspire children to learn more about science and technology by building LEGO robots.

Both groups include on-line communities for sharing experiences.

Askildsen says that corporate social media has become an important part of LEGO’s product development. The social interaction between users on the internet has also inspired LEGO fans all over the world to organize events and exhibitions, which have inspired even more people to start using LEGO.

“Apart from all the different forums that we’re actively involved in, there are lots of other LEGO web forums and LEGO blogs,” he says. “These are of course also very inspiring for us and we try to follow as many as we can.”

With a competitive global market for children’s toys, Askildsen says that the benefits of social media are obvious.

“Social media has become a part of our image,” he says. “The LEGO communities are also important meeting places for those who share the same interest, and we do what we can to stimulate interaction and dialog,” he says.


Helena Jansson