LEGO Business Sets in Need of a Marketing Champion

LEGOs are big business - that famous piece of advice from "The Graduate" was eerily accurate ("Plastics")...
LEGOs are big business – that famous piece of advice from “The Graduate” was eerily accurate (“Plastics”)…

You may find this shocking, but I live in a home that doubles as a shelter for all things LEGO. And hey, look at the calendar – today is my son Ethan’s eleventh birthday (with no evidence of his passion for LEGOs waning anytime soon). I feel the right thing to do is unite my “business blog” with LEGOs in mold-injected, plastic matrimony.

Although the LEGO Group offers LEGO sets for kids of all ages on the website’s Products page, something is missing. The LEGO City series is somewhat business oriented, but many of its sets focus on rescue vehicles, police activities, and the transporting and containment of criminals. I think it’s time for LEGO’s marketing team (in Billund, Denmark) to help young builders imagine themselves in careers beyond the law enforcement-criminal dichotomy.

Why doesn’t the LEGO Group manufacture sets and accompanying minifigures for the corporate world? Here’s how we resolve this gaping hole in the company’s product line: “LEGO Business” sets:

The LEGO Law Firm Provides Unscrupulous Minifigures Their Day in Court: These sets should be offered at three price points: solo practitioner, multi-partner practice, and a law firm with multiple locations. I suggest naming the largest set “LEGO Law Firm – Law Offices of Kristiansen and Kristiansen” in honor of the company’s founder, Ole Kirk Kristiansen.

Other product line extensions could include “LEGO Deposition Day” and “LEGO Courtroom.” Perhaps “LEGO Law Firm” sets should be modular for easy attachment to existing LEGO City Police sets. This would expedite the legal process for LEGO minifigure lawyers whose clients are convicted felons.

LEGO Social Media Sets Will Vanish Faster Than Snapchat Messages: LEGO executives should acknowledge that the social media phenomenon isn’t fading anytime soon. Since the median age of social media/digital marketing/technology professionals hovers near 30, “LEGO Social Media” sets wouldn’t need retail space. This target market’s customers will order the sets online, build them at work, and then post photos of finished masterpieces on their Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts.

I visualize the basic set as an open floor plan with funky workstations/cubicles, no doors, and lots of smart devices and snacks. If LEGO really wants these sets to go viral, it should create an add-on customization package (i.e., company logo mini-decals). LEGO’s marketing peeps in Billund should request several prototypes from their product design group and then launch a “dog-and-pony show” in the U.S. without delay.

LEGO Pharmaceutical Company Will Be Part of a Double-Blind Trial: I know nothing regarding the inner “bowels” of a Pfizer or GlaxoSmithKline or AstraZenica, so my description of this set is purely speculative. Perhaps many of the minifigures will look like this and work in LEGO labs resplendent with miniature test tubes, research microscopes, and lots of white bricks.

Storage capacity for the LEGO version of pharmaceutical “trinkets and trash” should be proportional to a company’s total revenue in U.S. dollars. Can you imagine these sets including a complimentary two-week supply of Ritalin, Concerta, or Adderall? (No, neither can I – bad idea.)

LEGO Financial Services and LEGO Insurance Company Rock Pinstripes and Actuarial Tables: This theme will have the nicest, most formal conference rooms of all my proposed “LEGO Business” sets. The bricks for both “LEGO Financial Services” and “LEGO Insurance Company” would be manufactured in tasteful tones of ecru, celadon, maroon, and periwinkle.

Most of the guy minifigures in these sets will look like this. The gal minifigures will come equipped with lipstick, a few modest accessories, and longer LEGO hair. Each “LEGO Financial Services” set will include plenty of miniature plastic televisions (so LEGO financial advisors can watch CNBC and Bloomberg until the market closes).

My Bonus Tip for Retailers: LEGO Creator (Expert Models) – Grand Emporium: I was going to imagine a “LEGO 12-in-1 Shopping Mall,” but the LEGO Creator design team beat me to it. For those of you who own a retail business, this set is a must for your main register area. Just be sure to glue the pieces together and display the set in a locked case (i.e., to prevent shrinkage).

The LEGO Grand Emporium is “a spectacularly detailed, 3-story department store, designed in a realistic scale with rare pieces!” If you join the LEGO VIP Program, the Grand Emporium set will earn you 149 VIP points. This is an expensive, hard-to-find item, but the window mannequins, multiple escalators, and miniature merchandise should ensure you don’t experience buyer’s remorse.

 

Do you think my “LEGO Business” product ideas will catch the attention of any forward-thinking executives at the LEGO Group? If you could create a custom LEGO set for your business/office, what would you call it? What types of minifigures would you include?

FYI, inspiration awaits: The LEGO Movie will be opening soon at a theater near you (“Assembling February 7th”). Even better, LEGO Minifigures – Series 12 consists of nothing but characters from The LEGO Movie (so collect all 16). My only question is: How did Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare fall in with such an unruly LEGO crowd?

And finally: Happy birthday, Ethan Shapiro!

Lori Shapiro is the owner of By All Writes LLC, a business-to-business (B2B) writing, editing, and research company in Marlton, New Jersey. She revels in shielding her clients from the pain of writing their own print and web marketing copy. Please call Lori Shapiro at 856-810-9764 or email By All Writes LLC at lori@byallwrites.biz  for a no-obligation project quote today!

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