Spielwarenmesse, Catalogus Internationale, 1992, 403.Ĥ5. Spielwarenmesse, Catalogus Internationale, 1986, 358.Ĥ3. Spielwarenmesse, Catalogus Internationale, 1959, 233.Ĥ2. Followed by LEGO Technic for older boys.Ĥ1. The first LEGO sub‐brand was LEGO Duplo, for younger children. Before 1965, LEGO products were not targeted at specific age or gender groups. Concerning gender specific LEGO toys, it is important to note that from 1965 onwards, LEGO produced toys that were gender and age specific. Consumer choice, brand essence and potential margin are all driven by Differentiation’ ( ).ģ9. Differentiation measures the strength of the brand’s meaning. The more differentiated, the more likely it will be trialed and less likely it is to be substituted. Successful brands are strongly differentiated. Differentiation is the foundation of a brand’s existence and is critical to brand success. On the webpage of Young & Rubican differentiation is defined as: ‘Differentiation Drives Successful Brands. Gj⊘l‐Andersen, ‘The Internal Dimensions,’ 163. On the other end of the spectrum we could situate the adults staying younger longer (ASYL) trend or the Peter Pan syndrome.ģ7. Traditional toy makers state that they are in the business of gifts, the family entertainment business, or they simply drop the T word from their company’s name (Kinetz, ‘Putting Away Childish Things,’ 16). They are not just selling toys but something more because toys have become painfully unfashionable. In an article by Erika Kinetz, this trend is confirmed by examples of toy manufacturers who distance themselves from toys. Increasingly and from an earlier age onwards, children fancy technological gadgets (cell phones, MP3 players and personal computers) or lifestyle products (clothes, make‐up, accessories) rather than toys. Gj⊘l‐Andersen & Karmark, ‘Corporate Brand Stretch,’ 167. J⊘rgensen, ‘The Lego Brick System,’ 6.ģ6. For a more detailed plea for wooden toys, see for example Debik, ‘Holz spielt mit.’ģ0. On the other hand, plastic is easily associated with artificiality, superficiality and fakeness, as opposed to wood.
On the one hand, consumers are generally happy with the cheap, easy to clean, colorful and (generally speaking) durable plastic products. Plastic has been met with both liking and disliking. Many are now molded from complicated mixtures the plastic material of which they are made has an appearance at once gross and hygienic, it destroys all the pleasure, the sweetness, the humanity of touch’ (Barthes, Mythologies, 54). In 1957 he states: ‘Current toys are made of a graceless material, the product of chemistry, not of nature. The semiotic theorist Roland Barthes (1915–1980) was one of many to object to plastic toys. The critique on plastic toys was voiced by the elite rather than by the consumers themselves. Lithgow, ‘Analysis: Astonishing Secret.’Ģ4. Lithgow, ‘Analysis: Astonishing Secret.’Ģ2. Herman Fisher, Irving Price and Helen Schelle founded Fisher Price in 1930.Ģ0. Although his middle name might suggest otherwise, Hilary Fisher Page is not the founder of the toy brand Fisher Price. J⊘rgensen, ‘The Lego Brick System,’ 6.ġ9. Geis, The World of Lego, 67 Pickering, The Ultimate Lego, 14.ġ5. J⊘rgensen, ‘The Lego Brick System,’ 6.ġ4. Anonymous, ‘Toy Industry in Germany,’ 246.ġ2. Anonymous, ‘Transfers for the Toy Trade,’ 280.ĩ. Compocastles, ‘The War and the Toy Trade,’ 123.Ĩ. Anonymous, ‘The Press and the Toy Trade,’ 228.ħ.
This part focuses on Mindstorms 2.0 and Mindstorms NXT, especially, in order to illustrate the increase in user involvement in LEGO product development.Ħ. Third, this article looks into recent attempts by the LEGO Company to bring the fans into the company in order to revive the LEGO brand and its products. Unfortunately, this led to a confusing, rather than a strong brand image and resulted in heavy financial losses in 20. Second, this article deals with a rather unfortunate episode from the LEGO history, namely, the period between the late 1990s and the early twenty‐first century when the LEGO Company felt the need to extend its brand image through diversifying its product range.
First, it investigates the transference from wood to plastics as the main material used in creating LEGO toys, and also the innovations in plastic molding machines that influenced the interlocking mechanism of the LEGO bricks. This article deals with three major instances in the history of the LEGO Company.
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