Introduction
Lego is one of the biggest toy companies in the world. The brand is widely recognizable and has a long history of successes and downfalls, which almost led to the company’s bankruptcy. The main product of the company is its signature brick constructor. The design of the brick toy was so successful that the company launched a Lego movie franchise and a LEGOLAND California enjoyment country park that is located in Carlsbad. Hence, the paper analyses the functional areas of the Lego company and investigates its marketing models, planning, management decisions, communication strategy, and the implications of an integrated marketing program.
Several factors affect the strategies, goals, and tactics that businesses set. Marketing is the development, design, and promotion of services and products. Thus, the temperament of the company, industry attributes, and preferred promotional objectives all go into pronouncement on marketing tactic development. Monitoring a business marketplace for changes is very important for the successful taking of a toy company (MBA Skool Team, 2021). Failure to monitor how the market is evolving the business will be left behind while the product or service the business is offering will become outdated.
Communication
Lego enjoys its media presence as it heavily relies on brand recognition and promotes it further. Being a product, which welcomes and enhances creativity, Lego was easily integrated into the social media realm. As such, the brand’s YouTube channel was the most popular channel of the company, which has more than 10 billion views on it. Moreover, fans of the product also have their popular channels, which provides a company with independent marketing opportunities. Hence, in the digital age, the product is represented by both the company and its customers. This is optimal and effective as it saves the company’s costs and provides a competitive advantage over other toy companies.
Marketing Department
Lego’s marketing department is responsible for the marketing strategies applied in different areas of the world. The external environment is constantly changing; hence, Lego has structured its marketing teams in a way they have less hierarchy and are more flexible. As a result, the company had several successful marketing campaigns during the last few years. For example, with the beginning of the pandemic, sales reports showed a tendency for growth in the adult sector in countries like Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Hence, the company addressed the needs of adult customers by launching a large-scale Lamborgini and a botanical series, which increased sales in the segment.
Internal Creative Teams
Lego has recently opted for the unique internal global strategy and external global media agency partner. As a result, they can centralize worldwide marketing efforts and enable a company to operate in nearly 130 countries effectively. This allowed the company to be more creative and diverse in terms of its global commercial operations. Global marketing strategy requires Lego to react quickly to the marketing trends or customers’ needs. Hence, the internal creative teams are responsible for providing product solutions, new designs, and series that would meet the market demand. Due to such an approach, Lego was able to stay relevant and outlast its competitors.
Integrated Marketing Program
The implementation of an integrated marketing program (IMP) poses many benefits to the Lego Company. In essence, IMP creates a unified marketing strategy that conveys one universal message of a company through all possible channels such as social media, direct and retail marketing, and digital tools. One of the strengths of Lego is its social media following, which is considered to be one of the biggest among other toy manufacturers (RochmanSyah & Rifa’I, 2018). Combined with high brand recognition, it is easier for the company to engage its customers and raise product awareness.
Therefore, an integrated marketing program for Lego should be conceptualized in the internal creative department. The use of storytelling has shown a positive impact on Lego’s revenue during the 2000s sales crisis. Besides that, the company managed to develop projects such as Legoland entertainment parks, and movie franchises, which can be used to enhance product promotion and develop an IMP around that ecosystem.
In addition, Lego has developed several ways of product distribution, which involve e-commerce as well as sales in retail stores. Therefore, Lego’s sales did not suffer from the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic (Volkova et al., 2020). Moreover, the usage of Lego ecosystems, where customers can interact with their products and receive access to premium processes, creates an opportunity for the further development of the premium segment. This strategy corresponds with the needs of the loyal audience and the target audience, which consists of middle-class and higher-middle-class customers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Lego company has managed to create an effective marketing strategy with the use of its departments and internal creative teams. Multichannel distribution, as well as a strong social media presence, allow the company to meet and develop long-term goals, which enhance customers’ engagement loyalty and increase sales in general. Therefore, the utilization of the integrated marketing program is a beneficial strategy for the company to develop.
References
MBA Skool Team. (2021). Lego marketing strategy & marketing mix (4Ps). Web.
RochmanSyah, N., & Rifa’i, M. (2018). Marketing communication strategy of warung sate Lego in the perspective of Islam. Journal of islamic Comunication, 1(1).
Volkova, D., Volkova, J., & Znotiņa, D. (2020). Analysis of Lego brand communication for the audience of children in social media. Journal of Regional Economic and Social Development, 1(12), 192-202.