A handwritten note from the head of LEGO in the UK to a seven-year-old boy who asked the Danish toy giant for a job has gone viral in an unintentional reputational masterstroke, a marketing expert says, as brands increasingly turn to “lovemarks” to build a human connection.
British woman Catherine Crump posted the heartwarming tale on Linkedin, sharing that she and her young son Thomas had been discussing what he might like to be when he grows up — either a dog hotel owner or a LEGO designer, he had decided.
“The next day he appeared with a letter, written in his ‘best handwriting’, asking LEGO if he could work for them,” Crump, who is managing director of Wired Consulting, said.
“He wisely shared that he’d be available to help with designing LEGO after school, on weekends and in the holidays — and that his sister would be keen to do the same.”
So Crump tracked down a mailing address and posted Thomas’s note off to head office, though felt compelled to let him know he may not receive a response even though management would surely appreciate his note.
“He looked crestfallen,” Crump recalled.
Not for long, however. A few weeks later, a box of LEGO and a handwritten note arrived at their home, sent by the vice president and general manager of LEGO UK & Ireland, Christian Pau, much to the shared delight of Crump and her son.
Pau began by thanking Thomas for his letter and commending him on his “fantastic” LEGO creations while gently letting him know that all of the product designers actually work in Denmark where LEGO is based.
“We would still love to invite you to visit us in our Slough [UK] office (together with your sister and your parents) for a juice/tea/coffee and a tour of the building,” Pau continues in his handwritten scrawl.
“My office is called ‘Dumbledore’s office’ — as the box attached [is].”
It’s little magical moments like this that solidify LEGO’s reputation at a time of widespread mistrust in corporations and advertising, marketing strategist Mia Fileman tells SmartCompany.
It’s known as a “lovemark”, she says, a concept coined by Kevin Roberts that refers to a marketing positioning strategy based on generating an emotional bond or connection between the consumer and the brand.
“As a campaign strategist who consumes campaigns for breakfast, lunch and tea, I’m seeing similar tactics crop up across industries,” Fileman continued.
“Many will argue (successfully) that the handwritten note to a 7-year-old was a stunt, but coming from LEGO, it feels authentic and whether it is or isn’t is irrelevant; perception is reality.”
It brings to mind a similarly heartwarming campaign from Barilla, a “marketing masterpiece” where a young fan who asked Roger Federer to put off retiring so they could square off on the court was surprised with that very opportunity as a teenager.
“LEGO and Barilla target the primary grocery buyer, aka “mums”, and there is nothing that a mum wishes for more in life than to make her children’s dreams come true,” Fileman, who founded Campaign Del Mar, a marketing education platform, continued.
“Both brands have tapped into this human truth spectacularly.”
Crump tagged Pau to thank him for “living up to the ‘everything is awesome’ brand association and for making my son see that it’s always worth trying”, and it seems a few people agreed. The post has attracted more than 100,000 engagements, 2100 comments and 1600 reposts.
LEGO’s reputation has been near-untouchable in recent times. In 2020 it was voted the No. 1 most reputable global company by the 10th annual Global RepTrak, for its “excellent products and services”, “leading with innovation” and “growing with purpose” (in 2022’s RepTrak report, LEGO came in third behind Rolex and Ferrari).
Upon receiving the top ranking, CEO Niels Christiansen summarised what drives decisions at LEGO, like that of Pau’s to sit down and handwrite a note to a young fan.
“Every day, employees at The LEGO Group are empowered to make decisions to do what’s right for children, our fans, our partners, the environment and our local communities,” Christiansen said.
“It’s each one of these actions — big and small — which builds a reputation.”
And it’s working for LEGO. Consumer sales surged 22% in 2021, compared to 2020, while revenue was up 27% as homebound parents and kids turned to the much-loved toy during COVID-19-induced downtime.
Operating profit was up a mammoth 32% for the year, “despite ambitious strategic investments and increased freight and raw materials costs” associated with strangled supply chains worldwide, the company said.
As the Danish company reached its 90th year in 2022, LEGO sales topped DKR55.3 billion ($11.1 billion) and profits hit DKR17bn ($3.4 billion), while all market groups delivered double-digit consumer sales growth.
LEGO recently announced it would invest $1 billion into a new 1.7 million-square-foot factory in Virginia, its seventh plant worldwide after plans were announced in December for a factory in Vietnam.
The idea is to keep the factories close to the company’s biggest markets, the company’s chief operating officer Carsten Rasmussen said in a statement, while the US plant will be completely carbon neutral and powered almost entirely by solar.
Repositioning itself as sustainable hasn’t been easy for a company whose very product is plastic — in 2018, LEGO was emitting about a million tons of carbon dioxide each year — but the company is working towards a 2030 goal of having all plastic originate from plant fibres or recycled bottles by 2030.
It’s a long way to come for a company that began in 1932 inside the workshop of carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, who initially made the toys from wood. In 1934, he combined the Danish words for “play well” — leg godt — into Lego, and the beloved brand was born.
Emma Elsworthy is Climate Editor at The Mandarin.
