Critical Analysis of LEGO’s “Rebuild the World” Campaign 2021

Introduction

In 2019, LEGO (kid’s toy company) launched its first brand campaign in 30 years with
the tag line stating “Rebuild the World”. This campaign was created in collaboration with BETC
Paris and LEGO’s in-house creative agency. As the tagline shows, the campaign’s aim was to
inspire children to envision a more enjoyable, playful and liberated universe. Moreover, the
campaign focused to boost children’s creativity and reconnect people with the roots of the brand.
A series of short animated videos were released emphasizing creative problem solving skills
using LEGO bricks. This campaign ran globally including Beijing, Berlin, London, Mexico,
New York, Paris and San Francisco across TV, Cinema, events, and out-of-home advertising.
According to Twitter’s marketing insights (2019), the key insights of the campaign showed that
the brand observed a 35% increase in positive sentiment and received 92,000+ tweets on
#RebuildTheWorld.

Rebuild the World-2021

Following the success of 2019 campaign, LEGO group aimed to continue its “Rebuild the
World” campaign in 2021. The objectives of this campaign highlighted children as an expert in
creative problem-solving and demonstrated the incredible things that can happen when people
unite to overcome differences or challenges (Brickset, 2021).

While analyzing the campaign it can be said that the brand efficiently used its campaign’s
concept to connect with its audience by highlighting the chaos and mental strain experienced
worldwide in during the global pandemic. The name of the campaign also indicates that the
brand’s primary goal was to focus on rebuilding the society in the aftermath of the global
pandemic 2020. The campaigns objectives also emphasized on children’s problem solving skills
as a source of hope, and resilience during tough days.

Execution strategy of the campaign

 During the midst of pandemic when communal experiences were challenging, LEGO
successfully ran its campaign across a variety of channels including TV, digital, Spotify, out of
home, e-commerce channels and LEGO stores in over 20 countries. It was supported by global
creator campaign, as well as a series of activations and events in markets where the LEGO group
has a presence (Rapport, 2021).

LEGO executed its campaign at London’s Westfield Stratford shopping Centre by

introducing the advanced touch less screen technology. This innovation enabled LEGO
enthusiasts and families to experience immerse outdoor play experience and build virtual LEGO
bricks just by using their hand gestures. The families and kids waited in queue while maintaining
the social distance to enjoy LEGO’s outdoor experience. When it was their turn, families entered
the LEGO house and a specially designed experimental booth that resembled a structure
constructed entirely from LEGO bricks where the haptic controller was installed.

This PR strategy shows that the brand was quick enough to adapt the ongoing global
situation and attract its audience with this unique strategy. The giant digital out-of-home screen
rose awareness of “Rebuild the World” while maintain the SOP’s of the pandemic, however, the
potential weakness was the limited accessibility to such an experience to a specific physical
location which might have limited its reach to a broader audience.

Additionally, it has been observed that LEGO’s sole emphasis was to execute their
campaign through modern and advanced technology. Company has mostly focused on digital
platforms to disseminate their campaign while ignoring the print and traditional mass mediums.
LEGO ran its advertisement through digital billboards and electronic mediums; however no print
ad or poster was used throughout the campaign which limited its reach to a broader audience. By
using such advanced mediums, LEGO created a borderline between the company’s target
audiences. The use of advanced and high tech methods for the dissemination campaign depicts
the clear image that LEGO is a high end company that is exclusively targeting the upper class of
the society, inadvertently, suggesting that only children which the strong financial background
could have access to and benefit from LEGO bricks to develop creative-problem solving skills.
Using advanced methods and mediums in their campaign, LEGO has unintentionally, neglected
the children from lower-income families which has created a potential disparity in the brand’s
educational benefits.
Campaign advertisement

The main advertisement film of this campaign featured a knight who attempts to cross the
river to meet his friend bear, however he fails. Seeing the knight’s dilemma the whole town
comes together to and uses their skills and talents to reunite the friends. The end of the
advertisement reveals that the whole ad including characters such as the knight, bear and town
are imaginative and created with LEGO bricks. The entire imaginative adventure of the knight
and the bear is the result of children playing with LEGO (LEGO, 2021).

The analysis of ad shows that the advertisement clearly bridges the gap between the real
world and the imaginative realm of the children. This connection between the grown up world
(where parents who are the decision makers of buying LEGO toys) and kid’s imagination (where
the LEGO play happens) shows how LEGO is not just a toy for children but something that can
inspire and engage adults as well. It emphasizes that LEGO encourages creativity and
storytelling, making it appealing to both kids and adults who chose to buy LEGO products for
them.

Media message and content

Although LEGO is a kid’s toy company, however, the campaign effectively generated
media message to target both kids and their parents. LEGO claims that their toys develop
problem solving skills in children, therefore to echo this sentiment, they teamed up with local
early learning and parenting coaches, who joined forced with parents to exchange their insights
and offer parenting tips. This collaborative effort was showcased through a series of Instagram
weekly live sessions scheduled in October 2021. Various actress-parent, pediatrician and
influencers joined the session to share their insights (kiddy 123, 2021).

The campaign appears to have several strengths. Firstly it recognized the importance of
using digital media platform such as Instagram to interact with parents and children. This
strategy also enhances the campaign’s transparency and authenticity. Moreover, partnership with
local parenting coaches, along with the involvement of various professionals such as
pediatricians and actresses who are also parents is a great source to convey your message
through an authentic source. This strategy has not only strengthened the message of the brand;
however it also enhances its reach as these experts provided valuable insights and tips to both
parents and children.

Outcome of the campaign

Overall, LEGO group’s 2021 campaign was a successful attempt to reach its objectives.
According to the LEGO’s annual report, (2021) the company achieved double digit revenue,
consumer sales and profit growth. According to the LEGO’s annual report 2021, revenue for the
full year increased by 27% and consumer sales grew double digits in all market groups. The
company received positive feedback from the customers by engaging them through various
activities. The company also started a trend on their social media channels in which children
were asked to share the photo of what they have created with LEGO bricks. This was an
effective way of communication between customer and company as they were getting regular
feedback.

Conclusion

As a conclusion it can be said that LEGO held a successful PR campaign. The company
took different initiatives for their business growth. The brand has not only focused on a single
perspective however, they have also used their PR campaign to build a strong connection with
their customers. Considering the objective and goals of the campaign, brand has efficiently used
unique and creative ideas to their market value high.
References

Birckset, (2021). Rebuild the World brand campaign returns.

https://brickset.com/article/64750/rebuild-the-world-brand-campaign-
returns#google_vignette

Kiddy 123, (2021). New LEGO® campaign shows how creative problem solving can reunite and
Rebuild the World. https://www.kiddy123.com/article/new-lego-campaign-shows-how-
creative-problem-solving-can-reunite-and-rebuild-the-world.html

LEGO Group, (2021). The LEGO Group Annual Report 2021.

https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/aboutus/assets/blt248041929be3b572/Annual_Report_2021
_ENG.pdf

LEGO, (2021) New LEGO® campaign shows how creative problem solving can reunite and
Rebuild the World. https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/news/2021/september/lego-
rebuild-the-world-2021

Rapport, (2021). Introducing LEGO Mid-Air Haptics: creating a magical way for children to
play that could be seen by everyone. https://rapportww.com/case-studies/lego-rebuild-
the-world/
X Marketing, (2019). How LEGO group used Twitter to #RebuildTheWorld.
https://marketing.twitter.com/en_apac/success-stories/how-lego-brand-used-twitter-to-
rebuildtheworld