Lego appoint new CEO

[TeufelHund]

Former CEO "reassigned":

https://brickset.com/article/29843/lego-appoints-new-ceo

That was quick - maybe flatlining US sales spelt his end.

 

[JopieK]

The new guy is maybe a far cousin from the Kristiansen family where the K changed to a C?

[grove]

Kristiansen/Christiansen is a quite common surname in Denmark, so it's quite unlikely that they are related.

As to the spelling, LEGO has a page about it: https://www.lego.com/en-us/legohistory/kristiansen-or-christiansen

[WhiteFang]

I am glad there is a change in CEO within such a short span of time to correct their path and back on track. 

[gylman]

1 hour ago, WhiteFang said:

I am glad there is a change in CEO within such a short span of time to correct their path and back on track. 

In what way is LEGO off track?  I confess I don't necessarily like everything they release, but is there a specific trend that has emerged that can be related to this one particular CEO who has been in power for less than a year, when most products probably take longer than that from conception to release?

[RetroInferno]

I don't think they would have switched him so fast and blame the poor US sales for the sole reason; this sales problem as been up for a good while despite massive investement. They must have been disatisfied with the way he handled things internally or he personally wanted to move to the ''PR'' wing of the company. 

[WhiteFang]

4 hours ago, gylman said:

In what way is LEGO off track?  I confess I don't necessarily like everything they release, but is there a specific trend that has emerged that can be related to this one particular CEO who has been in power for less than a year, when most products probably take longer than that from conception to release?

I noticed global and regional sales seems sluggish and some of the stuff are being imposed with price increase. The product range  are growing strong but somehow the stocks are not moving as fast as it was before. At least I noticed some of the older sets are having a hard time clearing off such as those constraction SW figures built for example. 

This is just an observation but I find it very strange to see a leadership renewal happening so fast within such a short span of time. I don't believe he is there, just to fill in the gap until a new suitable CEO is found? This corporate news is quite out of the norm. 

 

[x105Black]

I want to think that this is because Nexo Knights is doing poorly, but I'm probably off base.

[jFox]

On 8/10/2017 at 6:48 AM, TeufelHund said:

...

That was quick - maybe flatlining US sales spelt his end.

 

 

18 hours ago, WhiteFang said:

I noticed global and regional sales seems sluggish...

 

 

11 hours ago, x105Black said:

I want to think that this is because Nexo Knights is doing poorly, but I'm probably off base.

This isn't the first place that I've seen statements like these, but out of curiosity what do you (any of you) use to make these determinations?  I've seen year-end sales figures from time to time, but aside from that...? Is there some source which spells this out, or is it just a feeling or observation?  Especially with regards to a particular market (how/why are US sales poor?) or a particular line (how is Nexo Knights doing compared to, say, Ninjago, or Friends?).

[x105Black]

18 minutes ago, jFox said:

This isn't the first place that I've seen statements like these, but out of curiosity what do you (any of you) use to make these determinations?  I've seen year-end sales figures from time to time, but aside from that...? Is there some source which spells this out, or is it just a feeling or observation?  Especially with regards to a particular market (how/why are US sales poor?) or a particular line (how is Nexo Knights doing compared to, say, Ninjago, or Friends?).

My statement was really just because I don't personally care much for Nexo Knights and would rather see a return to traditional Castle.  Honestly, I have no idea why the CEO has been moved.  It could simply be a position that better suits his particular skill set.  I'm not sure anyone here knows anything for sure.

[HawkLord]

I would venture to say US sales number declines are in part because so much hype occurs for each movie that people are moving on from licensed set to licensed set too fast. Right now summer SW sets are shelfwarming because people are saving up for Force Friday when the new hotness drops.

We're seeing the same thing in the action figure market with SW and Marvel - it's hard to move slow product when all slates have to be wiped for new stuff. There used to be more time for stuff to sell through because there wasn't always the next movie deadline. 

[jFox]

1 hour ago, HawkLord said:

I would venture to say US sales number declines...

How do you know sales are down, though? That was my original question. We can speculate reasons they are down (if they are, in fact) but I was asking about the source of information for the original premise.

I certainly agree about various hype bubbles regarding product or movie releases--that's true of just about any licensed merchandise. But how would one know if stocked shelves means the company is doing poorly? Couldn't it just mean their production processes are working properly and they have sufficient supply?

[WhiteFang]

14 hours ago, jFox said:

This isn't the first place that I've seen statements like these, but out of curiosity what do you (any of you) use to make these determinations?  I've seen year-end sales figures from time to time, but aside from that...? Is there some source which spells this out, or is it just a feeling or observation?  Especially with regards to a particular market (how/why are US sales poor?) or a particular line (how is Nexo Knights doing compared to, say, Ninjago, or Friends?).

You made an interesting point on your latter reply on increasing production meet current demand. Well, to ramp up demand to feed the supply can be a double edge sword. If the additional supply is being taken up fast by the market and the sets which are on shelves are not moving as fast for the new releases, then there is a possibilitiy of consumers not buying enough to clear the projected supply? 

I have slowed down my purchases even though regionally there are sales in Singapore and Malaysia. We can assume those are part of promtotional efforts of D2C sets buying 2 of same value and getting the third for free which is effective 33% discount. Or TRU sales in Malaysia having 40% off on average, or departmental stores in Singapore getting rid last year Advent Calendar at 50% off which is about USD$20 per box. 

This is just my own observation and interpetation, not meant to quantify the true stance of the change of CEO. 

From a business management perspective, a change of CEO within such a short span of time normally sparks some real underlying intent (not witholding if he had health problems or personal matters) which attest to the change. 

CEO is normally accountable and in this case, to the board. Just my 1 cent. 

[Littleworlds]

18 hours ago, HawkLord said:

I would venture to say US sales number declines are in part because so much hype occurs for each movie that people are moving on from licensed set to licensed set too fast. Right now summer SW sets are shelfwarming because people are saving up for Force Friday when the new hotness drops.

We're seeing the same thing in the action figure market with SW and Marvel - it's hard to move slow product when all slates have to be wiped for new stuff. There used to be more time for stuff to sell through because there wasn't always the next movie deadline. 

Very good point. People can only buy so much.

I think it is indeed saturation of the core markets, which isn't really surprising after years of staggeringly strong development. I think there is still potential of growth, but outside the existing markets. As for the USA being traditionally particularily weak for TLG, I can only guess there. Is it more hasbro homeland?

And I think his influence on the current lineup of sets is quite limited. Afaik a set needs up to 2 years from concept stage to release. So there is no direct feedback of his influence in that sector yet. So somebody else has to be "blamed" for Nexo Knights. 

 

[paul_delahaye]

Although I'm not convinced this is good for us getting value for money out of our sets in the future:

"Niels began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co."

[Littleworlds]

2 hours ago, paul_delahaye said:

Although I'm not convinced this is good for us getting value for money out of our sets in the future:

"Niels began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co."

I was stumbling over this sentence as well. There are certainly companies with a better reputation. 

[Captain Genaro]

On 8/11/2017 at 2:08 PM, jFox said:

How do you know sales are down, though? That was my original question. We can speculate reasons they are down (if they are, in fact) but I was asking about the source of information for the original premise.

Lego does publish their financials. I haven't looked at them too much and I don't know if they report unit sales anywhere, but overall it does look like total revenue and profit has increased for the past 5 years.