Lego bids to build a greater appeal for girls

[Fugazi]

Lego bids to build a greater appeal for girls

After the Danish toymaker unveils a massive surge in profits, UK managing director Marko Ilincic explains the next step

Tom Bawden, The Observer, Sunday 6 March 2011

Lego is planning to target girls with toys designed to engage the female imagination, as the boy-focused miniature brick maker looks to sustain its recent strong growth.

In an interview with the Observer after the Danish company announced a 63% surge in profits for last year, UK managing director Marko Ilincic said that girls represent "a significant opportunity that is still untapped" for the company, and that "that is something we are working hard to address".

Between the ages of two and five, girls play with Lego as much as boys. But all this changes when children go to school, after which most girls rapidly lose interest as they become more conscious of their gender, said Ilincic. As a result, girls only account for a fifth of Lego users aged five and over.

"Pre-school, boys and girls are still developing their preferences, and at this point the differences between their play patterns are not as acute. As a child gets older, play patterns manifest themselves much more – and nature plays its part," he said, a day after announcing that Lego's new Harry Potter range helped the group to a 48% rise in UK sales to a new record last year.

"We're very conscious of the skew towards boys; most of [our] themes are to do with aliens, Star Wars, police stations and fire stations. And they rely heavily on construction, which appeals to the boys. Girls like the creative play Lego offers, but are far more interested in role play, pay greater attention to detail, and like collectibles like dolls," Ilincic said, flanked by replicas from the Harry Potter films, as well as games and figures relating to the Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean films.

He said Lego's product designers were working hard to come up with female-oriented products, which will hit the shelves shortly: "We're looking for the right balance of creativity that appeals to girls and construction. We don't want to take the construction away altogether, but there are degrees of 'constructability', and simply producing a pink version of the boys' products is not enough. An understanding of how gender patterns differ is key."

Some might argue that Lego might risk exacerbating gender stereotypes by producing heavily female-orientated products, but Ilincic denies any such pressure: "We can't force boys or girls to buy any particular product. Instead we try to understand the social and genetic influences children have and to appropriately meet them."

Few would deny that the 77-year-old company produces a product loved by millions and has survived in a digital era that has seen many other traditional toymakers collapse. Every second an astonishing seven Lego sets are sold somewhere, while it is estimated that there are 62 bricks for every person in the world.

Following strong growth in recent years, after the company ditched a lot of peripheral operations such as its Legoland theme parks to concentrate on its main business, the group's surge has continued in 2011. It has defied an economy that has dragged down others because parents are very reluctant to deprive their children of the opportunity to play, especially when it is a relatively cheap form of entertainment.

Lego has also significantly stepped up the number of its themed products, such as licensed items relating to films, as the array of entertainments vying for children's attention grows.

"The need for instant gratification is much greater now than 10 years ago, so children increasingly need a context in which to play, to get their creativity and juices flowing. To really get a child engaged you need a good 'hook', and a film will do that," said Ilincic.

Last week, Lego reported pre-tax profits of £563m as sales grew by 32% to £1.8bn; the group now claims to be the world's fourth-largest toymaker, with a global market share of 5.9%. In the UK, market share increased by 4.6% to 6.2% last year, jumping to 7.5% in January, boosted by the release of its new Ninjago board game.

Ilincic suspects that the proliferation of social media sites may also have played its part in Lego's increasing popularity, particularly among adults: "There are thousands of websites for Lego enthusiasts and my perception is that this is increasing adults' interest because it enables them to get together and share ideas about the products."

However, while Ilincic is keen to target girls, he has no such plans for adults: they, it seems, must content themselves with the children's range.

[Henchmen4Hire]

I swear, if I see any more pink LEGO bricks on those shelves I am going to scream, jump in front of a LEGO train, and go insane, not in that particular order.

[Aanchir]

I swear, if I see any more pink LEGO bricks on those shelves I am going to scream, jump in front of a LEGO train, and go insane, not in that particular order.

I myself like pink parts, because they add variety. I don't own many, of course-- I've never bought a Belville set or one of those huge tubs of pink parts-- but I appreciate the Pop Star collectible minifigure sitting on my desk as we speak. Same with the Hula Dancer, who despite having no pink parts has printing in two of the current pink colors.

Anyway, you might want to put batteries in that LEGO train now (or plug in that 9V train track, if that's your preference), because rumor has it there will be a theme next year that targets girls. A lot of people are waiting to see what it's like because it's supposed to be minifigure scale, unlike many girls' themes of the past like Belville and Scala. Chances are it will also use some of the upcoming colors we know about, like the lavender colors seen in minifigures series 5 and an upcoming minifig clock seen at ToyFair.

Anyway, always glad to see LEGO trying to diversify their fanbase.

[Hive]

They just need a theme with tons of horses. And possibly other animals. A theme with a named girl as the key person, with her family in supporting roles.

Yes I know it's a cliché, but my experience tells me that girls really dig playing "family" and love various animals, with horses being a particular joy.

[Jargo]

Gender stereotype reinforcement cycles. I really hope there are girls out there who take themes like Alien conquest and City and give them strong female twists. All this claptrap about pastel colours and ponies and princesses is sickening. And Lego owes it girls to make more of the minifigures in sets strong female characters. Instead of wet nelly damsels in distress. For example Castle could do with an armour wearing fighting Princess. Pirates needs a female captain. City needs more female tradespeople or authority figures. Girls will only ever play with pink toys if tha's all that is available to them. normalising women in Lego themes instead of marginalising them is how to engage girls. inclusion not segregation.

[Nightshroud99]

I think its a Great Idea! LEGO is for all ages and Girls should have their sets too!

On my YouTube I can check who is watching my videos and what age gender, almost all my views are from boys in their teens and the few girls I get are older moms looking for sets to buy their young children. So Yeah... Girls are definately absent..

[Miss Kyle]

I think something animal-related would be good, like a zoo. I can tell from my bookseller experience that witches and (strong and posterior-kicking) princesses are also very popular at the primary school age. Dancers, pop stars (there are so many possibilities for a pop music-related theme!) etc. would also work, I guess.

And I won't go back on my vampire idea. Give them a Twilight/Vampire Diaries/House of Night theme!! ;)

So I think the focus should be on a "social" theme, involving people getting together instead of beating each other up.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Miss Kyle

[MinifigFreak2010]

I'm after something like the belville line, but w/ a way better PPP ratio. The buckets are too pricey.

HOWEVER while I do want pink and purple in sets, I don't want it to be pure pink or purple. I am not a girly girl and I don't like much pink stuff. The only pink I even have in my collection is some the 1X2 slope pieces I got from the lego store.

I know I could look for pink on ebay but I heard that some lots are actually generic blocks.

[bamaker]

...while it is estimated that there are 62 bricks for every person in the world.

A little off-topic, but I'm quoting from the article. That statement begs for a contest -- what can you build with your 62 bricks?

[fred67]

Well... this is one of those topics that people really dislike my opinion on (one of many, I suppose), and I'd probably be better off just skipping this thread entirely, but I was shocked to find this little gem embedded in the article:

"We can't force boys or girls to buy any particular product. Instead we try to understand the social and genetic influences children have and to appropriately meet them."

In other words the representative from LEGO (The UK marketing director, at least) understands there are, GASP! actually genetic differences between boys and girls and while a large part of the problem may be gender-typing, there might actually be innate reasons why girls tend to not like construction toys as much as boys.

Please don't throw down a barrage of anecdotal evidence to the contrary... I said "tend to," and I know there are plenty of girls who like LEGO (my 9yo daughter being one of them); the rep even said 20% of LEGO users are girls.

I think this belies the point people make that TLG should simply put more female characters in their sets. I would like that, I wouldn't argue against it, and I have made it quite clear I dislike the gender imbalance of minifigures in sets (in fact, some of the female figures are the ones I'm most anxious to get in the upcoming CMF releases), but A) I think minifigures in sets should reflect reality, and B) I don't think merely putting in more females is all that's required to get more girls to play with LEGO.

In fact, while many of you are applauding this as a "good thing," it scares me to an extent... "We're looking for the right balance of creativity that appeals to girls and construction. We don't want to take the construction away altogether, but there are degrees of 'constructability',...

IOW, they are going to make "less" 'constructible' construction sets, just not take the 'construction away altogether."

That's not what LEGO is all about, IMO. I don't know what the best answer is, but taking away part of what the boys like in order to attract more girls is not a good solution. It doesn't sound like they are going to release a "girl" oriented theme, either, it seems that these would make their way into regular sets... that could explain "Aqua de Vida"'s terrible large panel with a sticker.

Oh... and, for the record, I like pink and purple bricks, too.

And I won't go back on my vampire idea. Give them a Twilight/Vampire Diaries/House of Night theme!!

Interesting. Never heard of "House of Night' date='" though.

I don't think they like themes where a lot of people get dead... they posted some new guidelines recently would seem to contradict their Indiana Jones and Star Wars themes.

So I think the focus should be on a "social" theme, involving people getting together instead of beating each other up.

I think they already do this... sure, not Star Wars or Castle, but most of the CMFs would fit that, and so would most of the city sets... although maybe not strictly what you were referring to; even the Christmas sets have the carolers and ice skaters and so forth, but I could see a beach party set or something.

Edited March 7, 2011 by fred67

[Brickdoctor]

I think it's a great move. I honestly don't care about the colors and elements as long as it brings new and useful pieces to my current collection. Of course, I do hope they pull this off well, because no company can make me as happy that they've gained money as TLG can.

I'm after something like the belville line, but w/ a way better PPP ratio. The buckets are too pricey.

It's because of the way Belville sets are made. Big figures that are solid plastic, not hollow; which drive up the scale of the set making large prefab buildings and even larger baseplates necessary. System sets use much smaller pieces.

A little off-topic, but I'm quoting from the article. That statement begs for a contest -- what can you build with your 62 bricks?

My 74-Z speeder bike. (40-something, I think)

[Haltiamieli]

IOW, they are going to make "less" 'constructible' construction sets, just not take the 'construction away altogether."

If it means more "constructible" than Belville, and using normal minifigs and that scale, they are still moving to the right direction, aren't they not?

That's not what LEGO is all about, IMO. I don't know what the best answer is, but taking away part of what the boys like in order to attract more girls is not a good solution.

Whether or not they are making a specific theme, it doesn't sound like they would suddenly start making less constructible fire-trucks and police stations. I'll wait and see before I start to panic (or celebrate). I just hope that Lego doesn't go, yet again, overboard with the pink and glitter.

It doesn't sound like they are going to release a "girl" oriented theme, either, it seems that these would make their way into regular sets... that could explain "Aqua de Vida"'s terrible large panel with a sticker.

I'm still 99,8% sure that the "terrible large panel with a sticker" is a cloth piece, which would make much more sense anyway. Also, the set in question is action-oriented and includes only male minifigs (as far as I remember), so I don't see this really relating to the topic in question. Probably they would start "de-constuctibilityfying" from the sets that have the highest perceived marketing value for girls, not some completely random sets.

Ceterum censeo, Zoo-theme would be epic. If there had been such a thing when I was a child, I would have cried and shouted on the floor of the toy shop until my parents had gotten me all those sets. :P

Edited March 7, 2011 by Haltiamieli

[roamingstop]

One of the big issues is that girls / boys become aware of social differences between them, and it is seriously uncool to be like what the other gender likes. This is social stereotyping and is highly prevelant in western countries, whether we are aware of it or not.

There are certain key things we can watch with the way children play with Lego. Most 7-9 year old boys will be happy to imagine their new models / cars / construction vehicles / town vehicles running around on train sets, making the noises, having an active imagination. So you could consider this role play with mechanical / innanimate type objects.

Most girls on the other hand tend to like to imagine their role much more, to play with the charactor's physical appearances. How many boys would comb the hair of their 'My Little Pony' sets, or dress up their dolls with flowery materials? And this is somehow something missing in Lego - even in Belville range. Mini-figs can have torso / head / wig / hat combinations, but physically not that different.

Now if Lego took the maxi-fig series (from Technic models of old), and allowed them to have different types of clothing, proper hair, perhaps a scaled backpack, a scaled car built in a similar Lego way, then it is likely those of a more feminine gender will be very happy. Im sure the modular houses concept built as 'dolls houses' with more things like Mirrors, actual cups you can interact with etc, would be very welcome. I know a few girls who like Duplo because it offers excactly that sort of interaction - which gets lost in Minifig / City land.

Similarly with older orientated Lego sets, you need to unlock the girls curioristy in how the model works. I remember having Lego lessons at schools, and the boistrous boys would always overshadow the girls, claiming better models etc, because thats what happens in younger ages. So the girls are not encouraged to express creativity that way.

The key is to unlock their creativity, their interest, and to get rid of the 'uncoolness' of the building. Some large holywood named icons working with Lego would help a lot!

[fullnovembermoon]

Does anyone else remember the sets that came out in the Mid 90's that were sort of the same theme as Aladdin? They were Belville sets I believe and those weren't too bad. The Belville issue that I have is scale, why do they make the Belville figures and house items bigger? Do they think girls have less dexterity? I posted in the other thread about "girl" Lego and the same thing applies, Lego is one of the most gender neutral activities I did as a kid with other kids. Lego needs to realize that there are plenty of themes out there that apply to girls and boys. Why don't they make more Kingdom sets with a cool girl knight or buy into a franchise that empowers girls, not relegate them to just building a house with a dish set and microwave?

[Brickdoctor]

The Belville issue that I have is scale, why do they make the Belville figures and house items bigger? Do they think girls have less dexterity?

I think it was to make Belville figures more 'doll-like' (aren't they called Belville dolls in some instances?)

[Aanchir]

In fact, while many of you are applauding this as a "good thing," it scares me to an extent... "We're looking for the right balance of creativity that appeals to girls and construction. We don't want to take the construction away altogether, but there are degrees of 'constructability',...

IOW, they are going to make "less" 'constructible' construction sets, just not take the 'construction away altogether."

That's not what LEGO is all about, IMO. I don't know what the best answer is, but taking away part of what the boys like in order to attract more girls is not a good solution. It doesn't sound like they are going to release a "girl" oriented theme, either, it seems that these would make their way into regular sets... that could explain "Aqua de Vida"'s terrible large panel with a sticker.

It seems to me that you're interpreting the LEGO rep's words entirely wrong. To quote the sentence right before the one you're discussing, "He said Lego's product designers were working hard to come up with female-oriented products, which will hit the shelves shortly". So yes, we are still talking about girl-oriented themes rather than mainstream themes. If girls became a more significantly larger and more reliable market for LEGO products, then LEGO might alter their mainstream products more significantly to cater to girls, but what the article describes is more that the girl-oriented theme will be adapted from their regular sets' designs and values to create something girls will appreciate more.

Likewise, you're misinterpreting the Aqua de Vida's waterfall (which includes no panels and no stickers). It's a plastic film piece just like LEGO's been using for years for wings and flags (see this category on Bricklink). It's designed this way so that minifigs can walk through the waterfall, so needless to say regular bricks of any sort would be impossible to use for this situation. Granted, it could be improved greatly: it has only three "flaps", so it doesn't seem to me that a minifigure walking through it would look very natural, and it's plain white on one side since it's printed on white rather than transparent plastic film. But its presence in the set has absolutely nothing to do with juniorization or the removal of "constructability" in mainstream sets.

-------

Also, people need to stop acting as if LEGO is duty-bound to dismantle gender stereotypes all by its lonesome. LEGO's tried releasing strong female characters in sets before-- there were many around the late 90s, including the white ninja princess from the Ninja theme, the character Gypsy Moth, leader of the Insectoids, and the female knight in Knights' Kingdom I. LEGO knows better than any of us whether that strategy works to bring in female fans: The fact that LEGO no longer includes as many strong female characters demonstrates that it doesn't. There are larger social influences at play here than the marketing of a single building toy: girls, like boys, develop their interests from the influences that surround them throughout childhood.

So it's silly to assume that girls would flock to LEGO's mainstream themes if there were more strong female characters they could identify with. Girls would still be inundated with outside influences-- some innocent, some remnants of male-dominated society-- and at that age they don't care where the influences originally come from. They'll instead just buy the dolls and other girl-targeted products that all their friends (and possibly their parents) expect them to enjoy. And much of the time, they will enjoy these products just as genuinely as we AFOLs enjoy LEGO. Once their interests are established, you can't tell them that those interest are "wrong", especially if you're a toy company: they'll just continue to ignore your products and follow their established tastes.

LEGO is trying to build appeal with the female demographic for one reason: because their job as a company is to create products people will buy. A company doesn't do that by ignoring what their audience actually likes and just producing what they think their audience should like.

Edited March 7, 2011 by Aanchir

[Peppermint_M]

We already have a massive discussion all about girls and Lego here.

Can we treat this thread as a new theme discussion like in the other sub forums have, which in time could be moved to the appropriate area.

Otherwise I will merge it with the other one and we can discuss the new theme in a fresh thread when more information is released.

Thank you.

Just an FYI: The only good Vampire is a Staked Vampire

[smittyfan]

Does anyone else remember the sets that came out in the Mid 90's that were sort of the same theme as Aladdin? They were Belville sets I believe and those weren't too bad. The Belville issue that I have is scale, why do they make the Belville figures and house items bigger? Do they think girls have less dexterity? I posted in the other thread about "girl" Lego and the same thing applies, Lego is one of the most gender neutral activities I did as a kid with other kids. Lego needs to realize that there are plenty of themes out there that apply to girls and boys. Why don't they make more Kingdom sets with a cool girl knight or buy into a franchise that empowers girls, not relegate them to just building a house with a dish set and microwave?

you must be meaning the Golden Palace series... 2003 actually so far it's the only Belville series i have every set from, (partially cuz there was only 3 main sets and like 1 small promo). i got the entire Golden Palace Collection and the Royal Crystal Palace for my 14th birthday... such an awesome birthday... (although i actually bought the Royal Crystal Palace.)

i do like the idea of a warrior princess though..

[Hewman]

I'm still 99,8% sure that the "terrible large panel with a sticker" is a cloth piece, which would make much more sense anyway. Also, the set in question is action-oriented and includes only male minifigs (as far as I remember), so I don't see this really relating to the topic in question. Probably they would start "de-constuctibilityfying" from the sets that have the highest perceived marketing value for girls, not some completely random sets.

Ceterum censeo, Zoo-theme would be epic. If there had been such a thing when I was a child, I would have cried and shouted on the floor of the toy shop until my parents had gotten me all those sets. :P

I'm pretty sure it's a plastic piece like that which is used on the snake in the Pharaoh's Quest set (if I could only locate the pic).

A zoo theme would be great, and not just for girls, plenty of boys (and some grown men) would like it too.

I'm glad Lego are at least aware of this issue.

Edited March 8, 2011 by hewman

[BrickBucket]

Sounds like their going to make girl exclusive sets ("female-oriented products"), I really hope instead of pandering to girls they simply return to making more gender neutral sets like back in the 80's Lego Town. It would probably be better for their bottom line as boys would buy them too. Stuff like the Lego city house, cottage and camper are what I hope will come back. Hope it's not Paradisa 2.

[MinifigFreak2010]

I don't own any Paradisa to date, but what I don't get is why is it a disliked set? I can't figure out why except the price seems a little steep.

[Peppermint_M]

Sounds like their going to make girl exclusive sets ("female-oriented products"), I really hope instead of pandering to girls they simply return to making more gender neutral sets like back in the 80's Lego Town. It would probably be better for their bottom line as boys would buy them too. Stuff like the Lego city house, cottage and camper are what I hope will come back. Hope it's not Paradisa 2.

"Exclusive"? I think oriented would be a better word to use here. Lego wan't to appeal to girls, so instead of an all boy focus group they brought in an all girl focus group. Town is still plenty gender nuetral. There are lady minifigures and there are men minifigures all performing a variety of down to earth tasks, like driving the bus and running the shop. Yes, the town/city sets have wide appeal and are about the only sets I see picked up by girls (other than creator) when I go to the Lego Store.

Everything else Lego does is aimed squarely at boys and therefore the parents of boys. Children may not have yet reached the point where gender flags bother them, but the adults with the cash do and no matter how free thinking they are, a set with a massive Ninja Dojo containing skeletons to knock over would never be bought for their daughter.

TLG are making a theme for girls that will appeal to girls and their parents, avoiding the issue of simple colour coding (lots of pink) by actually working to design a theme similar to what the boys play with but with a slight slant that makes it girl oriented.

Then, when the girls are buying this theme, they might want more bricks and buildings and traffic to populate their Lego adventure, so they will ask for more sets from other themes too. They will also likely find it fun and run out of theme (or affordable) theme and ask for something from the more "boyish" themes. TLG gets more paying customers in a demographic they hadn't had before.

This works. I mean, who can I bet, on this website alone, started buying Lego again for the "neat Star Wars sets". They may have had a gap of 30 years since they last bought Lego. Yet here is some Landspeeder, or a cheap set full of "cool little Lego men Stormtroopers" and once they got that and built it, they wanted to get some more. Maybe that AT-ST set. "Oh man! They have an X-Wing!". Soon there is a lot of Star Wars Lego about and they have enjoyed the building, but significant other has drawn the line on more big expensive ones. But hey! There are these cool cheap Police/Castle/Random Theme sets that would help make Civilians/More Jedi/Bounty Hunters. They'll buy that instead! Soon their tastes have widened and they have lots of sets, more on the list and they might even MOC all over themes and buy anything that has cool parts. Thus TLG has another customer with money to spend. I know of a few myself, their username history might reveal their previous Star Wars centric past...

Attracting girls to Lego provides them a whole new market. There are plenty of girls in the world and like any other toy company TLG wants to sell to them.

[BrickBucket]

All I'm saying is the current City theme is less gender neutral than before, it's full of police and fire, and construction. 30 years ago it had more mundane buildings and more things that appealed to girls as well as boys.

Like:

Holiday Home with Campervan ( I owned this one)

Riding Stable

Holiday Home

I'm guessing most people are not against the idea of Paradisa which was to create female-oriented Lego products. I think what most people complain about was the execution. The pastel colours were off-putting, especially the lime green and the sets had a staggering lack of construction to them. While they assumed girls weren't so much into construction, I think a lot of people think Paradisa went to far.

I personally wish to have more gender neutral sets in Lego City that appeal to girls as opposed to a having a separate theme (like Paradisa) as it brings Lego back to it's core of what it was 30 years ago. I have 3 little step sisters and a brother that play together. However I think nowadays that Lego is considered more boyish, Lego has to directly market a girl-theme to girls otherwise they wont buy it because they will be assuming it's a boy's toy.

Any of that make sense?

[BrickArtist]

My 74-Z speeder bike. (40-something, I think)

My BARC speeder-61 parts!

This is a great move-to be honest I though bellvile was a bit degrading.

[UsernameMDM]

Come on fairytale theme!