Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Starting from a carpenter’s workshop found in a village in Denmark to one of the most famous toy brand in the world. The LEGO has developed different strategies to remain its dominant position in the toy market, also continuing to grow and expand its business around the globe. In 2014, All LEGO Group market regions experienced double digit sales growth while the traditional toy market in most countries grew by low single digit rates.The LEGO group’s long-term vision and ambition on the global market should claim credit for this unprecedented success.

According to the LEGO group’s Chief Financial Executive – John Goodwin, “We estimate that more than 85 million children across the world had a LEGO play experience during 2014. This has only been possible through an ongoing focus on building our capabilities globally during 2014 from manufacturing to sales, as well as developing great products that appeal to children across cultures and geographies.”

To achieve these goals, the LEGO group has been doing a lot to increase its international influence, either directly or indirectly. When the retail sales of LEGO constantly growing in the north america and Europe market, the name of LEGO started to be recognized around the globe. A benchmarking study revealed LEGO’s global name recognition was on par with industry giants like Disney, the team started churning out new products and ideas to leverage the brand’s untapped value. A line of LEGO-branded children’s wear was created and a division of the LEGO Group was charged with pitching book, movie, and TV ideas. LEGO building sets became increasingly complex with more unique components. Especially the office box success of "The LEGO movie", the reputation, brand image and company values are spread all over the world. To continuously expand its global market, the LEGO group established two main office in Shanghai and London in order to manage and develop overseas market; sales offices in Brazil, Turkey and Malaysia have been added to the long list of local presence for the LEGO Group. They are also strategically building supply chain in Asia to fulfill the local supply needs. The LEGO plant in Jiaxing, China began construction in 2014 and is expected to be fully operational in 2017. The manufacturing facilities will be solely supply the Asian market.

The objectives of the company in the future will focus on its core market of Europe and North America, also building global presence in the industry.