When LEGO abandoned open creativity for licensed franchise merchandising

Tom Goodwin immediately posted a pointed statement on X, questioning when LEGO modified from “bland modular blocks {that a} child might make something from” to “making particular issues with just one off items, and no creativity.”

“When did Lego change from bland modular blocks {that a} child might make something from, letting the creativeness go wild,” Goodwin wrote. “To creating particular issues with just one off items, and no creativity. Looks like an enormous step again.”

His commentary, which sparked a number of responses, captures a elementary stress in fashionable model technique that extends far past kids’s toys. Goodwin adopted up with a second submit contrasting two eras: “Lego .1995, construct something let your creativeness run free, there isn’t a restrict to prospects. 2025, make exactly and solely this, don’t deviate.”

The statement resonates as a result of it identifies a shift that advertising professionals acknowledge throughout client classes. Goodwin, who based enterprise transformation consultancy All We Have Is Now and authored “Digital Darwinism: Survival of the Fittest within the Age of Enterprise Disruption,” has amassed over 730,000 LinkedIn followers via evaluation of how business pressures reshape model positioning.

A number of respondents in Goodwin’s thread supplied competing views on the transformation. Ralph Grabowski famous that “with rectangular bricks, which I had as a child, I might construct ‘something’ however tended to rectangular issues, like homes, towers. With a 4,000-piece like this one, building takes every week or two and the accomplishment is extra satisfying.”

Matt Massive advised the shift mirrored grownup preferences quite than kids’s wants: “When these youngsters grew up. In addition to having the ability to make something, youngsters have been high quality with its inevitable destruction. Adults haven’t got the abdomen for it.”

Rhymer Rigby merely responded “Many years in the past, alas,” whereas Alex Brown famous “They’re usually costly units they usually promote effectively. Trendy enterprise in a nutshell.”

The LEGO Group’s official model documentation presents a unique narrative than Goodwin’s statement suggests. In response to supplies on the corporate’s web site, LEGO maintains six core model values: creativeness, creativity, enjoyable, studying, caring, and high quality.

The model framework explicitly states that “free play is how kids develop their creativeness—the muse for creativity” and emphasizes that “systematic creativity is a selected type of creativity that mixes logic and reasoning with playfulness and creativeness.”

LEGO’s said mission emphasizes that “we’re the masters of reinvention” and that “LEGO play affords the prospect of fixed discovery—the opportunity of creating one thing new each time.” The corporate describes its product as “solely ever one half of the toy. The opposite half is the kid.”

The LEGO Group timeline reveals that the corporate was based in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen in Billund, Denmark. Kristiansen made his first picket toy in 1932 and persevered till his enterprise succeeded. The title LEGO derives from combining two Danish phrases “leg godt,” that means “play effectively.”

In response to historical documentation, LEGO began with picket toys together with vehicles, airplanes, and yoyos. In 1949, the corporate moved past wooden, launching Computerized Binding Bricks made from plastic. The normal LEGO bricks have been launched in 1958, that includes an interlocking design with studs on high and tubes on the underside.

The LEGO Historical past Timeline reveals that in 1960, a fireplace destroyed the picket toy warehouse. Following this occasion, LEGO discontinued picket toys and targeted solely on plastic programs. In 1963, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, who had taken over administration from his father, established 10 LEGO traits to information product growth.

These 10 traits embrace: limitless play prospects, for women and boys, enthusiasm for all ages, year-round play, stimulating and harmonious play, countless hours of play, creativeness/creativity/growth, multiplied play worth with extra LEGO, all the time topical, and security and high quality.

An inside survey in 1965 revealed that LEGO customers have been extra prone to be youthful kids and boys. To deal with this limitation, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen determined to emphasise “play mixed with the inventive and constructive,” launching City, House, and Fortress-themed merchandise, the LEGOLAND line, and LEGO Minifigures.

The LEGO Group is owned by KIRKBI A/S, which holds 75% possession, with the LEGO Basis controlling the remaining 25%. The corporate maintains non-public possession by the Kirk Kristiansen household. KIRKBI A/S is headquartered in Billund, Denmark, with extra workplaces in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Baar, Switzerland.

The LEGO Basis is a company basis that shares LEGO’s mission to “encourage and develop the builders of tomorrow.” The muse’s work focuses on redefining play and reimagining studying by altering how individuals perceive the significance of play in equipping kids with important twenty first century expertise.

A marketing case study reveals that LEGO has been named “Toy of the Century” twice and have become one of many world’s largest toy producers. In 2024, LEGO was essentially the most useful toy model on the planet with a model worth approaching eight billion U.S. {dollars}.

The corporate’s market share and income elevated in the course of the first half of 2024, considerably outperforming the broader toy trade. A part of this progress was attributed to LEGO’s partnerships and expanded product traces throughout a number of classes.

LEGO’s transformation towards licensed mental property represents one facet of this business success. The corporate has developed strategic partnerships with leisure franchises together with Star Wars, Tremendous Mario, Marvel, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Disney, and others. These themed units enchantment to each kids searching for character recognition and adults pursuing nostalgic connections.

The shift towards particular units quite than generic constructing blocks addresses distinct market dynamics. Themed units present clear worth propositions at retail. Licensed merchandise provide speedy recognition on crowded retailer cabinets. Franchise collaborations faucet into current fan bases developed by leisure firms.

LEGO shops play a strategic function in model positioning. In response to firm supplies, these retail areas provide interactive procuring experiences with free play areas, life-size fashions, particular occasions, and unique product launches. Decide a Brick partitions enable buy of particular person bricks. Some shops characteristic Minifigure Factories the place clients design personalized figures.

The strategic placement of shops in high-traffic areas together with New York’s Fifth Avenue, London’s Leicester Sq., and California’s Downtown Disney District expands model attain past conventional toy patrons. These areas entice vacationers and customers outdoors LEGO’s typical viewers.

LEGO Concepts, launched in 2014, permits followers to submit their very own designs which may probably grow to be official merchandise. Followers share distinctive creations on social media, with LEGO that includes fan-made content material on official channels. This neighborhood focus emphasizes creativity and user-generated contributions to the model.

The corporate has additionally maintained sustainability commitments. In response to official documentation, LEGO goals to make merchandise from extra sustainable supplies by 2032, swap to recyclable packaging, and scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions to web zero by 2050. The primary LEGO parts produced from sustainable supplies entered product lineups in 2018.

Goodwin’s statement in regards to the stress between business success and artistic philosophy extends past LEGO to broader marketing trends. Analysis for 2026 reveals manufacturers more and more optimize for AI brokers and algorithmic discovery quite than human creativity and exploration.

Retail media networks exhibit related patterns, with sponsored product protection growing 7% year-over-year as retailers shift from static placements towards dynamic, algorithm-driven positioning. This mirrors the evolution Goodwin identifies in LEGO’s product technique.

Brand marketing research reveals that favorability drives long-term gross sales affect as much as six occasions better than short-term techniques. But consumer behavior patterns reveal customers plan to spend $890.49 per individual on vacation objects in 2025, with 63% ready till Thanksgiving weekend for promotional occasions. This conduct rewards recognizable merchandise over experimental choices.

The disconnect between LEGO’s said model values and its product evolution represents a broader problem in marketing measurement. Analysis reveals 86% of entrepreneurs can not decide channel affect regardless of unprecedented knowledge entry, suggesting that business choices typically override model positioning rules.

Goodwin characterised his statement as potential e-book materials in a follow-up remark: “I might write a e-book on this.” The assertion resonates as a result of LEGO’s transformation encapsulates elementary questions on how manufacturers stability business necessity in opposition to founding rules.

When Goodwin asks when LEGO modified, he identifies a stress that extends throughout client classes. Manufacturers keep aspirational positioning emphasizing creativity and risk whereas operational choices comply with market logic prioritizing recognition and certainty.

For advertising professionals, LEGO’s evolution demonstrates how exterior forces form model technique greater than inside values. Distribution channels, retail companions, and buy conduct patterns create pressures that push manufacturers towards specificity no matter inventive commitments said in model frameworks.

The query going through entrepreneurs includes whether or not this trajectory represents inevitable maturation or avoidable compromise. Can manufacturers keep experimental creativity at business scale, or does progress inherently require the prescriptive specificity Goodwin observes in fashionable LEGO merchandise?

Present retail targeting approaches emphasize 16 distinct segmentation strategies to remodel first-party knowledge into measurable efficiency. This precision-focused technique mirrors LEGO’s shift from “construct something” to “construct this particular set.”

The parallel between LEGO’s transformation and digital promoting tendencies proves instructive. Each transitions sacrifice exploration for conversion effectivity. Each prioritize algorithmic optimization over human creativity. Each exhibit how business scale impacts inventive merchandise.

Goodwin’s critique resonates as a result of it names what business success narratives usually ignore. LEGO achieved market dominance whereas transferring away from the open-ended creativity that initially outlined its model promise. That achievement deserves recognition whereas the philosophical compromise deserves acknowledgment.

The toy trade’s evolution mirrors consumer spending patterns the place households exhibit selective conduct quite than impulsive purchases. September retail spending declined 0.49% month-over-month regardless of robust 5.72% year-over-year progress, reflecting strategic client conduct that rewards clear worth propositions.

Advertising professionals navigating related tensions between aspiration and conversion acknowledge the sample Goodwin identifies. Model positioning emphasizes creativity, innovation, and risk. Gross sales optimization requires specificity, recognition, and certainty. The hole between these positions defines fashionable advertising complexity.

A number of respondents in Goodwin’s thread famous that inventive constructing hasn’t disappeared totally. Nola Simon talked about “there are web sites sharing instructions the best way to use normal kits to construct different wonderful issues” utilizing official LEGO units for various builds. This means that maker tradition continues via neighborhood channels at the same time as official merchandise emphasize licensed themes.

The democratization of constructing directions via digital platforms gives a counterpoint to LEGO’s company technique. Whereas official merchandise characteristic licensed IP and particular builds, community-generated content material maintains experimental constructing that characterised earlier eras.

LEGO’s grownup collector market represents one other dimension of this transformation. Grownup followers of LEGO, often called AFOLs in neighborhood terminology, buy complicated units for show quite than open-ended play. Structure and botanical collections designed for grownup patrons exhibit LEGO’s deliberate cultivation of collector segments that prioritize completion over creativity.

The strategic query includes whether or not LEGO’s said model values round creativeness and creativity stay genuine when product growth prioritizes licensed copy. Advertising supplies keep aspirational positioning whereas SKU-level choices comply with business logic.

Goodwin’s statement gives a framework for evaluating this stress. He identifies what was misplaced with out dismissing what was gained. LEGO achieved unprecedented business success whereas constraining the inventive freedom its model framework claims to champion. Each statements stay correct concurrently.

For promoting professionals, the implication suggests model values and business technique typically diverge at scale. Corporations keep aspiration in positioning whereas operations comply with market necessities. This hole would not essentially characterize hypocrisy however quite recognition that survival requires adaptation to distribution realities.

The toy trade faces similar pressures towards technological integration, with Mattel partnering with OpenAI to develop AI-powered merchandise. These developments exhibit how conventional toy firms search partnerships to modernize choices and keep relevance with evolving client expectations.

Goodwin’s December 30, 2025 submit captures a second when business success and artistic philosophy diverge visibly. His statement that LEGO moved from “construct something” in 1995 to “make exactly and solely this” in 2025 identifies a change that advertising professionals acknowledge throughout classes.

Whether or not this shift represents inevitable enterprise evolution or avoidable model compromise stays debatable. What proves clear is that LEGO achieved market management by embracing constraints quite than resisting them, demonstrating how retail economics finally form product technique no matter said model values.

Timeline

• 1932: Ole Kirk Kristiansen based LEGO in Billund, Denmark, making picket toys
• 1949: LEGO moved past wooden, launching Computerized Binding Bricks made from plastic
• 1958: Conventional LEGO bricks launched with interlocking design that includes tubes for constructing prospects
• 1960: Wood toy warehouse burned down; firm discontinued picket toys, targeted on plastic programs
• 1963: Godtfred Kirk Christiansen established 10 LEGO traits to information product growth
• 1965: Inner survey revealed LEGO customers have been primarily youthful kids and boys
• 1995: Interval Tom Goodwin recognized as representing limitless inventive freedom with generic constructing blocks
• 2014: LEGO Concepts launched, permitting followers to submit designs for potential business manufacturing
• 2018: First LEGO parts produced from sustainable supplies entered product lineups
• 2024: LEGO achieved most valuable toy brand standing at practically eight billion {dollars} model worth
• December 30, 2025: Tom Goodwin posted analysis questioning LEGO’s transformation from creativity to licensed IP specificity

Abstract

Who: Tom Goodwin, advertising advisor, creator, and founding father of All We Have Is Now consultancy, together with LEGO Group, which is owned by KIRKBI A/S (75%) and LEGO Basis (25%), with the Kirk Kristiansen household sustaining management since founding the corporate in 1932.

What: Goodwin questioned LEGO’s elementary transformation from summary constructing blocks encouraging limitless creativity to licensed mental property units with specialised items requiring particular meeting. His December 30, 2025 social media submit contrasted 1995’s open-ended constructing philosophy with 2025’s prescriptive, franchise-focused product technique, producing debate about business pressures versus inventive model values.

When: Goodwin posted his evaluation on December 30, 2025, framing the comparability between 1995’s inventive freedom and 2025’s specificity. The transformation he identifies occurred step by step throughout many years, with LEGO’s historical past exhibiting thematic merchandise launched as early as 1965 and accelerating via subsequent partnerships with leisure franchises.

The place: The statement applies to LEGO’s international operations from headquarters in Billund, Denmark, via retail distribution channels together with LEGO-branded shops in high-traffic areas like New York’s Fifth Avenue and London’s Leicester Sq., the place retail media more and more emphasizes algorithm-driven product positioning.

Why: Goodwin’s critique identifies stress between LEGO’s said model values emphasizing creativeness, creativity, and limitless prospects versus product methods prioritizing licensed IP, particular builds, and recognizable franchise themes. This disconnect displays broader marketing challenges the place business success requires specificity and recognition whereas model positioning maintains aspirational creativity messaging, demonstrating how retail economics and distribution pressures form technique no matter founding rules.