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Creativity Marketing

The need for creative problem-solving has never been greater, says Lego marketing lead

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By Charlotte McEleny, Asia Editor

October 19, 2020 | 5 min read

Lego is on a global mission to promote creative problem-solving in children. But localising that message has been necessary to make sure it lands with relevance across markets.

Lego

The need for creative problem-solving skills has never been greater, says Lego marketing lead

The toy brand has rolled out ‘Rebuild the World’ over the course of 2020 after a formal launch last year, a global call to action to inspire children to use their imagination to build a better world for tomorrow. The Drum spoke to Rohan Mathur, marketing director, South East Asia, The Lego Group, about how the company has implemented this in Singapore.

The background of the campaign is based on helping create the workforce of the future, who will need creative problem-solving skills to compete in a more automated world.

Mathur explains: “The need for creative problem-solving skills has never been greater, and this is something Lego is looking to contribute. The World Economic Forum identified creative problem solving as one of the top skills children will need in a future job market that will be turned on its head by automation and digitisation. To address this, we are launching the ‘Rebuild the World‘ campaign that aims to celebrate children’s creativity and the power play has to help children develop the skills needed to succeed in tomorrow’s world.

‘Rebuild the World‘ is all about seeing where imagination takes us and celebrating the natural creativity of children. The Lego System in Play has long been the ultimate platform for creative expression and creative problem-solving. Children don’t just imagine what to build – they can build and rebuild. Experiment. Fail. Break the rules. Fail and try again – this is the cycle of human creativity and the essence of Lego,” he adds.

The brand conducted research with parents and found that 94% believe that play helps develop creative skills, with resilience viewed as one of the most important skills for future success.

In order to localise this, in Singapore, Lego focused on generosity as a theme to connect local children to the global campaign.

“While localising the campaign for Singapore, we saw the synergy between the campaign and our ‘Build To Give‘ initiative. The latter encourages generosity among our children and passes on the joy of play to other children in need, thus bringing them into this world of infinite creative possibilities. This is also a great segue into the upcoming holiday season,” he says. “What’s so powerful about the ‘Build To Give‘ initiative is that it simplifies the act of giving into something fun and simple that parents and children can do together to make a difference through play.”

According to Mathur, this localisation is able to happen because of organisational flexibility.

“From an organisational standpoint, we have the ability and flexibility to localise campaigns in a way that is culturally relevant and impactful while still speaking truths that are universally appreciated and speak to people wherever they are. This is how we can make the interesting balance – both locally interesting but globally truthful. It also proves the point that with Lego products, you can build anything,” he says.

The optimistic tone of the campaign is well-timed in a year that has challenged most. However, Mathur says that it isn’t meant to be a reflection on world events.

‘Rebuild the World‘ is not intended to be a reflection on current world events, but rather to celebrate the unparalleled creativity and resilience of children – how kids build, unbuild and rebuild the limitless world of their imaginations,” he says.

Creativity Marketing

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Lego is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship...

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