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GENERATIONS OF CHILDREN worldwide have grown up loving Lego and the popularity of tablets and video games will not change that, the company’s chief executive has claimed.
Joergen Vig Knudstorp said he believed that the plastic, multi-coloured bricks — whose name is an abbreviation of the Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well” — would be around for “centuries”.
The company hit trouble a decade ago but is now the world’s biggest maker of toys by sales, more than quadrupling its revenues in 10 years.
Far from threatening Lego’s popularity, Knudstorp said the digital era offered great opportunities for the company to build its customer base even further.
“We are one of the most popular video games, we also have reached more and more customers on social media — Lego fans are gathering like never before,” he said.
In the past, children watched TV and then played with Lego. Now they play on tablets and play with Lego.
“The reason why they do it is that many children, and adults as well, want a real, physical experience. Even though we like to watch football or play it on a PlayStation, it’s still not the same as running on the field kicking the ball.”
He was speaking as Lego, whose headquarters are in Billund, Denmark, opened a fifth ‘main office’ in London last week as the company seeks global growth.
One key target is Asia. As well as offices in Shanghai and Singapore, the company started building a new factory in China’s Jianxing, south of Shanghai, earlier this year to build Lego products for sale in Asia.
‘Please don’t die’
Such an international presence is a far cry from the company’s origins.
The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, the grandfather of the current owner, in a small workshop in Billund, and took the name Lego two years later.
It started out making products like wooden ducks, while the iconic plastic brick in its present form dates back to 1958.
Lego became a major international brand from the 1960s and Legoland in Billund, now one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions, was opened in 1968.
But the group hit trouble in 2004, announcing major losses. Knudstrop was appointed that year and recalls receiving “letters from customers saying ‘please don’t die’”.
He said that, at that stage, the company had “spread ourselves over too many areas” and was poorly run.
To turn the business around, he focused on cutting manufacturing costs, releasing the right products in tighter timeframes and “reigniting the product innovation, really working with children to make products they find more appealing”.
Now the focus is on international expansion, hence the opening of the London office.
For Knudstrop, despite the changes which he has brought and those in the digital world, the Lego brick is at the centre of what the company is about — and will remain so for years to come.
“I think the brick will stay with us for centuries because it is fundamental like football or reading a great book, telling stories,” he said.
“It’s something that will be around forever.”
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Let’s blame Airbnb for a housing shortage that FG are unwilling and incapable of solving. Reduce capital gain tax and incentivise new developments through tax. Stop the building height restrictions. Half of north Dublin City is in ruin with empty houses all over it.
A few weeks ago he said he wasn’t going regulate it, I think this guy is making it up as he goes along.
Kirk he’s trying to be popular FG leadership coming up ok
A lot of people that rent out rooms etc on Airbnb, do so out of necessity. It provides an income supplement that many people needed during the height of the recession because of the austerity imposed by the government. Of course some people are going to make a fortune out of it, and more luck to them. In my opinion though, regulating Airbnb will only serve as a tax collecting tool, not something that will actually fix the housing crisis. I think their first port of call should be to reduce the tax on rental income that landlords have to pay. This would encourage more people to invest in property, as it would mean the property would pay for itself when rented out!
@pheilum. A lot of people also rent out entire properties on a full-time basis via airbnb. I agree that it won’t fix the housing crisis, but I strongly believe that those renting out full time should be regulated. They should have to apply for planning permission for change of use. After all, the premises is no longer a home. They should pay taxes and they should have to ensure that they meet health and safety standards. A person occasionally renting out a spare room entirely different.
Well if you agree that it won’t fix the housing crisis what is the problem? Btw who said they don’t pay taxes?
Coveney be better off regulating hotel prices in city’s over weekends ?
Only if he wants hotels to go out of business. Hotel prices are the sort of thing that don’t need regulation. If they’re too high, the rooms remain empty. If they’re too low, the hotel runs at a loss. Encouraging the building of more hotels – or the use of houses and apartments as short-term lets – would drive hotel prices down.
Convey, ask Europe what to do. If it suits FG, go for it , If not , ignore em. Ain’t that the FG way ?
Willy FG are a facist party
Regulate, regulate, regulate.
Keep regulating so that any competition to the status quo is abolished.
Keep regulating so that home owners can’t generate a small side income without being hammered with taxes.
Keep regulating so that there is no more innovation.
Keep regulating so that costs to employers are driver up thereby squeezing wages.
Keep regulating, Keep regulating, Keep regulating FFS.
Why isn’t there anyone standing up for property rights? Why is it the individual property owners responsibility to solve the housing crisis caused by government? The little guy paying the bills yet again
I don’t do ab&b but surely it’s a property owner’s responsibility to do what they want with he property they pay for?
Airbnb is responsible for bringing in tourists who spend a lot of €€€€€€€€, thread carefully.
Nanny state strikes again….
The more he interferes with the rental market the more flee from it ..including his beloved large professional landlord firms
The headline makes it sound like he’s looking for a brown envelope. “Satisfactory arrangement”, I wonder what that could mean?
When they say It’s not right, what they really mean is it exposes the government’s failure to adequately implement any real policy to address housing shortages. It has nothing to do with being right and everything to with making the government look incompetent and its housing policy look non-existent.
Airbnb overall increases the supply of accommodation. It has the potential to take an under-utilised resource… a house or apartment which is vacant part of the time or a place someone does not want to let long term and makes it available on the market.
Governments around the world are going to have to get used to a sharing economy and too technology easily, cheaply and efficiently connecting individuals with something to share with someone else that has need.
Why doesn’t he keep his fat nose out of our business?
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