2022 Winners & Shortlists

Why is this work relevant for Media?

This campaign is an example of a brand unafraid of using a media campaign to address a perception problem it's faced throughout its existence in MENA. LEGO leveraged its challenge of being a difficult toy to build and showcase the values it brings to teaching children the essential skills it takes to succeed in the world today. Effective content tied to intelligent media and contextual timing during Ramadan has certainly driven sales, but from a societal standpoint, the brand is now in a position where it has established how LEGO play teaches values crucial to succeed in the world today.

Background

The Covid pandemic forced families into spending more time at home which resulted in an increased demand for indoor entertainment and toys. When planning for 2021, expected a decline in sales growth dynamic vs. 2020, mainly due to vaccine adoption and people returning to out-of-home activities. Nevertheless, we challenged ourselves with an ambitious goal of growing consumer sales volume on core product lines by +100% vs. the same period of 2020. We believed running our campaign during the Ramadan/Eid gift-giving season was timely to spread our message on the values that kids can learn from LEGO play. From a product perspective, the main challenge was that the LEGO brand was not top of mind as a gift item during the occasion, especially to low-affinity parents. For most of them, LEGO sets are expensive and perceived to be just toys like any other without educational value. We needed

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

The LEGO Brand is an iconic brand that stands for inspiring creativity. Yes – for some. But majority of shoppers are not entirely aware of the significant value in the LEGO play. Many believe that LEGO is a difficult toy to build or requires technical skills, not realizing the value that LEGO play brings in enriching children’s real-world skillset. LEGO takes time and effort to build because it provides skills required to succeed today. The process of LEGO play teaches children a variety of things, among which are Ramadan values. Ramadan was a perfect time and context to introduce skills that LEGO play helps teach kids, such as: 1. Patience – learning to achieve the build they have in mind despite many failures 2. Respect – respecting the men and women of service portrayed in LEGO sets, for example – police, firemen, etc. 3. Kindness – through offering others

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our primary target audience were gift-givers – parents, but also grand-parents, aunts, other family members/friends, aged 24-65, female and male. Many of them don’t understand the benefits of LEGO play or they do not see a difference between the LEGO brand and other construction bricks. They usually purchase gifts such as vehicles, princesses, dolls, or video games and buy gifts for many children during the holy season, therefore are highly price sensitive. Our #BuildingGoodness campaign showcased that through LEGO children don’t just build structures – they build values that shape their character. The campaign was designed across gift givers’ path-to-purchase. From the moment shoppers start brainstorming children’s gifts (phase 1), to when they review parenting websites, expert opinions, and what’s trending with influencers (phase 2), to when they select their place of purchase, online or brick & mortar, and visit the store to close the transaction (phase 3).

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

During Ramadan 2021, we introduced parents to #BuildingGoodness through play using three episodes, each dedicated to a different set of values. The first episode was a story of kindness and acceptance. The second one highlighted respect, and the third – patience and determination. On social we ran “Tap to Build” stories and “Goodness Generator” on Instagram and Snapchat, where users could generate the value that they pledged to build on during the month of Ramadan, with “Swipe to shop” options with links to LEGO e-commerce partners. Educational videos ran on TV, Shahid and YouTube. To target non-Arabic groups, we placed paid editorial in the Gulf News. For consideration, we leveraged influencers and hosted online workshops with parents and panelists on teaching children Ramadan values through LEGO. This was backed bya radio interview with Hellen Farmer on DubaiEye. For isle disruption in-store we incorporated engaging formats with messaging on LEGO values.

List the results (30% of vote)

1. Brand Love: Saw brand desire increased by 14Pts during the campaign period. Video Views: 3.6 Million Views, Reach: 60% 2. Social Engagement: 154% increase in brand engagement (V/s Ramadan 21). VTR: 28.3% & CTR : 0.87% with 67% increases of earned media (Shares, likes) 3. Sales Uplift: Sales saw an uplift of 217% during the campaign period (v/s Last Ramadan)