• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense, and gold

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense, and gold
RetailLego

How Lego Thinks of Making Construction Play Digital

By
John Kell
John Kell
Contributing Writer and author of CIO Intelligence
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Kell
John Kell
Contributing Writer and author of CIO Intelligence
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 17, 2016, 8:00 AM ET
GERMANY-TOYS-LEGO
Lego figurines, including one in a wheelchair are pictured at the Lego booth on January 28, 2016 in Nuernberg during the 67th International Toy Fair. / AFP / dpa / Daniel Karmann / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read DANIEL KARMANN/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Daniel Karmann — AFP/Getty Images

Lego has maintained over a decade of successful sales growth in the United States market by focusing on a key category of the toy aisle that it dominates: construction sets.

Most of the success can be attributed to a mix of licensed gear from hot properties like Star Wars, The Avengers and Batman, as well as internally developed lines like the female-focused Lego Friends and the Lego City themes. Ahead of New York’s toy fair, the company reported U.S. sales jumped 11% in 2015, the 11th consecutive year of growth in the market as it also gained share in the toy aisle.

But there’s another opportunity to boost the brand’s well established equity with parents and kids. Lego sees a future in digital too.

“You can’t create an attractive property for children without playing in the digital space,” Soren Torp Laursen, president of LEGO Systems, told Fortune at Lego’s booth at the toy industry’s most important display event to media and retail clients. “So pretty much everything we do has a digital connotation to it.”

A big initiative in this digital category is Lego’s new internally developed Nexo Knights line, which is a theme focused on a medieval kingdom set in a futuristic world. The digital connection is the ability to scan knight shields from the physical toy sets using a mobile device and being able to “download” the powers assigned to those shields and use them in Lego app game.

Lego first began to stock Nexo Knights sets at the beginning of the year and it will be a big focus for the Danish toy company. The app debuted late last year and is already available for download via several platforms, including Apple’s App Store and Samsung Apps.

Lego addresses gender

Heading into this year’s New York City Toy Fair, the company says it is also hearing positive feedback via social channels for some new “minifigures” that signal a more inclusive view of the world today. Within the Lego City line, the toy maker has constructed a kid in a wheelchair with a guide dog for the first time ever. A stay-at-home dad (while his Lego wife minifigure is depicted in a work outfit) is also a first. Those figures “mirror the world we live in today,” Lego says. That’s true: as Pew Research Center data indicates, there are a rising number of stay-at-home dads today.

“We need to stay in tune with the world around us,” Laursen says. “We aren’t responding to demand from anyone. We are trying to portray the world around us and listen to our consumer base.”

Lego has a lot of opportunity to play with diversity in the line of minifigures that it sells. Those figures don’t come with as much social baggage as say, a Barbie doll, which is also going through some major physical changes. Lego’s minifigures, which have been on the market for 38 years now, have been viewed as a more neutral character that features a lot of customization options.

There has been some criticism in the past in regards to how Lego has tackled gender. A few years ago when it debuted the Lego Friends line, some were critical of the use of pink and purple blocks, as well as sets that featured themes that some thought were too stereotypical for girls (play sets featuring hair salons and pop star stages). Some sets this year prompted more physical themes, including camping and archery.

Lego, however, has said that before it began to court girls more aggressively with themes like Lego Friends, it sold very few sets to girls. The success of those themes has led more gender-neutral sets to be sold to girls, giving the toy maker a greater balance in terms of sales between the genders. Social media has elevated the risks and rewards of those social conversations.

To Lego, changes in how the brand evolves are part of being a responsible corporate citizen. Consumers are demanding more, and the toy company says it is fine with that.

“We are all part of the same world and we need to portray that to the best of our abilities,” Laursen said.

About the Author
By John KellContributing Writer and author of CIO Intelligence

John Kell is a contributing writer for Fortune and author of Fortune’s CIO Intelligence newsletter.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Retail

A Pizza Hut workers prepares an order for delivery.
LawFood and drink
Pizza Hut franchisee claims $100 million losses from ‘cascading operational breakdowns’ in AI adoption gone wrong
By Sasha RogelbergMay 19, 2026
9 hours ago
Photo of Donald Trump (left) with Mark Cuban
PoliticsDonald Trump
Trump and Mark Cuban end war of words to tag-team America’s drug pricing crisis: ‘Democrats want cheaper medications, too’
By Catherina GioinoMay 19, 2026
10 hours ago
‘This is what the consumer wants’: A new lawsuit about PFAS and other ‘forever chemicals’ is heating up the cookware industry
Big TechLawsuit
‘This is what the consumer wants’: A new lawsuit about PFAS and other ‘forever chemicals’ is heating up the cookware industry
By Catherina GioinoMay 19, 2026
14 hours ago
andic
LawBillionaires
Spanish police arrest son of retail billionaire who fell off a cliff and died. He was the only witness
By The Associated PressMay 19, 2026
17 hours ago
How Coach became Gen Z’s favorite affordable luxury handbag brand
RetailFortune 500
How Coach became Gen Z’s favorite affordable luxury handbag brand
By Phil WahbaMay 19, 2026
22 hours ago
delivery
Retailecommerce
Walmart’s upper hand over Amazon in the $1 trillion e-commerce race: 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a superstore
By Anne D'Innocenzio and The Associated PressMay 16, 2026
4 days ago

Most Popular

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
8 hours ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
7 days ago
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense, and gold
Economy
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense, and gold
By Eva RoytburgMay 18, 2026
1 day ago
Employers are quietly pausing 401(k) matches again. The last time this happened was the 2008 recession and Covid
Personal Finance
Employers are quietly pausing 401(k) matches again. The last time this happened was the 2008 recession and Covid
By Courtney Vinopal and HR BrewMay 18, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
16 hours ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, May 18, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, May 18, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 18, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.