Iconic toy brand Lego’s global campaign for the holidays this year continues its superhero theme to promote the “Play Is Your Superpower” platform as the company encourages prioritizing play in children’s lives.
The 30-second film is the latest in a three-part campaign; the six children from the first ad join forces with a neighborhood of kids and adults for a snowball fight of epic proportions.
It aims to highlight the skills that children can learn through play to take them forward in their lives, including building creativity, confidence and problem-solving abilities while forging friendships through adventure.
The campaign was produced in partnership with Our Lego Agency (OLA), the 400-person strong in-house creative agency, alongside Droga5 Dublin.
“What’s different about this year is that … we made this part of a bigger story. So we established the characters, and they really come out to play at this time of year, and that is manifested through a snowball fight,” Nic Taylor, svp and head of OLA, explained to Adweek.
“Lego is a really good way of fulfilling that play experience because of its versatility, and there’s so much imagination involved in Lego as opposed to a very defined toy—you can turn it into all sorts of things. So it just made sense for us, as a product experience as well, to have this narrative and do it in a celebratory way at the holiday time of year,” she continued.
Alongside the hero film, the brand will release six 15-second films, each focused on different play sets, highlighting that through imagination the toys can become part of the real world across themes from animals and space to gaming and socializing.
“When we first met our Superkids, they had a big job to do … to show the whole world that play is a superpower. Now they just get to let loose in a full-on, snowball-covered celebration of supercharged Lego play,” said Jen Speirs, chief creative officer of Droga5 Dublin.
“In a series of epic, action-packed films, they’re here to show us that Lego is the ultimate gift to choose this holiday season because it brings people of all ages together, sparks creativity, fuels passions—and brings a whole new level of fun and surprise.”
Although Taylor has yet to receive the performance report from the first campaign entry, which included a 5-minute origin story for the children, they found many viewers were completing viewing the film, which she took as “a good indicator of entertainment and engagement.”
Tying into the recently launched loyalty platform Lego Insiders, this new ad will continue to build on the campaign however the original’s “playable” elements, including Easter eggs for fans to discover, crack the clues and play along on Lego.com, are not included this time.
The ad also references various franchise toy set partnerships that Lego has in place including Lego Ninjago, Star Wars, Disney, Technic and DreamZzz. Partners can add an extra layer of complexity to producing a campaign, but Taylor said Lego’s “good processes” for working with partners means they can be collaborative while adding value to the brand’s own storytelling.
Other elements of the campaign will run across TV, digital, out-of-home, cinema, PR, influencer, social and ecommerce during the holiday season. There will also be digital retail and shopper activations, with plans to bring the hero film to life for consumers within its flagship New York and London stores later in November.
When it comes to measuring the campaign’s success, engagement will be key, especially whether it helps Lego reach more kids.
Taylor explained that growing the brand’s metrics is a current internal focus, with a keen eye to whether the work emphasizes the difference of Lego and its various dimensions.
“We’re pretty good on all measures, but we’re sometimes a little more focused on driving a narrative that creates a difference in terms of who we are,” she continued.
Taylor also said that the agency was being cautious around the adoption of generative AI internally, and that the technology had not been utilized in the creation of the latest campaign.
Credits:
Our Lego Agency
SVP and head of agency: Nicole Taylor
Global creative lead: Guy Bingham
Global design leads: Anas Sarraj & Claus Kristensen
Global brand communication cead: Dan Worrell
Sr. global communication partners: Simran Khaira
Production assistant: Joshua Rocker
Global brand strategist: Rebecca Price
Global communication strategist: Richard Yardley
Senior social strategist: Natalie Williams
Senior global project manager: Kenneth Sanchez
Head of production: Uffe Bryld
Senior lead producer: Elaine Lee
Brand global marketing development team: Alero Akuya, Kristofer Crockett, Jasmin Brennan
External Partners
Creative agency: Droga5 Dublin, part of Accenture Song
Managing director: Jimi McGrath
Chief creative officer: Jen Speirs
Head of production: Jessica Bermingham
Creative: Ste Rogers, Ed Redgrave, Antony Ortuso & Lucas Oliveira
Client group: Sam MacDonnell, Caitriona Coakley, Lisa Haran
Production: David Lynch, Karina Cotter, Aisling O’Dwyer & Siobhan Coakley
Production company: The Corner Shop
Director: Ellen Kuras
Director of Photography: Rachel Morrison
Executive producer: Tess Mitchell
Service production company: Unit & Sofa
Casting U.K.: Kharmel Cochrane Casting
Casting Canada: Ground Class Casting & Mann Casting
Editorial company: Union Editorial
Post production: Gabha Studios
Computer graphics: GABHA & Rohtau
Audio post production: String and Tins
