The first homework I studied at the University of Hong Kong was to study the history of Lego. This giant toy company has gone through ups and downs for more than 80 years, and its leaders have changed for several generations, but it is still very vital; I always felt that Lego's success is natural, but after these few days of research, I am in awe of this company. How to see a person's bottom line clearly depends on how he faces desperate situations, and the same is true for enterprises.

Lego's core value proposition is - "Let children create unlimited possibilities through the assembly system of building blocks." Three basic modules with eight points of the same color can have 915,103,765 This combination allows children to build anything they imagine and gain a sense of creative pride from the fun of building. I visited many families with children who played with Lego. One 8-year-old boy impressed me deeply. He bought all kinds of toys at home, but only Lego could keep the children from getting tired of playing with them. There was even a special one at home. The “Lego display cabinet” lists various finished Lego products that the children have built by themselves. Each piece has its own name. “Every time the children bring their friends to the house, they will take them to look at the display cabinet first and show off. "This is his most precious treasure." The child's mother told me anecdotes about her child. Her words and demeanor conveyed to me the child's full joy and pride.

Lego's values ??- "only the best is good enough", this is the cornerstone of its enduring success over the past 80 years. At the Lego Shanghai headquarters, we found that many office equipment are made of ordinary Lego bricks. There is also a reduced version of the "China Pavilion" in the exhibition hall. What is strange is that the "large parts" made of so many small building blocks a few centimeters long do not have any offset or deformation. The precise Like the drawings on the computer, some old users even told us that "the latest Lego and the first-generation Lego bricks from decades ago can be put together perfectly, and the sizes are exactly the same." Many parents would rather spend thousands to buy Lego for their children. I am not willing to buy other substitute building blocks just for the sake of cheapness, because the quality gap is really huge.

Lego China Pavilion

Of course, this toy giant has not been comfortable in its development process. It has faced life-and-death crises at least five times. Of course, some of the crises were caused by him "seeking death" himself. (Sorry, the wording in personal notes is so casual). In 2003, Lego faced a major crisis, and the company faced its first loss in decades; from the perspective of the reason, of course there was the rise of the external electronic game industry, "Children can play Nintendo, why? Want to play with building blocks?”, “Little Overlord has endless fun”, and seized Lego’s toy market; in fact, I personally think that the final reason lies within Lego-deviating from Lego’s core value proposition and loyal user groups. In those years, Lego has hired a new manager. Through a survey, it was found that 2/3 of the children said they would rather play game consoles than play building blocks. Lego is ambitious to capture this new group of users. Those people feel that Lego construction is too difficult and not good-looking. What they like is "novelty hunting" and want to play video games. After reflection, Lego believes that "building experience is no longer the main goal" and should "highlight action and game value", so it uses new The "Exploration Series" replaced the main sales "Duplo Series", making it easier to build Lego bricks and using more innovative parts to attract a group of children who had not played with Lego before. It seems reasonable, but this airborne The managers forgot the original intention of Lego, and ultimately not only failed to capture new user groups, but also lost the original loyal fans. Fans felt that Lego could no longer find "the joy of building and the pride of creation."

My idea is: you don’t need to make everyone like you, you just need to let the people who really love you "love you to death"; don’t try to flatter the goddess who doesn’t love you, and let the real love Your people are heartbroken; of course, this metaphor may make people uncomfortable. After all, there are many warm men who are willing to become spare tires/jacks for the goddess in their hearts, and they are waiting hard for the day when they become full-time employees. . . . . .

Of course, LEGO was able to survive the crisis because they ultimately stuck to their core values ??and returned to the roots of LEGO’s founding—focusing on “down-to-earth” and “making things accessible through the assembly system of building blocks.” "Children create endless possibilities"; Lego believes that customers need to help the company determine market needs, rather than having company executives decide what customers want.

First of all, it focuses on LEGO’s core customers and sets the market target standard on LEGO’s most important customers. It abandons the “2/3 of children who don’t like to play with building blocks” and firmly grasps the “1/3 of children who love to play”. "Children of Building Blocks", although the number is small, can bring profits and make "people who love you love you to death".

Faced with the challenges of the video game industry, Lego began to shape its "educational" image. Parents are important decision-makers for children to buy toys. Compared with toys, parents hope that their children can better cultivate their children's intelligence. and creativity. In response to this demand, Lego changed its marketing model and gave toys an "educational" connotation. From the perspective of creating value, the transformation from toys to educational products has improved parents’ “willingness to pay”, which not only helps LEGO stand out from the toy competition, but also enhances customer loyalty and LEGO brand image, and reduces the price in the future. Provide room for improvement.

Of course, there are many reasons to help Lego survive the crisis. Today we are just talking about the original intention and core values. We must stand firm in the face of major interests. Even in critical moments, do not give up easily. Fundamentally, we must "do something and not do something"; a good core value can be passed down for a hundred years, it can give people a sense of enlightenment when the company faces a crisis, and it is the cornerstone of the continuation of brand value.

The same goes for being a human being. Don’t give up your original intention due to pressure and livelihood, and stick to your principles when facing temptations in front of you. Also, cherish the people around you.