‘We need to take risks’: LEGO’s head of innovation addresses the company’s ‘fear of failure’
The LEGO Group’s head of marketing innovation says the company ‘needs to take risks’ in order to counter the ‘fear of failure’ that comes with success.
Cecilia Weckstrom’s role at the LEGO Group is all about experimentation. “It is a role that involves uncovering new building tactics, which we then scale across markets and into global as well as explore strategic insights into emerging technologies and platforms,” she tells The Drum. “All these learnings go into shaping the future marketing strategies at the LEGO Group.”
In essence, Weckstrom is interested in exploring new avenues for the LEGO Group to market its products and find new consumers. She cites LEGO Ideas as one way the company has found success with experimentation over the past couple of decades (since she initially joined the LEGO Group as a product designer in the early 2000s), and points to the LEGO Insiders program as an example of a cohesive marketing ecosystem.
Her current team is now figuring out ways to better experiment with new avenues ‘at scale’, but one of the hardest parts of the equation – convincing the higher-ups at the LEGO Group to take those risks – is apparently already a solved puzzle.
“We have addressed the fear of failure and instead have embedded an experimentation mindset into the company,” she says. “The experimentation mindset is critical as a way to counter the fear of failure, which only gets stronger the more successful we are as a company. Perhaps counter-intuitively, I’ve learned that the more wins you have, the more risk-averse people become.
“From a leadership and organisational development standpoint, we have to ring-fence and protect that spirit of experimentation and ensure that its part of the program remains robust. We need to take risks, evolve and become more data-driven in our decision-making – but also nurture that pioneering creative spirit to ensure that we stay at the forefront of change. We need to always push forward and overcome the fear of failure that plagues so many organisations – including ours.”
Weckstrom adds that innovation is not just about successful implementation of individual ideas, but about creating the environment that allows for that innovation to happen in the first place. And it comes from all facets of the company: while her role is in marketing, she says that for her campaigns to truly resonate with audiences, they can’t happen in isolation.
“Take the LEGO Group’s journey on sustainability, for example,” she explains, referencing the shift to sustainable packaging, the search for alternatives to ABS and the company’s wider green ambitions. “It has been like a true team sport, where we have material science innovation, working together with operations and distribution, as well as designers and marketers, to turn all of this information and insight into a product.
“Innovation and sustainability cannot succeed in silos. If you tried to tackle using marketing alone, you just get ‘greenwashing’. Any kind of meaningful real change that people expect from loved brands will involve the whole company – it won’t just be a campaign with a start and end date. To make real change, you have to think bigger.”
To better illustrate her point, Weckstrom points to the iPod. “It wasn’t first off the block in the world of MP3 players, but Apple was the first to really think it all through and say: ‘Let’s put 1,000 songs in your pocket. Let’s make this device really easy to use. And here’s an online store where you can also easily buy the sounds that you want to listen to.’
“That complete and highly-considered ecosystem summarises for me the genius of marketing. Marketing is way more than just a snazzy campaign.”
Check out more insights from the LEGO Group’s global head of marketing innovation Cecilia Weckstrom over at The Drum.
Support the work that Brick Fanatics does by purchasing your LEGO using our affiliate links.
Author Profile
- I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.
Latest entries
71047 Dungeons & Dragons11/09/2024LEGO Dungeons & Dragons designer walkthrough: Szass Tam and Mindflayer- News11/09/2024First look at LEGO Ideas 21352 Magic of Disney
- News10/09/2024Cryptic LEGO 2025 rumour appears to tease Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and more
- 71047 Dungeons & Dragons10/09/2024LEGO D&D designer secrets: Barbarian Dwarf and Dragonborn Paladin
