AFOLs: Building Relationships with LEGO

A few months ago I took my nephew to watch Toy Story 4 at the movie theaters. Surprisingly, I was more interested in the film than he was because it brought back so many memories of my childhood. As my classmate, Lindsay, wrote about last week, nostalgia is trendy and it works in grabbing the attention of older audiences.

Source: DFC Intelligence

Adult Fans of LEGO
Perhaps this is the feeling that many AFOLs, or adult fans of LEGO, have which has allowed Lego to maintain its legacy as the world's leading manufacturer of play materials for more than sixty years. LEGO continues to reach people of all ages and serves as a model to how other toy companies can increase their market size by also targeting adults. In chapter 3 of Groundswell, the textbook for this course, Li & Bernoff present a case study on LEGO AFOLs and how the diversity of the groundswell can be leveraged by brands. While it may seem odd for people in the 40s and 50s (or even older) to be playing with toys intended for children, LEGO is unleashing the creativity of adults as shown in the video below: 

Since AFOLs don't age out of the target market, they are an important group to continue reaching through the groundswell. The groundswell is defined as "a social trend in which people use technology to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations". Traditionally, the power of communication was exclusive to gatekeepers such as the newspaper or government. Through digital communication and social media, power has transferred to the people. This is a threat to companies as people are rebelling against institutions and increasing dependence on each other. Rather than thinking that consumers are running away from the company, brands can use this as an opportunity to meet them where they are--in the groundswell.

How LEGO is Leveraging the Groundswell
The variety of people in the AFOL community on the Internet is diverse. Instead of treating all consumers the same, LEGO understands that each individual contributes differently to the groundswell and do not respond similarly to the same tactics. The figure below shows the variety of roles that consumers play in the groundswell. These percentages have changed in the past ten years with consumers becoming more active and taking part in groundswell technologies.

Source: wearesocial.com

AFOLs such as Eric Kingsley are very active in posting and uploading photos to forums such as LUGNET, the Lego User Group Network. Some consumers such as Joe Comeau respond and react to posts such as Eric's but are still just as important because of the amount of money they spend on LEGO products per year. Other users like Linda Dallas are spectators that are not very active on forums but have a major role building LEGO's online community.

How Other Companies can Learn from Lego
I'm sure some of you are surprised that a toy brand could reach adults to this extent. LEGO understands that their products go beyond children and they must not forget about other demographic audiences in their marketing strategy. Adults have more spending power than children, so neglecting this group would be a major loss for the brand. Meet your consumers where they are (hint: they're in the groundswell).


When was the last time that you played with LEGO bricks? Are you surprised that the AFOL community is so prominent? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.