LEGO and the wonderful world of licensing ......

It is from reading a blog post all about bricks that I asked myself a few questions about the license LEGO Star Wars and, incidentally, the other numerous licenses developed by LEGO with varying degrees of success in recent years.

In my opinion, the LEGO strategy is placed on two very distinct levels: LEGO Star Wars, and the rest....

It is impossible to make an amalgam between the universe Star Wars, populated by collectors and endowed with a real policy of derivative products and the "opportunistic" licenses used by LEGO during the releases of films or cartoons for the general public.

The universe Star Wars is skilfully managed by its beneficiaries and its interest is constantly revived with collectors and fans with great reinforcements of DVD or Blu-ray reissues, 3D, animated series, conventions, etc .... LEGO l 'understood and took advantage of it at the right time.

The products of the range LEGO Star Wars are not intended only for children or AFOLs. They are also targeting the much wider circle of collectors who do not hesitate to bring together everything that can affect, directly or indirectly, this universe which has become mythical for science fiction lovers.

Star Wars fans buy LEGO products because they are based on the saga, and don't care about the bricks as such. Their passion drives them to invest sometimes indiscriminately in all derivative products and the LEGO Star Wars range is no exception to this rule. If the Star Wars license had been signed with MEGAbrands, collectors would have spent their money on MEGAblocks .....

On the side of other licenses, LEGO is even more opportunistic. A series of sets Prince of Persia ou Indiana Jones has a much more short-lived commercial life and generally does not survive the withdrawal of the film (s) serving as the commercial support of the poster. It is the same for the ranges Pirates of the Caribbean ou Harry Potter, two licenses for which interest is revived with each release of a new opus, but which do not go beyond this stage in terms of marketing. For these "episode" licenses, LEGO is constantly relaunching the marketing machine with great reinforcements of thematic video games and thus keeps the consumer on a drip for a few more months, thus extending the life of the license.
There will of course always be a fundamentalist Harry Potter fan to contradict me on this subject, but I understand this type of blind fanatic bad faith, I have the same when it comes to Star Wars .....

The diversification of LEGO in terms of licensing to limit the risks of commercial disaster and the return to a situation of virtual bankruptcy already experienced a few years ago is taken to the extreme with ranges such as Toy Story, Ben 10, Cars or even Sponge Bob. We quickly realize that LEGO is testing the reaction of its potential customers on different themes, and taking advantage of a passing craze to make some substantial profits in addition to stable and lucrative ranges such as series City ou kingdoms.

LEGO has also understood that the licenses of others are very expensive due to the transfer of royalties to the rights holders. This is also the reason why the manufacturer does not hesitate to create its own universes, sometimes taking advantage of a temporary fad on the toy market as with spinning tops, with varying degrees of success. The ranges Atlantis, Ninjago ou Alien conquest are perfect examples. They meet with some success and have the merit of exploring universes temporarily absent from cinema or television screens.

In conclusion, I do not consider that LEGO is going astray in terms of licensing. The manufacturer takes advantage of the fad, reacts quickly to consumer demands and constantly adapts to the changing interests of its commercial targets.

On the Star Wars side, LEGO obviously takes care of all the communities that buy its products: Children, AFOLs, and Star Wars product collectors who are willing to spend crazy sums to afford the craziest derivatives. , like for example an Executor at 400 €, whether it is made of bricks or not ......