Even in a world of big data, being close to the consumer and understanding his or her needs are vital to foster innovation. Digitalisation and the use of social media offer new opportunities to get close to your consumer on their premises and investigate their likes, dislikes, wishes and needs on the platforms that they use. In this presentation, Sabine will focus on how digitalisation offers new ways of collecting and analysing consumer data and how qualitative consumer insights drive innovation efforts.

1. ©2016 The LEGO Group
Innovation driven by
qualitative insights
DIGITAL 2016
AARHUS UNIVERSITY CONFERENCE
Sabine Müller, Sr. Analyst, Global Insights, LEGO

2. Today, I will talk about…
│ Myself -
Background and current work
│ The LEGO Group - at a glance
│ Market Research / Global Insights –
How qualitative consumer insights drive
innovation efforts
│ Methodology Innovation -
How digitalization offers new ways of
collecting and analyzing consumer data
│ Take-aways
©The LEGO GroupPage 2

3. Who am I?
©The LEGO GroupPage 3
What do I do?
Why this drives me?

4. ©The LEGO GroupPage 4
Innovation &
Trends
Data Analytics &
Big Data
Industry &
Competitor
Markets &
Shoppers
Brand & Business LEGO Experiences
GLOBAL INSIGHTS

5. The projects I am involved in
Foundational
research
• Knowledge platform
• Future strategy
• Business decisions
• Understand trends & megatrends
Concept
research
• Exploring and evaluating new ideas,
themes, stories
• Identifying elements of impact – what
works and what doesn’t?
Communication
research
• Evaluating comprehension and appeal of
communication material
• Understanding communication platforms

6. The LEGO Group
At a glance
│60% product innovationsevery single year

7. Our Mission
Inspire and Develop the
Builders of Tomorrow
…by globalizing and
innovating the LEGO
System in Play

8. At a Glance
35,780
turnover 2015
operating
margin
employees
End 2015
of sales are
novelties
Sold in more
than
countries
10 years of
consecutive
growth
The largest
toy company
in the world
million
34%
130
60%
15.462
Danish
family owned
More than

9. Market Research
Global Insights
│How qualitativeconsumer insights drive
innovation efforts

10. Product innovations timeline
©The LEGO GroupPage 10

11. To be innovative, understand your consumers!
What are they buying
and why?
What do they think
about our products?
What digital platforms
do they use?
What do they think
about our campaigns?
Where and how do
consumers shop?
What do they think
about new LEGO
concepts and ideas?
How many are buying
LEGO products and
which?
What are differences
and similarities across
markets?

12. ETHNOGR
APHY
FOCUS
GROUPS
PLAY
SESSIONS
CO-
CREATION
SHADOWI
NG
LEAD
USER
STUDIES

13. 1990’s
Innovating Inside the Box
Innovation needs to be insight-driven!
2005 > today
Innovating Around the Box

14. ©The LEGO GroupPage 14
In 2011, 90 % of
LEGO’s
consumers were
BOYS
“Construction toys had
never worked for girls, for
whatever reason…”

15. Adding an entire new consumer group! - Girls
©The LEGO GroupPage 15
1997
Innovating Inside the box
2012
Innovating Around the box

16. First: What do the Girls of today like?
How they live What is important to them What toys they have
Their rooms express who they are, their aspirations and preferences.

17. Answer: Girls like friendship and peace
│When girls build, they tend to play
on the inside
│Girls love little details
│Everyday-life play
The Lego Friends story centres on the
everyday lives and personalities of 5
girls in a fictional town called Heartlake
City. Each of the friends has a distinct
personality and interests, such as
animals, performing arts, invention and
design, that are reflected in the models.
©The LEGO GroupPage 17

18. Digitalization
Methodology innovation
│How digitalizationoffers new ways of
collecting and analysingconsumer data

19. Digitalization forces change upon the business of
market research
│ A digital, social and mobile
revolution is under way
│ Altering how consumers engage with
media, shop, browse, and tell others
about their experiences
│ Researchers have new opportunities to
seize new media and platforms
│ Market researchers need to adopt and
master new methodologies
Source: Greenbook Research Industry Trends Report 2015

20. New methodologies support better, faster and more
accurate qualitative consumer insights
Eye Tracking
Facial
Coding
EKG/EEG
BIOMETRIC TOOLS
Mobile/Digital
Ethnography
Social Media
Netnography Online
Usability
Online
Communities
ONLINE METHODS
Research
Gamification
Wearables
Based
Research
Virtual Reality
EMERGING METHODS

21. New Market Research technologies are trending
Source: Greenbook Research
Industry Trends Report 2015

22. Eye Tracking & Facial Coding
Source:www.tobiipro.com/

23. Eye Tracking & Facial Coding
│Understand where consumers look
and how they feel about that stimuli
│Can support fast iterations in
packaging development
│Do consumers see and notice a
package on the a cluttered shelf?
│How well do kids understand our
building instructions?
Source:www.tobiipro.com/

24. Mobile Ethnography & Digital Diaries
│“An ethnographer in your pocket”
Source:www.ethosapp.com

25. Mobile Ethnography & Digital Diaries
│Understand the consumer journey
│“Watch” as parents and children go
about their lives
│How are they playing in their natural
setting?
│How do they relate to LEGO products
or prototypes in different moments of
everyday life?

26. Other methodology innovations include
│Wearable Tech
for tracking play behaviour
│Netnography
to track consumers’ lifestyle,
product & brand choice
│Online Communities
to collaborate, co-create, engage
and innovate with consumers
(ideation-iteration-validation)

27. Take-aways
Qualitative consumer research
cannot be replaced
Big Data Analytics is on the rise and surely
important, but qualitative research and
interpretation of consumer inputs is
absolutely invaluable to understand
consumer behaviour and needs which
ultimately aids innovation.
These are exciting times to be a
researcher
Market researchers need to experiment,
adopt and master new innovative
methodologies.
Join us in Global Insights at LEGO!
https://www.lego.com/en-us/careers
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