LEGO Group seeks to expand in China through school link up

The LEGO Group is bringing the brick to Chinese schools in order to make inroads with the growing toy market in the country.

While the LEGO Group’s traditional toy markets are shrinking, the market in China is growing. The Billund based company is working with schools in an attempt to more firmly establish the brand in China, to help balance global sales.

City A.M. reports the news:

Local education departments, state schools and private education departments are working with LEGO in an initiative to boost children’s motor skills, creativity and attention spans.

The collaboration aims to “generate a new and more progressive way of teaching science, technology and maths”, Lego China general manager Jacob Kragh told Reuters.

The 10% increase in the Chinese toy market is significant, especially when considered in conjunction with the LEGO Group’s falling US sales. The Chinese toy market is estimated to be worth almost $10 billion, and as the LEGO Group continues to push back against counterfeit alternatives, the company has more opportunity to reach the growing middle class population.

Positive reaction from parents and LEGO representatives are highlighted in the article:

“If it was just putting blocks together, I don’t think that would be totally necessary,” Deng Xianyu told Reuters. “But I think it is great that they do coding [as part of] classes.”

Lego chief marketing officer Julia Goldin said there was a lot of interest within the Chinese government “to develop children’s creativity, to develop some of the soft skills like global collaboration, problem-solving [and] communication…These are, of course, all the skills that they develop through Lego.”

The LEGO Group is involved with education projects around world, and these new endeavours in China demonstrate the effort that the company is putting into the emerging market.