Piecing Together LEGO’s “Rebuild the World” Campaign

Chloe Coker
Nov 2
4 min read

When playing with LEGO bricks, the creative possibilities are endless. What was your go-to build growing up? Was it a spaceship, no wait, a dune buggy, so that you can have races with your brothers? Oh. No. That was just me? Anyway, with LEGO, you can build anything, so why not rebuild the world?

After 30 years of little to no campaigns, LEGO launched the "Rebuild the World" campaign in 2019, which fostered creativity in children (Brewer, 2019). The campaign's goal was to bring awareness back to the brand's central image: creativity. In the years leading up to the campaign, the brand was becoming better known as an educational toy, since many parents wanted their kids to follow the directions in the booklet and learn along the way, rather than make it their own. This is not necessarily bad for LEGO, but it does not allow for any creativity in the build, which is the whole point of the brand. With this campaign, LEGO had a very unique target audience as compared to other brands since LEGO bricks are for everyone. They targeted both young children and parents, but really went for the parents. With the children, the main objective was to inspire creativity and show its ok to think outside the box. For the parents, the campaign's goal was to foster creativity in their children and allow them to represent themselves through creative elements (Swant, 2019). Creativity is becoming a much-needed skill in the 21st century, so parents need to let their kids start to express themselves from a young age. This campaign uses an incredible emotional appeal to parents, reminding them of their childhoods and experiences with LEGO growing up, and showing just what creativity can accomplish. There is also a lot of storytelling for the children, with bright colors and a town that doesn't quite make sense.

You will just have to watch for yourself; there is a dinosaur at one point and grabbable fire.

But that goes to show the unlimited possibilities of being creative. It wants kids to be amazed and intrigued while watching, so they can help create a more innovative world.

But Did It Click with the Brand?

Overall, the "Rebuild the World" campaign aligned very well with the brand's values and reputation. LEGO's primary identity is centered around creativity, imagination, and education. I touched on this a little at the beginning, but the campaign's mission was to help foster and grow creativity, and it knocked it out of the LEGO ballpark.

The brand used countless elements of creativity in their campaign, from flying cars to that one dinosaur; the idea came across effectively and made people use their imagination. It was not a simple, "C'mon, kids, use your creativity" campaign, which they could easily have done since everyone already knew LEGO; it was an elaborate, well-thought-out, purpose-driven campaign with meaning, literally built brick by brick. They framed the message by focusing on the out-of-the-ordinary aspects of the LEGO town, highlighting its creativity and limitless possibilities. In the end, people were left with one message: help rebuild our world using imagination, creativity, and everything you have learned along the way.

A Few Bricks Short of a Perfect Campaign

The campaign was so successful that I had a hard time finding much criticism of it, let alone credible sources. It took some time (a lot of digging), but I found a few key aspects of criticism. People said they felt the campaign targeted only upper-income families because it used advanced, high-tech storytelling techniques, making LEGO seem like a high-end product (Amer, n.d.). Another piece of criticism was that this campaign used no traditional media, only billboards and electronic media. LEGO responded to the criticism by focusing on the positive outcomes the campaign aims to achieve and reiterating its main point. Since finding criticism was deemed rather tricky, to spice up this post, I'll criticize it myself. One thing that I didn't necessarily like was how the rabbit was being hunted. I think it would have been more kid-friendly if the rabbit had just taken something from the actor, which then led to the chase. In the end, the rabbit could have returned it, resulting in a harmonious ending. The harmonious ending would have tied into the concept of rebuilding the world more cleanly.

What's Next?

LEGO has a good grasp of creating and executing campaigns, but if I were a PR consultant for LEGO, the next campaign I would run would highlight its partnership with schools. LEGO Education partners with schools to offer grants and resources, along with teacher support, but not many people know about it. The target audience would be elementary school teachers and students looking for a new teaching and learning approach. The brand's image is to promote creativity in young kids, so why not create a campaign that shows schools fostering and encouraging creativity through LEGO? This campaign would raise awareness of the partnerships and reach a wider audience of teachers. The brand could use its emotional appeal towards teachers by reminding them of their childhoods, building and learning with LEGO, and how every kid should be able to have that same experience. To improve engagement rates, schools from across the country could compete to win a LEGO teaching set and a school grant. For the competition, schools would create a video showing how LEGO would inspire their students to be more creative. At the end of the campaign, the winner/winners' video entry could be posted on LEGO's social media accounts and electronic platforms. Overall, the campaign could boost consumer awareness, build a stronger self-image, and boost creativity in schools.

So, let's all help rebuild the world, one creative idea at a time.

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