LEGO needs no introduction. It's almost a certainty you grew up with it. If you have kids it's almost a certainty you've stood on it barefoot. But 20 years ago, its survival as a company wasn't a certainty. LEGO in 2003 was a financial basket case, losing $300 million that year, and projected to lose $400 million the year after. It wasn't from a lack of innovation – in fact, they had that in spades – but how they were innovating was the problem. They were working for their users, without working with their users. And in an age where play was becoming more distant, with video games and the internet encroaching, LEGO needed to get closer to their customers than ever. Community was a big part of how they bounced back.

LEGO did what any lego builder does in order to start a new project, it broke itself down first. To solve the cash crisis, it sold a large chunk of its theme park business, outsourced production to cheaper areas and took many measures you'd expect management consultants to recommend for a company in a spiral. But a foundational block of its success since those dark days was laid when LEGO started opening up its innovation to its community. LEGO's innovation, as a family-owned company, had become too insular for its own good. They needed to open things up, so it turned to that passionate global fanbase who loved the product and who were ready to do what they had always done with LEGO - seek joy in building and sharing what they had built.

LEGO tapped into this, launching a crowdsourcing project in 2008 that morphed into LEGO Ideas, now a community of almost three million users who submit ideas for LEGO sets that they've created themselves. Those ideas not only have a chance of becoming a real LEGO set, gracing shop shelves around the world, but will also earn their creator a dividend on their sales, along with other perks. The strike rate for successful LEGO kits emerging from LEGO ideas might be low, but the participation rate and goodwill the community generates is insanely high.

The LEGO Ideas platform has been an enormous success, and itself has been built upon as LEGO realised the value of tapping into its community. LEGO communities predated its crisis, but LEGO's willingness to lean into them, and even cede a little control of the creative process by doing so, was a deliberate shift. LEGO Ideas came first, but the company has also since bought Bricklinks, a 2019 acquisition of a pre-existing community to bolster its connections with AFOLs (Adult fans of LEGO). LEGO has also granted official recognition of sorts to user groups and communities all over the world, fostering connections between them via the LEGO Ambassador Network. And in addition, there's a LEGO Education Network, which does what it says on the tin: connecting teachers and educators around the world to share ways to weave blocklife into their teaching.

WHAT MADE LEGO'S COMMUNITY STRATEGY EFFECTIVE?

Firstly, LEGO didn't create this community, it chose to align itself with a community and set of behaviors that already existed. Trying to create a community from scratch, and foster a set of behaviors that don't yet exist, is a big ask. LEGO could see how users were congregating, behaving and interacting, and could begin to work with that momentum.

Secondly, LEGO allowed its people test - they created an environment where outside-the-box approaches were fostered and encouraged.

Thirdly, they committed hard. LEGO didn't half-bake their community strategy, they committed resources to making it work. This is often a stumbling block. Community takes work, it means hiring the right type of people to engage, giving them the tools they need and understanding that it won't all be smooth sailing, glowing reviews, cheap UGC and crowdsourced genius. They had to be OK with the costs and effort it would require, based on the returns they though it would generate.

THE TAKEAWAY

Let your community build, watch for behaviors you can lean into that are aligned with your company's values and which won't create a burden you can't sustain. Test your engagement with the community, and if it works, double down!

GO DEEPER
Read some of the many, MANY deep dives into LEGO's strategic recover here, here, here, here, and there's an entire book on it here.