He had no idea to build the empire of toys when it made of the small wood in 1932. Ole Kirk Christiansen, founder of LEGO, was from a poor family of farmers in western Denmark. A carpenter by training, he was concerned to save his life following the loss of his job. It was in 1946 that the creator begins to inject the plastic material in the molding of his toys and in 1958 that the patent for the famous LEGO brick is laid. Wood production is definitely the end result of a fire in 1960.
the portraits of The leaders of LEGO: the grand-father, the son and the grandson (on the left) and the history of the brand (right) SEBASTIEN SORIANO/Le Figaro
The Danish group arrived in France in 1962. Since then, the brand is rooted in the imagination of the children and their parents. “The next inter-generational is very important,” says Anne Besson, director of marketing at LEGO for the past two years. “Important” to the point that the grandson of the founder, Niels Christiansen, is currently the head of the group. The family spirit close to the heart of the management board: no cubicles for the officers, not meeting by hierarchical level, formal and informal, casual dress, personal conversations and times of sharing, witness. The friendliness between the two hundred French employees less than half of whom work in the headquarters in Paris. For more than eight years, the toy manufacturer to ask its suitcases, Rue vivienne, in the heart of the French capital, on a surface of 750m2.
Heading towards the digitization
The staff need to be big kids. “To support the builders of tomorrow, we try to experience what the children experience, lance Anne Besson. I love to work, but if we can also have fun, it is fantastic. Because fun at work is motivating.” The new recruits do not escape the “brick mate”: an induction course of two days in Denmark with international colleagues. On the programme: discovery of the universe LEGO, the games and even visit the museum dedicated to the brand. “It is a very beautiful experience, she says. We find on this occasion the power and the extent of the group.”
minifigure Star Wars in the premises of LEGO. SÉBASTIEN SORIANO/Le Figaro
Their return to childhood does not stop there. The employees are regularly required to make buildings in the course of their meetings, or to build patterns that they exhibit in their premises. There is also a “play day” held once a year. On this occasion, the employees play with the LEGO and are in contact with children. They watch them escape to keep with them a close connection, and answer their expectations. Lastly, the employees may dedicate an annual day of work to hospitalized children in going to play with them. Of what to (re)make sense to the teams of the group.
A miniature Winnie the pooh and Piglet in the local LEGO. SÉBASTIEN SORIANO/Le Figaro
The development of children is therefore the construction that stimulates creativity. The giant of the toy account stay well in the air of the time in innovative. Who says innovation, said digitizing. A digital ecosystem is developing around the brand’s products and applications games see the light of day. LEGO Boost is an application in Bluetooth which allows, thanks to lines of codes “extremely easy,” she said, to undertake construction of brick connected. “It is like this that we continue to entertain the children from generation to generation, continues the director of marketing. But, it is important to always return to the physical”. LEGO continues to arouse the interest of more young people through the movie news. Harry Potter and Star Wars are the ranges the flagship of the brand. The famous Minions are about to make their exit!
During a team-building event, the employees LEGO were to bring back a photo of them, children. SÉBASTIEN SORIANO/Le Figaro
