Brickmaster Friends: Treasure Hunt in Heartlake City parts Our community, 180 want it Our community, 520 want it Our community, 621 want it Our community, 506 want it Our community, 462 want itLEGO® Friends doubled expectations for sales in 2012 The new LEGO Friends products have sold twice as well as expected – and contribute to an exceptional annual result for the LEGO Group. Last year’s big new strategic milestone – LEGO Friends – exceeded all expectations and more than doubled the initial sales forecasts for its first year in market. The product line tailors the iconic LEGO construction experience especially to girl’s ages five and up, and is the result of the most researched LEGO concept ever done by the world’s leading construction toy company. Mads Nipper, Chief Marketing Officer, reflects: “We entered 2012 with high expectations for LEGO Friends but also with a lot of anxiety as we have historically never been very successful attracting girls to our play offers.
That is why it has been amazing to experience the enthusiastic welcome, which consumers have given the new range, as well as know that we through LEGO Friends have managed to introduce LEGO play to millions of girls who had never received a LEGO product before.” Even though the LEGO Group more than doubled its production of LEGO Friends versus expectations, it was not possible to deliver all of the products demanded. As a result of the high demand for LEGO Friends products a set from the line – Olivia’s House – also tops the LEGO Group’s list of bestselling sets for the year. 4 years of research The LEGO Friends concept development spanned four years and involved more than 3500 girls and their mothers around the world to understand what girls who have previously not been attracted to LEGO play, would expect from a construction toy. LEGO Group Vice President Nanna Ulrich Gudum, who was responsible for developing the LEGO Friends product line, explains; “The girls we talked to let us understand that they really wanted a LEGO offering that mirrors what the boys experience, but in a way that fulfills their unique desire for redesign and details and combined with realistic themes in community and friendship.”
The successful 2012 sales have not made the LEGO Group introduce more sets than already planned. But the Danish company enters 2013 with a lot of confidence for the second year with LEGO Friends on the market. Mads Nipper, Chief Marketing Officer, explains; “This year we will expand the Friends story to include more themes and deeper characters, which the children that tested this year’s products, really enjoyed. We can also see that the attention from our customers is even more positive this year, so I am excited about LEGO Friends in 2013”. The LEGO Friends product line includes 28 sets at the start of 2013. At the 2013 International Toy Fair in New York, the LEGO Friends line received the following awards: Toy of the Year (T.O.T.Y.) Award for Best Toy. The honour was bestowed at the Toy Industry Association (TIA)’s annual gala to celebrate the best and most innovative toys, held Saturday, February 9, at New York City’s Plaza Hotel. LEGO Friends also won the 1st prize in two other categories: “Activity” and “Girls”.
At the 2012 Nuremberg Toy Fair, the LEGO Friends product “Olivia’s House” won the award for “best toy” in the age-group 6-10 years. For further information, please contact: Roar Rude Trangbæk, Press Officer Tel.: +45 7950 4348 Mob.: +45 3065 3164 Lego Friends is a Lego-themed life simulation video game developed by Hellbent Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game was first released for Nintendo 3DS systems on 12 November 2013, and for Nintendo DS systems on 8 April 2014.[1] The game was later ported to and released for Android and iOS devices on 31 July 2014.[2] The game is based on the Lego Friends theme of the same name and adapts many of the characters and settings from it. Lego Friends' gameplay is different from that of previous Lego video games. Traditional platforming and combat is gone and levels have been replaced by one overworld (Heartlake City). Characters also assign various objectives to complete, which often involve puzzle solving and engaging in minigames.
Completing these objectives will grant additional customization options along with a boost in the player's "friendship level" with other characters. In Lego Friends, the player visits her cousin Olivia over the summer at Heartlake City. During her stay, she helps Olivia and her friends out at different locations such as the local high school, pet salon, and park. All versions of Lego Friends have received mixed to negative reviews. The game retains an aggregated score of 43/100, based on four critic reviews, on Metacritic, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[3] Nintendo Life editor Lee Meyer gave the game a score of 2/10, and criticized the gameplay for being too simplistic and repetitive.[4] Common Sense Media editor Chad Sapieha gave the game five out of five stars and enjoyed its diverse nature from other Lego games and appreciated how "the young protagonists are good role models for girls".Successful LEGO strategy delivers continued strong growth The focus on innovative product development of themes such as LEGO® Ninjago and LEGO Friends and production close to the core markets contributed to a highly satisfactory result for the LEGO Group in 2012
In 2012 the LEGO Group increased its revenue by 25% to USD 4,040 million – nearly triple the sales of 2007. This represents the fifth consecutive year in which the LEGO Group delivered year over year revenue growth in excess of 15%.Key facts from the LEGO Group’s annual report for 2012, which was published today:• The year's operating profit increased to USD 1,373 million against USD 1,057 million in 2011, an increase of 40%. • The operating margin increased to 34% from 30% in 2011.• The year's net profit increased to USD 969 million against USD 776 million in 2011. • The revenue increased by 25% to USD 4,040 million against USD 3,495 million in 2011. In local currency (i.e. excluding the impact of foreign exchange changes) revenue increased 20% year over year. • The net cash generated from operating activities was USD 1,100 million against USD 666 million in 2011.• In 2012 the Group paid USD 330 million in corporate income taxes.The LEGO Group reporting currency is DKK.
Conversion from DKK to USD is based on an annual average currency rate (however conversion of net cash generated from operating activities is based on year-end currency rate) in 2012 and 2011 respectively.”It is a highly satisfactory result and better than we expected at the beginning of the year. This is due, first and foremost, to the fact that we were able to develop and launch products that children all over the world have put at the top of their wish lists in 2012,” said Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, Chief Executive Officer of the LEGO Group. More than 60% of the LEGO Group’s sales are new launches every year.“As a consequence we have huge demands on our development & supply processes. Year after year, we must be able to predict what will capture the interest of children and deliver this in relevant LEGO products – and in 2012 we succeeded,” said Jørgen Vig Knudstorp.Production close to core marketsThe large demand for LEGO products in 2012 created significant challenges for the LEGO Group's production, but the company's strategy of locating its factories close to the core markets in Europe and North America showed its strength.”
Having our packing facilities located geographically close to our core markets and continuously optimising and improving production, means that we can better respond to demand from customers and consumers,” explains Bali Padda, Chief Operating Officer.LEGO Friends significantly exceeded expectationsThe best-selling product lines in 2012 were LEGO City and LEGO Star Wars™, followed by LEGO Ninjago (launched in 2011). The new product line, LEGO Friends, delivered a strategic milestone in 2012, selling much better than expected and becoming the fourth best-selling product line. Even though the LEGO Group more than doubled its production of LEGO Friends versus expectations, it was not possible to deliver all of the products demanded. Global growthThe company achieved its eighth consecutive year of U.S. growth as consumer sales increased +26% over 2011, driving its share of the overall U.S. toy market to 7.9%, up +1.6 share points over previous year. The company’s share of the total U.S. toy market has quadrupled in five years.
Additionally, the LEGO share of the U.S. Building Sets category grew +5.3 points to 84.6% in a year of increased category competition, while it added +12.1 share points to reach 51.4% of the Preschool segment of U.S. Building Sets. The launch of LEGO Friends also found success in the U.S., well surpassing early projections to triple the number of girls building with LEGO bricks in the market and, measured in dollars, was the number-one property if ranked among the Dolls Play Sets segment, where it is sometimes found in American stores. With double-digit growth rates, North America, Asia and Central & Eastern Europe delivered impressive results in LEGO sales in 2012, while the growth rates in some Southern Europe markets were more moderate but still in healthy single digits despite very challenging market dynamics.”We are very satisfied with the strong growth in Asia, especially driven by the appeal of LEGO Ninjago, LEGO Friends and LEGO City. While Asia is a relatively small market for the LEGO Group, during the coming years we anticipate that it will become a new engine of growth,“ said Mads Nipper, Chief Marketing Officer.To prepare for future growth, the LEGO Group continued investments close to the core markets in 2012.
• In the Czech Republic, the LEGO Group announced a significant expansion of its existing factory in September.• The building of a new factory in Hungary near the existing LEGO factory in Nyíregyháza was started in October. • As a part of the strategy to make Asia a core market, a new Asian head office in Singapore was inaugurated in the autumn. • As a result of the strategy to locate packing facilities closer to core markets, the LEGO Group announced early in 2013 that packing facilities in Billund, Denmark, are to close down during the next 2½ years. At the same time large investments will be made in moulding and engineering capabilities in Billund.As a result of the increase in sales and investments in production capacity, the number of full-time employees increased by slightly more than 1,000 from an average of 9,374 in 2011 to 10,400 in 2012. The number of employees is also expected to increase in 2013. Expectations for robust growth in 2013In 2013 the LEGO Group expects that the global financial development will continue to impact the toy market in general.