Lego to up its game in Asia over next 20 years

Lego to up its game in Asia over next 20 years

SINGAPORE — Lego has its eyes set on some serious play in Asia, including Singapore, over the next 20 years in an attempt to build on the company’s performance in the region, the Chief Executive of the Danish toy-maker said in an interview yesterday.

BY LEE YEN NEE –

3 HOURS 32 MIN AGO

SINGAPORE — Lego has its eyes set on some serious play in Asia, including Singapore, over the next 20 years in an attempt to build on the company’s performance in the region, the Chief Executive of the Danish toy-maker said in an interview yesterday. Consumer sales in Asia, Lego’s fastest-growing market, have risen 35 per cent in the first half of the year alone, outpacing a 4-per-cent increase in both North and Latin America, and an 8-per-cent growth in Europe during the same period.“We will pull more weight into the Asian side of our business because there is a future. Lego is extremely relevant in Asia,” said Mr Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, who was in Singapore to visit Lego’s regional head office at the Marina Bay Financial Centre.

Asia accounts for about 10 per cent of the company’s overall sales. Buoyed by demand for its iconic little plastic bricks, the world’s second-largest toy firm after Barbie-maker Mattel reported a 50-per-cent jump in sales in the region last year.

“To make it happen, we need more people, not only in marketing, but in administration, IT, product development, manufacturing; the whole range of functions to get the business going. Because now we want some part of the business that used to be in the US or Europe to be in Asia,” he added.

As part of its expansion plan in the region, Lego plans to increase its current marketing team of about 300 in Asia by 50 per cent within the next four years.

Earlier this year, the 80-year-old family-owned firm announced plans to build its first Asian manufacturing facility in China. When completed in 2017, the plant will add another 2,000 to its Asian workforce. The company also has plans to set up a regional distribution centre in Shanghai.

“Four years from now, we would have maybe 2,500 to 3,000 employees in Asia. That would mean having between one-quarter and one-fifth of our global workforce based in Asia,” said Mr Knudstorp, who is not related to the Kristiansen family that owns Lego.

Lego’s key Asian markets are in urban cities in South Korea, Japan and China, where there are better retail networks and residents are wealthier and more focused on the creative development of children.

But developing economies in South-east Asia, with an expanding middle class, also offer a lot of opportunities that the company cannot ignore, Mr Knudstorp said.

“Our business development is correlated with the growth and the wealth of the country, so we have and will continue to have a lot of focus on places like Singapore, because it is a very strong economy. But we’re mindful that a lot of the countries are also on the path (to be strong economies),” he noted, adding that there have been preliminary talks about bringing the brand into Myanmar.

“I expect ourselves to continue expanding our offices to new places over the next 20 years, increasing our presence right across the region.”