LEGO of Billund, Denmark, may have been one of the first mass customized brands.
Every child who has ever had a set of the most basic LEGO blocks has built his or her
own unique and amazing creations, brick by plastic brick. When LEGO decided to
become a lifestyle brand and launch theme parks; its own lines of clothes, watches, and
video games; and products such as Clikits craft sets designed to attract more girls to the
brand franchise, it neglected its core market of five- to nine-year-old boys. Plunging profits led to
layoffs of almost half its employees as the firm streamlined its brand portfolio to emphasize its core
businesses. To better coordinate new product activities, LEGO revamped its organizational structure
into four functional groups managing eight key areas. One group was responsible for supporting
customer communities and tapping into them for product ideas. LEGO
also set up what was later renamed LEGO Design byME, which let
customers design, share, and build their own custom LEGO products
using LEGO’s freely downloadable Digital Designer 3.0 software. The
creations that result can exist—and be shared with other enthusiasts—
solely online, or, if customers want to build them, the software tabulates
the pieces required and sends an order to LEGO’s Enfield, Connecticut,
warehouse. Customers can request step-by-step building guide instruc-tions and even design their own box to store the pieces.