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December 2006 - Strategy Magazine
Who to watch

Lego's Kerry George puts the pieces together in Canada

by Annette Bourdeau
page 11

In just three years, Kerry George has taken Lego Canada from being the U.S. office's marketing afterthought to actually out-performing it on a launch. She knows how to maximize her lean team of two (including herself), and focuses on interactive efforts, local event marketing and co-promotions to help the global brand resonate with Canadian kids.

George has taken one of Lego's key internal mottos: "hands on, minds on" to heart. She ensures Lego has a strong community presence, with large interactive Lego displays set up at zoos and festivals across the country, as well as a travelling science show exhibit - an impressive Lego model of ancient Egypt, which is currently on display at the Calgary Science Centre. "It's profitable for both sides," says George, adding that the Calgary centre has done a local media buy promoting the Lego exhibit.

She's also big on retailtainment, like setting up "make and take" stations at Toys R Us. "We want [kids] to have that hands-on experience," she says, adding that partnering with other brands stretches lean marketing resources. "When you have a team of two, you have to pick the things that have the biggest bang for your buck."

Aside from event and retail efforts, George has also sought out CPG and restaurant partners to help to reinforce the Lego name and get the brand out there. "We pair up with other brands to make Lego cool, exciting, fun," she explains. In 2005, she did co-promotions with Pizza Hut, Saputo, East Side Mario's, L'Oréal Kids, Parmalat and McCain.

Her promo with McCain's Zwak fruit drink was particularly successful - they did an on-pack Lego coupon on 2.5 million Zwak packages, a co-branded microsite, and Lego got a mention in a Zwak TV spot, scoring an estimated extra exposure value for Lego of over $250,000. "It really came from networking and talking to agencies and pitching them," says George of the co-promos. "I had to get my name and the LEGO name on their radar. [Last year] really did establish that for us."

George is eager to see the fruits of this holiday season, when Lego Canada does 60% of its annual business. Lego is really pushing its

Exo-Force brand this year, and George is doing a co-promo with YTV and Pizza Hut, which includes in-restaurant visibility, a contest, and a DPS in YTV's Whoa! Magazine. She's also doing an interactive activation to leverage a global promo with popular band The All American Rejects, as well as a Quebec online/TV promotion to boost Exo-Force and Bionicles.

When George joined Lego as director of marketing in 2003, the Canadian office had been lacking a marketing department for the previous three years as a result of downsizing. Marketing had been run from the Enfield, Conn. office, which was dumping the entire Canadian budget into TV - not particularly efficient, especially since this excluded the massive Quebec market, where TV ads aimed at kids aren't kosher. Not to mention that Lego's number-one competition is based in Montreal. "Mega is definitely a force to be reckoned with," says George. "One of my biggest challenges was to get [marketing] back up and running again...and to develop a better media plan."

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