Is Lego Czech?

Lego bricks are now children's favorite toys. This plastic building block has a protrusion at one end and a hole at the other end, which can be embedded in the protrusion. There are more than 1300 shapes, and each shape has 12 different colors, mainly red, yellow, blue, white and black. It relies on children's brains and hands-on ability, and can spell out endless shapes, which people can't put down. It is called "magic plastic building block". The hometown of Lego bricks is in Denmark.

The inventor of Lego bricks is Ole? Quiok, he was born in Goff Village 189 1 in Fils near Bilong. He has superb carpentry skills. When he was young, he was keen on making all kinds of small toys. Small planes, cars and animals from his hands are lifelike. Although he doesn't know how to do business and his toys are often unsalable, it doesn't make him give up his hobby. Later, his spelling toy "Yoyo" finally became all the rage. 1934, he designed the "Lego" trademark for his building block toys.

Lego was founded in Denmark and has a history of 65 years, which can be traced back to its gold-lettered signboard Lego. The trademark "Lego" was used from 1934, and its language comes from the Danish word "LEg GOdt", which means "play well", and this name soon became synonymous with high-quality toys produced by Lego, a toy factory in Bilong. Ole Kirk Christiansen, the founder, once held a name collection activity for his small toy factory and wooden toys, and his proposal was finally selected, but the trademark name was not legally registered in Denmark until 1954. Over the years, the "Lego" icon has also changed in many forms. The latest icon was made in 1998, and slightly adjusted on the basis of 1973 to make it easier to spread and identify in the media.

With the development of Lego, the scale and popularity of Lego company are also rising, and the "weapon" in hand is a toy from Denmark-building blocks. Lego bricks can build different worlds through different combinations of different people and even different ingenuity of the same person. Simple objects not only build a wonderful world for children, but also make every child who sees it unable to resist such a huge temptation. Therefore, Lego toys have always enjoyed a high reputation in European and American families. Even in Asia, there are quite a few users, but because of its high price, it has slowed down its further expansion to the market.

1949, the first Lego plastic building block came out. Two years later, plastic building blocks based on the principle of hole-column connection were put on the market. Soon, Lego introduced a building block product specially designed for babies from 3 months to 5 years old. This kind of building block is 8 times larger than ordinary building blocks, which can prevent babies from eating by mistake and being dangerous. Lego bricks were originally simple toys to inspire babies' intelligence, but later they gradually developed and had a variety of series, which were attractive to boys and girls of different ages. At present, Lego bricks are popular all over the world and occupy the market in 120 countries. It is estimated that more than 300 million children own Lego bricks.

Although Lego has achieved great success in the market, they have not relaxed. Today's world is dominated by PC, and realistic toys can no longer satisfy children's fantasy and curiosity, but the virtual space in the computer can fully accommodate children's imagination. To this end, Lego not only maintains the status of a toy manufacturing giant, but also strives to develop in the direction of computer games. Their theme is still their best toy building blocks. Regardless of men, women and children, Lego's game series can be suitable for them, and they will definitely find the feelings they have experienced or have not experienced.

Edit this paragraph of Lego development

Lego Group is a world-famous toy manufacturer, and its sales volume has always ranked among the top ten toys in the world. Lego toys have been accompanied by the growth of countless children. In the eyes of children and parents, Lego represents happiness, unlimited imagination and a creative future. Today's achievements of Lego Group are inseparable from its long history and corporate culture.

The establishment of Lego company

Lego was founded in Bierende, a small Danish town. His founder Ole Kirk christiansen was born in 189 1. He is an excellent carpenter and owns his own wood processing factory. He is honest, firm, optimistic, humorous and positive, which enabled him to tide over the difficulties smoothly during the European economic crisis in the 1930s.

1932 is difficult and unforgettable for Mr. Christensen. The Great Depression hit Billon, Denmark, and all the craftsmen didn't receive orders, so his wooden factory fired the last worker. In the same year, he lost his wife, leaving him alone with four children. The youngest child is 6 years old and the oldest child 15 years old. He began to understand that life is not only a beautiful gift, but also a hard job. However, he still maintains his passion for life and career, and dares to try new opportunities and new technologies. He accepted the suggestion of the industrial association and began to produce household goods, making a decisive change-positioning the products of his wooden factory as toys. His decision was opposed by his family and friends, and most people didn't realize the importance of children's toys. But Mr Christensen believes that toys are always children's most important partners, and children can't live without toys at any time. Facts have proved that his decision is correct. In just a few years, this wooden processing factory has the foundation to become an international toy company.

Development of Lego wooden toys

Mr. Christensen began to apply his exquisite wooden craftsmanship and artistic sense to wooden toys. He hung a wooden sign in the factory with his motto engraved on it: "Only the best is good enough." This motto is still the first rule of Lego company.

In 1934, he began to choose names for his company and products. He started a competition between his family and employees. Whoever took this name and was finally adopted would get a bottle of red wine brewed by his family. Finally, he named the company Lego himself. It comes from the Danish word "Leg-Godt", which means "play well". Later, he learned that the name means "build and pile up" in Latin. The name 1954 is registered as a trademark.

1940 On April 9th, Denmark was occupied by German troops, and the war brought Lego development opportunities. First of all, the government banned the import of toys. Secondly, the government banned the use of metal and rubber in toys, which undoubtedly gave a great impetus to wooden toys. From 1940 to 1942, the output of Lego Company doubled.

1942, a fire almost turned the Lego factory into ruins. Mr Christensen is almost ready to give up his career. A strong sense of responsibility for children and employees made him stand out strongly. With the help of his family and employees, the Lego factory was miraculously rebuilt on the ruins.

After the reconstruction, the Lego factory added some modern large-scale production equipment. However, the scale of the Lego factory is still limited, and there are not many employees, just like a craftsman organization. Everyone is honest and responsible, and everyone helps each other, which is very cohesive and team spirit. Every morning before starting work, all employees and Christensen will get together for a short prayer meeting, which has been a custom since the 1960s. Before 195 1 held the first rationalization proposal meeting, the strong friendship between employees and between employees and bosses was still very obvious. One of Lego's mottos is "We are together".

Mr. Christensen has always believed that quality and integrity are the foundation of his career, and he demands extremely high quality for any work, even for his own children. Once, his son, Godfred Kirk christiansen, saved a working procedure when painting a wooden duck toy, and happily told his father that he had saved the company money. His father said angrily, "Why did you do this?" He explained, "I only drew a duck twice, not the usual three times." Mr. Christensen immediately said, "Take those ducks back at once, paint them for the last time, repackage them and send them to customers." All this work must be done by yourself, even if it is all night! "

Lego entered the plastic age.

After the war, plastics became a new material and technology. Perhaps because of his personality, Christensen keenly seized this opportunity and invested in a high-value injection molding machine. From 65438 to 0947, Lego entered the plastic age with cellulose acetate as plastic raw material. The first Lego toy made of plastic was a fish-shaped baby rocking ring. Early Lego particles are listed in 1949, and they are called "self-connecting particles". These particles have 4-8 hollow buttons at the top, which can only be used for simple stacking. But it was difficult to get molds and raw materials in those days. A lot of experiments are needed to gain experience in mold production. Christensen's family believes that plastic technology will weaken the company's financial strength. They advised their father to concentrate on making wooden toys. Mr Christensen said, "Don't you have confidence? Can't you see? If we can produce plastic toys, we will sell Lego plastic particles all over the world. "

Since the late 1940s, Lego has become a family business. His four sons joined the company one after another. Carl George was trained as a joiner and was in charge of plastic production. Gao De is a dairy businessman who is responsible for producing wooden toys. Jon is responsible for transportation; Gottfried has been the assistant executive president since 1950s, when they have developed into a small factory with 140 people. Gottfried has been thinking about how to develop the toy industry since the ban on imported toys was lifted. Can you consider quitting? 1953, the company began to cooperate with a Norwegian plastic factory, which rented molds from Bilong to produce and sell Lego toys in Norway.

Edit the game introduction.

In China, three Lego games have passed Ogilvy & Mather's localization testing and are ready to go public. Let's take a look at the games made by toy giants first! Lego's computer

"LEGO Loco" joked that users are between 6 and 99 years old. Although this statement is somewhat exaggerated, it also clearly shows their purpose-suitable for all ages. In the game, players use given related components, including the components of the system and the surrounding building models, to build a real and crazy train world. This game can be played online, so close players from all over the world can * * form the same great railway kingdom instead of competing with each other, and-well, the final construction result can even be made into a screensaver for online communication and competition! One more thing, in the mail train, players can also design and make postcards, and then send them to players who also use traffic ambassadors all over the world through this train. Similarly, as a casual game, players can also let their PC do other work while driving the train. What's up? Is it cool?

Want to learn chess? Do you feel that the process is boring and you can't even hire a teacher? I used to think so, but Lego chess makes everyone's nightmare beautiful. For the first time, this puzzle chess game turns a complicated chess activity into an interesting confrontation between the two armies. In the chessboard world where the visual angle can be chosen at will, the 3D shapes developed by Lego classic toy figures represent different pieces. Players can play ordinary games or choose story mode to develop interesting plots, and enjoy wonderful animation every time they eat an enemy chess piece, which greatly increases the entertainment of the game. The game is aimed at children aged 6- 12, but because the theme is chess, it is actually suitable for all ages, and the game also provides a tutorial written by a professional chess coach, which is more helpful for everyone to get started and improve their chess skills.

On the other hand, Lego Creator is a pure construction game, which is aimed at customers over 8 years old. In the game, players should make full use of all kinds of building blocks, such as basic chess pieces, figures, vehicles, building models and so on. , and strive to build a 3D game world. Although you can also build the same world with these building blocks in reality, the difference of the game is that it can make the whole world "live". All the movable building blocks will move according to the route you set and make corresponding sounds. You can also make the dolls inside make your sounds. What's more, there are "explosive building blocks" dedicated to "terrorist activities"! I don't know when your world will be destroyed, even if it is partially damaged, it is sad enough. Besides ... SOB ... I have to dry my tears and start over-I really can't imagine what kind of world this will be.

Lego shows us an ancient and often new corporate culture. Even with the great development of PC games today, they can still grasp the pulse of the times and create a new world for traditional puzzle games. Perhaps, this is the only way for traditional enterprises to combine with new technologies to gain new life.

Lego RCX classroom robot

From 65438 to 0998, Lego Education launched a series of brainstorming "RCX classroom robots" that changed the world trend and traditional science and technology education. This original learning tool effectively combines Lego's powerful building block system, computer programming and rich classroom activities, giving students the opportunity to use their imagination to design their own robots. This has brought a brand-new way of education to the traditional curriculum of the school.

Today, Lego RCX classroom robot education platform has been used in more than 25,000 educational institutions around the world, from kindergartens to universities and research institutions.

In 2006, Lego Education launched a new generation of NXT Bluetooth robots, which allowed students to experience the fun of exploring science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the process of building by themselves. By constructing and writing programs to control the creative learning process of Lego NXT Bluetooth robot, students over 8 years old can gradually develop their learning skills. Lego NXT Bluetooth robot set, convenient software and systematic classroom activities make NXT Bluetooth robot a learning tool to stimulate students' imagination and practice. It is also specially designed for teachers and other educators.

Lego classroom robots help countless students master science, technology, engineering and mathematics flexibly in the following ways.

Science: study the relationship between energy conversion, force, speed and power and the influence of friction; Understand the difference between science and technology.

Technology: programming and controlling input and output port equipment; Apply new wireless communication technology; Use the Internet to learn and share information; Using multimedia to complete classroom scientific activities.

Engineering: collective discussion and solution; Select one of them, and then build, program, test and improve the optimization scheme.

Mathematics: gain practical experience in measuring distance, circumference and angular velocity; Use coordinates; Conversion between decimal and fraction, conversion between metric and available units; Applying mathematical reasoning methods in different practical projects.

Creativity, problem-solving ability and teamwork: while cultivating learning ability, it also stimulates students' creativity, problem-solving ability and teamwork ability. Students need to face different challenges together and cooperate to share their ideas and solve practical problems.

Edit the news related to this paragraph

The brand of this enterprise ranks 1 14 in the top 500 world brands compiled by the World Brand Lab in 2006.

Whether Lego bricks, the toys of the industrial age, can continue to be brilliant in the information age depends on whether it can find the fate of a new generation of consumers.

Recently, a German man named Marley Hawking used more than 300,000 Lego blocks to build a model of the American nuclear-powered carrier Truman Nimitz. This model touched the captain of Truman and invited the Germans to visit the real Truman.

The origin of this model work is that Marley Hawking watched a documentary about an aircraft carrier and was inspired. He immediately rummaged through the storeroom, found the Lego bricks he had played before, and began to put them into practice. Like Marley Hawking, Lego bricks have also opened many people's interest in exploring the world. Nearly 300 million people around the world have played with Lego bricks, and children spend about 5 billion hours playing with Lego bricks every year! This year, Lego World 2007 will be held in Chicago, USA. By then, the ever-changing brick world will be wonderfully connected with the real world through people's imagination.

People are keen on those building blocks, not because they can kill time when building models, but because they can meet people's needs for quick success and instant benefit, which may also reflect the needs of the whole society. Lego company rose in Denmark during the Great Depression in 1930s. Lego has a purpose, "not driven by money", and it is this belief beyond money that helps Lego get out of the depressed economic recession and rebuild people's confidence in facing reality.

Outdated toys

However, with the information age replacing the industrial age, people's lifestyle has undergone earth-shaking changes due to the rapid development of high technology, and small building blocks have been more and more strongly impacted. Since 1998, Lego's bad news has been incessant, with declining sales and losses year after year. In 2004, Lego announced that its pre-tax loss reached $255 million. It seems that economic prosperity has left Lego far behind.

The decline in Lego sales is particularly prominent in the United States. In the past, Lego's sales in the US market accounted for 40%, but in recent years, it has not performed well. In September 2006, Mike, an American boy who loves Lego "brainstorming NXT robot", went to the Lego store in Chicago during the summer vacation. Mike is looking forward to a summer. He intends to buy a souvenir to show his love for Lego, but he can't find souvenirs such as T-shirts and baseball caps. Finally, he is disappointed.

In this era of consumption, Mike wants to spend money on something he likes, but he can't buy it. Is this Mike's embarrassment or Lego's embarrassment? Mike's mother is very sensitive to the children's feelings. In her view, Lego should develop more related products, which are simple, non-technical and can retain customers well. When one day children grow up and stop playing with building blocks, they can continue to be loyal to the Lego brand.

As the keen mother said, if more and more children stop playing with building blocks, Lego's life will be very sad. The well-known trend in the industry is that the phenomenon of "age compression" or "KGOY" is more and more around us. In fact, Lego was anxious about the future for a long time, aware of the fierce competition in the toy market, and frequently attacked from left to right, and began to implement the diversification strategy in the mid-1990s. In addition to Denmark, Britain, the United States and Germany have established theme parks. Cooperate with F 1 Williams Racing Team to make children interested in this sport. In 2002, Lego developed games based on Star Wars and Harry Potter movies, which once made the company's sales reach a record $65.438+$93 million. But it didn't last long. Once the support of Hollywood is lost, the sales performance will plummet. In 2003, Lego Company suffered the third loss. This also made Lego decide to return to the fundamentals and refocus on the classic building block department with a history of 50 years. Business strategies have changed again and again, and consumers are quite skeptical about Lego's changes. After a long ride, Lego returned to its previous power point. Lego ran around like a headless fly, bent on finding its own big cake.

Lego wants to expand its audience, but it will eventually return to the minority group. This seems to be worrying about "who will like their products". Nowadays, more children and adults are addicted to the online game Phantom Legend, and Lego seems to be only an educational tool for a small number of people to practice their thinking. For many people, people who build aircraft carrier models with Lego bricks are cool and a little nostalgic. 1999 At the end of the 20th century, Fortune magazine named Lego bricks as "century toys". Lego played a decisive role in human life in the 20th century. The insiders believe that "Lego bricks belong to the industrial age, when children like to build things and play on the grass like construction workers." In the 2 1 century, can Lego's building blocks continue to open the valve of wisdom for the new century? Danish Business Daily once commented: "The biggest problem of Lego is its products." In the era of "pan-entertainment", the sense of space and rational thinking inspired by Lego may not match such an era of "fast food". Perhaps, Lego bricks have faded out of the vision of an era and gradually drifted away from modern fashion life.

Turn to perceptual consumption

Lego's brand spirit, which arose in the economic depression era, does not seem to have been further expanded and updated in such an era of entertainment first and singing and dancing life. In the past few years, Lego has continuously developed high-tech products and developed educational games relying on computers and the Internet, such as Lego Loco, Bionics and Lego Creato. Lego conjured up these strange and clever things like magic. Mike's mother lives in the United States. When she was brainstorming NXT robots for her children, she had a complaint: on the MAC, Lego's robot software could not support Bluetooth. Intel Mac was released more than a year earlier than NXT Robot, which made her feel very unhappy because she could not get rid of the cable. From Mike's mother's complaints, we can easily find that Lego is not well integrated into the technology and digital age. When talking about the best products and designs in 2006, Mr Keith Baden of university of the arts london talked about Apple's iPod, not because of its advanced technology, but because it looks great, feels great and makes people happy to use it. "I have two iPod, and I'm going to buy another one." It's that simple. Nowadays, good goods may be a pleasant experience, but Lego is a bit clumsy in Mike's mother's eyes.

The sense of separation formed by Lego in the hearts of children and mothers may gradually open the distance between this family and even many consumers. Correspondingly, Mike's sister is also fascinated by LIMITED. LIMITED TOO is a girl's clothing store in America. The store often exudes a comfortable and elegant atmosphere, and the background music is a sweet female voice. This affinity even infected the children's parents, and more importantly, there is no bad tendency here. Mike's sister can't wait to visit LIMITED, and parents are happy to show their children the healthy and comfortable environment here. Lego and LIMITED TOO had a fierce impression collision in this American family. Lego, from the Nordic continent, has always advocated the purpose of "entertaining through education", forming a carrier full of wisdom, reasoning and imagination in the hearts of consumers. The connotation "fun" of Lego brand obtained through construction and exploration seems to be somewhat tortuous in this era of "pan-entertainment". Nowadays, with the popularity of "perceptual consumption", the affinity of LIMITED TOO store suddenly caught consumers, but Mike was disappointed with his close contact with Lego. How Lego communicates the "life gate" of consumers' perceptual interests should be the goal of Lego's continuous efforts. Lego has been expanding the brand connotation of rationality and wisdom in recent years, but perhaps the perceptual experience of LIMITED TOO can give Lego some inspiration.

"Lego, there are new toys every day." This slogan has been translated into six languages and widely circulated in different countries and regions. A brand with lasting influence should be connected with the emotions of the audience, and it should be able to soothe consumers' subconscious needs and satisfy people's mental hallucinations. Under the impact of new ideas and new ways such as "perceptual consumption", "landscape society" and "Lohas spirit", finding a suitable product experience in the 2 1 century may be the biggest task of Lego bricks. To realize the ideal of lasting success, perhaps, it is far more important to continuously comfort people than the function of the product.