Direct Mail We Love: Lego Club Magazine
A more accurate headline might be “Direct Mail My Kids Love.” When the Lego Club Magazine arrives, my boys get as excited as
Navin R. Johnson when the new phone book arrives.
The magazine is an impressive hybrid of advertising and relationship building. Every page promotes a specific Lego building set or line, with mentions of exclusive retailers like Target and links to more information online.
But kids who get the magazine feel like they’re really part of a club, beyond just getting a magazine. Lego did have an official Brickmasters club, which has been discontinued (a store employee told me it would be relaunched later this year).
And while I’m sure Lego is looking forward to getting membership fees again from building enthusiasts eager to get the member-exclusive sets, the magazine is a nice placeholder.
Every page offers some sort of interactivity, which makes the hard sell a bit easier for this parent to swallow. There are puzzles (solutions on legoclub.com, where kids can also enter special codes from the magazine for building tips), announcements about live events like Lego Kidsfest and the Ninjago Spinjitzu Masters tour, comics and pictures of club members and their own Lego creations.
The latest issue also featured a clever “Cars” themed board game, suggesting kids use Lego bricks for their dice and game pieces to race along with Lightning McQueen.
In my household, at least, the magazine works wonders to build a brand that I honestly wouldn’t have thought could be strengthened any more, judging by the number of bricks I accidentally step on daily.
