Growing up, playing certain games has always been an integral part of our lives. The forms of games, rules of the games, or the names might differ but it’s certainly an undeniable aspect of childhood. And as we speak of childhood, if a certain brand which has defined the childhood of millions across the globe, is none other than Lego. And before we delve into why the story is about them today, let’s get to know a bit about them.
Lego has a very interesting story in itself. Founded in 1932, this Danish company has been serving the kids with their firm Lego bricks for many decades. Interestingly, the bricks built around 1958 can still be used properly. The science of neural development in a child has been attributed to their products. But when it did enter the Indian market, it surprisingly couldn’t replicate a similar success story. This can be attributed to their pricing, failure to position, and lack of understanding of the market. The other day, I was discussing with an alumnus of Asper how markets work differently in India and North America. With the presence of a huge unorganized toy sector dominated by reduced prices and economies of scale of neighboring countries, operating price points became a major issue in the Indian market. But that’s not the story today. It did something which can prove to be a major change in the way we look at business. Before we discuss any further, let’s go down memory lane and sneak into the games we played.
Often parents tag certain games to a particular gender. Games based on sports, adrenaline rush are for boys while those related to certain stereotypical elements are for girls. Of course, there are instances where parents have risen to the occasion and supported their children. That’s the reason we find so many talents breaking the ceiling in respective fields. Still, there exists a huge asymmetry in the way games are looked at from a gender point of view. This imposes certain major challenges. Firstly, gender as a concept has moved way beyond binary and it’s time we start acknowledging it normally. Being a child, it becomes almost impossible to associate with any of these choices. Under these circumstances, if the child is tagged, the process acts as a stigma in a later phase, and in addition to societal norms, peer pressure tries to punch the person down. On the contrary, if the child is provided with options, it gives them normal breathing space and what we think of as taboo today can be turned into normal reality. Secondly, there is a huge gender disparity in terms of opportunities, wages, roles, and in our society in general that needs to be addressed and talked about more often. As per Mckinsey reports, post-2015, there has been marginal progress towards gender equality. Pandemic just made things no better. Still, in most parts of the world, the rising disparity has made a consequential increase in insecurities, double shift efforts, challenges in personal space, and many more dynamics. If these concerns are addressed in the very early stages of a person’s life, there are hopes for a positive change.
Coming back to Lego. Their research revealed harmful stereotypes are causing hindrance in the growth of children and parents alike. Researchers figured out that almost 71% of the boys surveyed had fear of being tagged as “playing with girl’s toys.” Even parents suffer from a stigma of their child getting shamefully associated with the other gender while just playing with a toy. The study revealed that the behavior is predominantly stimulated by parents who encourage gender-specific games and toys for their children. In a society, where voices are mostly dominated by patriarchy, these revelations come as an alarming sign to the future at large.
With all these arguments in place, a pertinent question that might arise is why and/or how the toy industry can be a harbinger of this movement? And the answer is summed up beautifully by Prof. Gina Rippon, author of The Gendered Brain and a prominent neurobiologist. She thinks that there is still encouragement amongst girls to play with boys’ stuff but not the other way around. Since, toys are mediums to train a child, reducing gender differential in the usage of toys will enable boys to learn more nurturing skills while girls can enhance spatial skills.
Lego has thus pledged to work on removing the gender disparity among children. Traditionally, boys enjoy the major share of segment pie but certain products like Lego City Wildlife Rescue camp or Lego Dots are crafted for both boys and girls. They have now shifted their focus significantly to nurturing, improving spatial skills, creative reasoning, and awareness. They no longer label products based on gender. In a digital space, they have stopped gender-based filters in their product assortments and search. In promotion, they are trying to bring more female role models. And I quote Julia Goldin, CMO, Lego Group, “Our job now is to encourage boys and girls who want to play with sets that may have traditionally been seen as ‘not for them’”
Well, this seems to be a welcome move where we come up and talk about pertinent issues not previously touched upon. We only hope other brands also join the race soon!!
Until then! Ciao!
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