Monday, August 18, 2008

Lego CEO Wants 1/5 of Revenue to Come from Online

There are a lot of reasons that the toy
industry is looking to the virtual world. Richard Gottlieb, a toy
industry commentator and President of Richard Gottlieb &
Associates, LLC, offered several of them in a March MyTurn piece:
kids are increasingly comfortable with digital play, costs of
production for physical toys are on the rise, and an opportunity to
extend play in new directions. Lego, along with many others in the toy industry, is taking notice. In an interview with Forbes,
Lego CEO Joergen Vig Knudstorp notes the increasing cost of raw
materials and explains that the upcoming Lego Universe is part of a
large step in a new direction. "We are not a true Web 2.0 type of
business yet, but the 'Lego Universe' is our first attempt [to enter]
that world," said Knudstorp. "We want to have 20.0% of our revenues
coming from the online business, but we also want Lego to stay very
physical and real."

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