In 2018, LEGO Technic faced the challenge of declining awareness and coolness levels amongst its core target groups of older kids and younger adults. The brief from LEGO Marketing was simple but ambitious: revitalize the declining brand by showing the unlimited possibilities of the Technic building system.

Working from the insight that “coolness” is a highly appreciated (and shareable) commodity amongst our target audience, we decided that LEGO Technic needed something big and spectacular. Under the campaign banner of Build for Real, we set out to create a “wow” moment that would grab the target audiences’ attention and put LEGO Technic firmly back in the spotlight.

When we looked at the proposed 2018 product portfolio for LEGO Technic, we quickly realized that one model and partner stood out: the Bugatti Chiron.

We therefore devised a two-step campaign that enhanced the launch of the LEGO Technic 1:8 scale model of the Chiron with the development of a spectacular 1:1 drivable LEGO Technic Chiron built out of a minimum of 90% Technic elements.

Our vehicle took over 13,000 man hours to construct, was made up of over a million Technic elements and was powered by 2304 of our tiny LEGO Power Function motors usually used in smaller LEGO Technic models.

With our completed vehicle, we knew had tested the Technic building system to the max and constructed something amazing, the next goal was to create the assets and the media strategy to get our vehicle into the newsfeeds of as many people as possible.

The core target audience for LEGO Technic is older +12 LEGO kids, plus younger adults who have returned to the brand and to LEGO building as a hobby. Both groups appreciate the challenge of building advanced LEGO models that are full of realistic features and functions from real-life vehicles.

They also have a shared passion for engineering, mechanics and high-performance supercars and brands, and are quick to discover and share content that taps into their interests.

Our approach was to ensure that we became a part of their conversation and to provide them with a spectacular story and content that they would feel compelled to share with others.

Our 1:1 drivable version of the iconic Bugatti Chiron was the perfect combination of two cool brands (Bugatti and LEGO Technic), challenging technology and a never-seen-before idea.

The campaign kicked off on June 1st 2018 at a special event for the 1:8 model launch. it was live-streamed and supported by a comprehensive retail campaign. The second stage began on August 31st, when we announced our full-sized version of the Chiron. In a highly coordinated campaign, we published different videos across social media to target specific audiences. The hero asset was a cinematic YouTube film that followed the car’s first test run. This was supported simultaneously with a shorter facts & figures newsroom piece for social media. A longer documentary video revealing the broader story behind our vehicle followed soon after.

Selected journalists and influencers were briefed prior to launch, while a dedicated media page gave everyone else access to a bank of photo and pre-subtitled video assets to use in their own content development. Bugatti mirrored the launch by releasing all our assets on their own channels.

We reached over 60 million people via our owned channels alone. There were 70 million organic views of our content and it was watched for a total of 22.5 million minutes. The campaign generated over 1300 broadcast pieces and 5900 editorial pieces in over 100 countries. Earned Media Value was estimated to be equal to $57.6 million.