Innovative products and more effective marketing will be priorities for toymaker Lego this year, after it published poor 2017 results on Tuesday.
The toy brick company suffered a fall in annual sales for the first time since 2004, with Chief Executive Niels B. Christiansen saying there would be no “quick fix.” Revenues were down 8 percent to 35 billion Danish crowns ($5.8 billion) from 37.9 billion in 2016.
“We have a lot of focus around innovative products, so making our great products even better. We have a lot of focus about making the effectiveness of the marketing go up. We are shifting towards digital and we are spending a lot in that area as well,” Christiansen said at the results presentation in Billund, Denmark.
A third focus will be on allowing creative teams to make decisions and act more quickly.
But Lego still topped many children’s Christmas wish lists, especially in the U.S. and Germany, according to Chief Marketing Officer Julia Goldin. The company’s Lego City and Star Wars sets did particularly well, as did Lego Friends, a range aimed at girls, Goldin said at the results presentation.
