The LEGO Group picked immersive experience company Rock Paper Reality to help them inspire girls to play with LEGO in last month’s MAD//Fest Brand Challenge.

The Challenge 

At last month’s MAD//Fest The LEGO Group’s Brand Director for the UK, Claudia Miceli, told the Brand Innovation Stage audience that “while the majority of parents think of the LEGO brand as a good example of an inclusive toy brand, our research shows that it is still perceived as more relevant to boys.” 

Therefore, the challenge to the start and scale ups was to help LEGO understand how they can engage further and longer with girls to continue to support their development in the world of play and creativity. 

Miceli was looking for three specific things from a successful pitch. 

  • Something anchored in Lego’s top three values - Fun, Creativity, and Imagination. 
  • Something truly innovative that they would not have thought of before.
  • Something that supports girls to develop further and what she referred to as ‘confident creativity’ that is at the centre of LEGO’s play. 

Rock, Paper, Reality’s Solution

Pitching for Rock Paper Reality was their Head of Partnerships, Sam Field and their solution was based on an AI-powered augmented reality (AR) companion that integrates with existing LEGO sets. 

This AR companion allows young girls to engage with their favourite characters, like Elsa and Anna from Frozen, through interactive conversations that also introduce STEM, (science, technology engineering, and maths), concepts in a personalised and engaging manner. 

The platform aims to break down gender stereotypes by featuring strong female role models, such as female scientists and astronauts, and gradually introducing STEM subjects in a fun and accessible way. The solution also provides valuable real-time insights into what interests young girls, helping brands tailor future products and potentially creating new revenue streams through subscriptions.

Watch the full pitch to find out more about:

  • How Rock Paper Reality can use QR codes to enable seamless integration of this technology with existing LEGO sets.
  • How girls (and other customers) taking personality tests can not only help them with what sets will be best for them,(the customer), but can help inform LEGO on what future sets will sell and need to be developed. 
  • Why Mecili thought that Rock Paper Reality’s solution really tapped in to the idea of ‘role modelling’ which hit all three of LEGO’s top three values. 

You can watch all the MAD//Fest London action on our YouTube channel.