The 'Surprised' campaign by Lego, launched in France in 2014, centers on showcasing the innate creativity of children through a digital experience involving five mothers and their kids. The core brand proposition emphasizes Lego as a catalyst for creative expression, highlighting the brand’s role in unlocking and celebrating the surprising imaginative potential of children. The campaign promises not just a product but an enriching experience that fosters emotional connections, creativity, and joyful discovery.
Strategically, the campaign taps into the insight that parents—especially mothers—value and actively nurture their children’s creative development. By featuring real mothers and their reactions to their children’s creative builds, the campaign adopts a relatable, emotional narrative that resonates with its primary audience: parents who see Lego as both a plaything and an educational tool. This performance-driven approach leverages user-generated content style authenticity to build trust and engagement, encouraging parents to envision the possibilities Lego offers for their kids’ growth. Focusing on digital channels aligns with contemporary media consumption habits, enabling a direct and interactive connection within the gaming and consumer durables crossover. The emphasis on surprise and emotional response reframes play as a meaningful, shareable family moment rather than mere entertainment, deepening the brand’s relevance in the parenting segment.
FORMAT#10 ASSOCIATED USER IMAGERY — Shows a user profile the target audience can relate to or aspire to.
This campaign centers on "5 mamans" (five moms) and their children, highlighting the creativity of kids through participation in a LEGO® experience and the moms’ resulting surprise and emotional reactions. The focus here is not on a problem–solution narrative or an explicit demonstration, but rather on depicting relatable users (parents and their children) engaging with the product. By showcasing real families and the joy, surprise, and creativity their children experience with LEGO, the ad creates an aspirational and relatable scenario for its target audience—parents who desire similar moments of creativity and emotional connection with their own children. This user imagery, rather than a plot-heavy story or symbolic device, is the campaign’s core creative approach. See: https://www.clapboard.com/blog/branding-and-advertising/brand-strategy/12-advertising-creative-formats
1. Mattel – Market Positioning
Mattel leverages its rich portfolio of iconic toy brands (such as Barbie and Hot Wheels) to integrate gaming elements, emphasizing cross-platform playability and family-oriented digital experiences. Their strategy focuses on combining physical toys with digital content to enhance engagement and create a seamless play experience.
2. Hasbro – Market Positioning
Hasbro positions itself as a leader in interactive entertainment by merging traditional toys with digital gaming experiences. Its focus is on storytelling franchises (like Transformers and Monopoly), providing immersive, narrative-driven games that appeal to both children and nostalgic adults, enhancing brand loyalty through multi-channel engagement.
3. Ubisoft – Market Positioning
Ubisoft differentiates by delivering high-quality, story-rich gaming experiences with strong franchise recognition (e.g., Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance). While primarily a software publisher, they bridge into consumer durables through licensed merchandise and interactive products, focusing on innovation and cinematic gameplay to attract a broad demographic.
4. Nintendo – Market Positioning
Nintendo stands out by providing family-friendly, innovative gaming hardware and software that create unique interactive experiences. Their emphasis on creativity, nostalgia, and iconic characters (Mario, Zelda) positions them as a leader in blending play and entertainment, appealing to various age groups and promoting lifelong engagement.
5. Jazwares – Market Positioning
Jazwares distinguishes itself through licensed gaming-related toys that complement popular video game franchises, focusing on collectible figures and interactive playthings. Their strategic angle centers on capitalizing on current gaming trends and fandoms, delivering tangible products that extend the gaming experience beyond digital screens.
Q: What is Surprised about?
A: Surprised is a professional campaign launched in France in 2014 for the brand Lego, created by the agency Grey. This digital campaign is centered on the gaming industry and features a creative experience involving five mothers and their children. The campaign highlights the remarkable creativity of children as they engage with Lego construction sets, capturing the genuine surprise and emotional reactions of the participating mothers. By focusing on real families and their interactions, Surprised positions Lego as a catalyst for imaginative play and emotional connection, targeting a French-speaking family audience and reinforcing the brand’s role in childhood development.
Q: What creative device does Surprised use?
A: Surprised employs the FORMAT#10 ASSOCIATED USER IMAGERY approach from Clapboard’s 12-format classification system. This creative device showcases relatable user profiles—in this case, mothers and their children—engaging authentically with the product. Rather than relying on a narrative-driven plot or symbolic device, the campaign’s core technique is to present real families experiencing the creativity and joy that Lego enables. This user-centric format is designed to resonate with the target audience by depicting aspirational and emotionally engaging moments that parents can envision sharing with their own children.
Q: What is the campaign proposition for Surprised?
A: The campaign proposition for Surprised positions Lego as a facilitator of creative expression and emotional discovery for children, as experienced and witnessed by their parents. By centering on the authentic reactions of five mothers to their children’s imaginative Lego builds, the campaign speaks directly to parents—especially mothers—who value nurturing creativity and personal development in their kids. In the context of the consumer durables and gaming crossover, Surprised reframes Lego as more than a toy: it is presented as an enriching experience that fosters family connection, learning, and joyful surprise, reinforcing Lego’s relevance in contemporary parenting.
Q: How does Surprised rank in Clapboard's archive?
A: Surprised holds a Clapboard Campaign Score of 63/100 in Clapboard’s global ad archive. This score reflects the campaign’s creative ambition, execution quality, and cultural relevance as assessed by Clapboard’s curatorial standards.
Q: Who are the competitors in Lego's category?
A: In the competitive landscape for Lego, Mattel leverages its portfolio of iconic toy brands to integrate gaming elements and family-oriented digital experiences, while Hasbro focuses on interactive entertainment by merging toys with narrative-driven digital games. Ubisoft, though primarily a software publisher, bridges into consumer durables with licensed merchandise and innovative gameplay, and Nintendo stands out for its family-friendly gaming hardware and software that blend creativity and nostalgia. Jazwares differentiates itself through licensed gaming-related toys that extend popular video game franchises into collectible and interactive products, capitalizing on current gaming trends and fandoms.
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