I researched partnerships for last Thursday’s class but did not get to share it with my classmates, so I decided to share it here instead, which is about LEGO’s Partnerships with WWF and UNICEF.
For the partnership with WWF, LEGO has become part of the climate savers program, which engages businesses and industries on climate and energy. By being a member of such a program, LEGO has committed to reducing CO2 emissions and waste by 10% per brick they produce and using renewable energy. Besides that, they also establish an environmental engagement program that educates the encourage their employees to reduce their energy use, waste, and water consumption.
As for the partnership with UNICEF, LEGO has implemented and advocated for Children’s Rights and Business Principles, a 10-point charter outlining how a company can respect and support children’s rights to create a safe environment and protect their well-being. Besides, they also made many achievements, such as introducing an industry-first Digital Child Safety Policy, co-creating the ‘Child Online Safety Assessment’ tool that can be accessed through LEGO’s website, and much more.
That is a lot of content. But from this, we can know that LEGO actually put in lots of effort in such partnerships and has made quite a few achievements.
One sentence that hit me really hard during last week’s class is, “enlightened self-interest is the only genuinely sustainable motive.” At first, this sounds very… I do not know how to explain, but this is very true. Companies only started to think about sustainability when they found the benefits of doing so, and the customers asked for it. In this case, LEGO’s biggest customers are children! Maybe that is why they put so much effort into these partnerships. Despite whether these actions are genuine or not, it is remarkable that companies are working towards being more sustainable and caring about children. As the industry leader in toy manufacturing, LEGO has set an excellent example for other companies to follow. I am excited to see what else they plan to do.
References:
- https://www.lego.com/en-us/sustainability/environment/wwf-partnership/
- https://www.lego.com/en-us/sustainability/children/unicef-partnership/
Hi Gigi, this is such a fun collab – it’s great to see Lego follow up with their other sustainability initiatives (e.g., their recycled plastic bricks) and advocate for environmental issues through their business models. I think LEGO’s investment and underscoring of the power of young minds is impactful. Your blog post reminded me of LEGO’s marketing strategy in which they partnered with children to create a handbook on saving the planet and set it to release before COP26, to “give children a voice”. Utilising their influence to impact future generations creates a lot of good while preserving the fun and imaginative brand personality that they’ve maintained since their inception.
Check out more about their handbook here: https://inhabitat.com/children-help-lego-write-handbook-on-saving-planet-for-cop26/
Hi Gigi,
This is such a cool partnership! I think LEGO has a strong following from adults who have very nostalgic memories from when they were a kid and positive associations with the brand. By partnering with organizations like WWF and Unicef, LEGO is spotlighting the causes of these organizations to adults which is fantastic. As you mentioned, LEGO’s main demographic is children. I think these partnerships are also a great idea to educate children at an early age about the causes of these organizations as well as the importance of sustainability and biodiversity.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this. As we have seen throughout the course, a big part of CSR is having actions to back your talk. I believe Lego is doing just that through their partnerships, it shows that they care and that their CSR reports and commitment are things they are actively pursuing and not simply greenwashing. Additionally, I think you are right, these initiatives are in line with their brand, and maybe they are only doing it because it benefits their brand, but I would argue that makes them all the more credible and valuable because it almost seems like a natural extension of the brand that Lego would partner with Unicef to protect children.
Interesting blog post Gigi! I’m always super happy to see companies truly giving back to social and environmental causes, especially when they contribute to these issues themselves. Although they are partnering with the WWF and Unicef while committing to reducing their carbon footprint through renewable energy, part of me thinks they are still completely missing the mark on their carbon footprint. After all, Lego produces 60 billion bricks per year out of plastic. Not to mention, lego almost never ends up in recycling bins since it feels wasteful to throw out a fully-functioning toy and their products are targeted towards children who likely are less knowledgable about the climate crises in the first place.