The “kidult” economy is taking off.
Toy recipients aged 18-plus represented 16% of US toy sales, or $6.7 billion, in the 12 months to September 2023, up from $6 billion in the same period last year, according to the market research company Circana.
Lego considers itself the trendsetter.
“We are noticing a shift, but we are also driving it,” Lego Chief Product and Marketing Officer Julia Goldin told Business Insider of the “kidult” trend.
“This is an insight we capitalized on, understood well, and decided to do something about,” Goldin said. “People think it was COVID-related, but actually it wasn’t — we develop our portfolio two years in advance.”
Lego noticed that while some adults had a pent-up desire to build with its famed colorful bricks, many didn’t know that Lego made products for them, or simply didn’t want to buy “toys.” From 2020, Lego began releasing more products for adults, packaged in sleek black boxes, and focused on what Goldin describes as “passion points.”
“We are tapping into culture,” Goldin said. “Whenever we decide to lean into a passion point we only want to do it in a way that’s going to be adding value and really unique.”
Lego’s “Botanical Collection” has been popular with older consumers, Goldin said. Many who buy its $59.99 bouquets of roses, for example, are first-time Lego buyers who are gifting for dinner parties instead of bringing real flowers, or building them together with a partner on date nights. Lego will be putting further efforts around its botanical range around key occasions in 2024, Goldin said.
Lego’s partnerships expand its audience
Lego also uses partnerships with cultural movers and shakers to attract more kidults to its product.
On Thursday, Lego announced a new Formula 1 range, including a recreation of the 1988 McLaren MP4/4 complete with a minifigure of racing driver Ayrton Senna, and other sets featuring cars from BMW and Mercedes-AMG. The toys are designed for an array of ages and building abilities.
Lego also has plans this year to tap into other major intellectual property with big fandoms. In October, Pharrell Williams biopic, “Piece by Piece,” will be released to movie theaters, which will be told using Lego animation. On Thursday, it’s releasing a 1,300-piece “Ornithopter” set inspired by “Dune Part 2.”
Catering to kidults brings more actual kids to Lego
Goldin said appealing to adults’ nostalgia and sense of play doesn’t just broaden the age range of Lego’s audience — it feeds into the company’s top priority of attracting more kids to the brand.
A survey of 55,000 parents and children in 30 countries conducted by Lego in 2022 found that 95% of parents said playing together builds stronger family bonds and improves their well-being.
“We know from data if adults themselves are engaged, the kids around them — whether they are their own kids, kids of their friends, their nieces and nephews — they buy more for their kids, they help their kids build, so we know this is a way for us to achieve our No. 1 priority, which is children,” Goldin said.
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