An idea to celebrate creative play and beam attention onto the latest SPACE range.
LEGO Australia has launched an integrated, earned-first campaign that embraces the limitless potential that lies beyond our planet.
With research revealing 70% of children want to travel to space, LEGO Australia continued its long-standing partnership with Thrive PR & Communications and asked the agency to come up with an an idea to celebrate creative play and beam attention onto the latest SPACE range.
Thrive responded with an idea to build a crop circle in regional NSW setting the scene with a secret exploration with some of the country’s highest profile space-loving talent.
The crop circle spanned 50 metres in diameter and was large enough to be seen from space, creating speculation in media and online, further amplified by a talent and an above-the-line campaign.
“We couldn’t take kids to space but we had an ambition to bring SPACE to earth,” Thrive executive director Clare Basire said.
“The technical and logistical considerations are not obvious. Those with a keen eye could discern that the crop circle design drew inspiration from the iconic LEGO Minifigure, with scaled dimensions of a LEGO Minifigure hand and head forming part of the geometric design which was perfectly accurate to meet global brand guidelines."
The small regional town of Narromine was the location for the crop circle for its low light pollution and the region’s strong space legacy.
News was shared in stages, with a two week ‘teaser’ phase leaning into internet conspiracy theories with supporting nano creators, while paid creative and radio placements by media agency Initiative also heightened discussions around the earned narrative in the lead up to the general distribution.
LEGO Australia and New Zealand then declassified the mission, revealing that it was responsible for the stunt tapping into the curiosity of space explorers of tomorrow.
For the campaign’s launch and reveal, LEGO Australia and New Zealand announced a collaboration with the Australian Space Agency and the first astronaut trained under the Australian flag, Katherine Bennell-Pegg.
LEGO Australia and New Zealand marketing director Justine McKenny said the company's challenge to Thrive was to bend the rules and deliver an integrated campaign that was a 10/10 on the coolness scale to excite kids aged 6-12.
"When they proposed the idea of collaborating with the Australian Space Agency, we knew this would become a stellar partnership that would go above and beyond the original brief. Since the campaign’s launch in late June, this component helped to generate ‘out of this world’ talkability across earned, owned, paid and social channels," McKenny said.
“The LEGO Group’s brand mission ‘Rebuild the World’ challenges us to think differently and create inclusive play opportunities for all the world’s kids. Taking this approach in the launch of LEGO Space in ANZ allowed us to embrace bold storylines, creative and narratives that Thrive helped us bring to life with stellar results.
Thrive PR founder and CEO Leilani Abels said imagine the opportunity to ‘Rebuild the World’ with LEGO.
"It’s a very special partnership with the LEGO Australia & New Zealand team. This brief allowed us to insert the LEGO brand into the cultural zeitgeist of space thanks to creative thinking and a collaborative communications strategy.”
Credits:
Campaign: LEGO SPACE
Brand: LEGO Australia & New Zealand
Senior Director, Head of Marketing: Justine McKenny
Brand Manager: Hollie Hill
Brand Relations Managers: Millie Williams and Leah Russell
AU/NZ Agency: Thrive PR & Communications
Founder & CEO: Leilani Abels
Executive Director: Clare Basire
Integrated PR & Talent/Social team: Jenna Woods, Amy Lee, Hugh Preston, Chloe Koutsoukis, Lilli Kargiotis, Samantha Drummond, Lucy Lee, Bethany Fuller, Ash Bruton, Briar Barratt-Boyes, Madi Hewett
Event Agency: SoldOut Event
Managing Director: Kim Voss
CEO: Thomas B. Staunton
Media Agency: Initiative
Client Director: Sharyn Keller
Content Production: BRIGHTWORKS
Producer/Director: Cameron D’Arcy
