樂高成功攻佔亞洲市場
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2013/11/22
2013-11-20 Web only 作者：經濟學人
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| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/wwworks/ |
在一間新加坡購物中心裡，譚喬伊（Joey
Tan，音譯）在時尚咖啡店和高檔手提包店之間，向新加坡消費者銷售一種非常不同、甚至有些激進的東西：玩樂。她的店面是「bricks4kids」的特許店面，專門銷售兒童課程，讓小孩玩樂高積木。顯然，她的事業正在起飛。
她的第一間店面於今年1月開設，也是bricks4kids在東南亞的第一間特許店面；但現在譚小姐已經多開了兩間店面，而且還有幾間店面正在計畫之中。她獲邀至學校開設樂高課程，更為東南亞其他地區潛在特許商進行訓練。
譚小姐表示，初期確實得克服一些質疑；畢竟，她住在「虎媽」的家鄉。要家長付錢讓小孩學習玩彩色積木，實在不符合部分傳統價值。新加坡就和其他渴求成功的亞洲社會一樣，小孩下課後通常得學習更多事物，例如音樂、數學等聽來嚴肅的傳統課程，好讓小孩無法一直玩樂；在家長心中，玩樂等同於懶惰和考試不及格。
不過，譚小姐認為，生於1980年代的年輕世代家長，對彈鋼琴和死記硬背的偏好程度應該會減少。她相信，這些年輕的貓媽說不定希望，小孩可以透過玩樂高學習創意、團體合作和問題解決。
那間製造彩色積木的丹麥公司當然同意她的看法。樂高在亞洲擁有優於世界其他地區的驚人成長；執行長努斯托普（Jorgen Vig Knudstrop）將此歸功於亞洲中產階級興起（他們有能力負擔相對昂貴的玩具），以及家長開始願意讓小孩透過玩樂學習。
樂高歷經表現強勁的2012年後，今年亞洲銷售額已成長35％，為亞洲玩具市場的五倍；中國銷售成長達70％，南韓35％，新加坡則為20％。明年，樂高將興建第一座中國工廠。目前，任何與樂高有關的東西，在亞洲的表現似乎都十分搶眼；馬來西亞的樂高樂園成立剛滿一周年，遊客人數已達100萬。
商業顧問公司SmithStreet的波頓（James Button）表示，樂高也在部分亞洲政府之中找到了支持者；他們的看法與貓媽相同，認為傳統的亞洲教育方式，無法培養在現代全球經濟中愈形重要的創意和獨立思考能力。樂高已與中國政府合作，開設官方贊助的課後樂高中心；目前中國已有20間樂高中心，南韓更有超過100間。
樂高為玩具製造商帶來的教訓是，想說服亞洲市場的家長付錢，單靠好玩是不夠的；波頓指出，樂高非常聰明地結合了教育和玩樂。這不但吸引了政府和母親，連小孩都喜歡。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013
The Economist
Lego in Asia
Who dares,
plays
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: November 20, 2013
Nov 16th 2013 | SINGAPORE |From the print edition
A toymaker taps into a new market for selling to pussycat mums.
SQUEEZED between the boutique cafés and posh handbag shops in a
Singapore shopping mall, Joey Tan is offering something very different, even
radical, to the city-state's consumers: play. Her shop, a franchise of
"bricks4kids", is selling classes for children to play with Lego
bricks, and her idea is clearly taking off.
Her initial outlet, the first in South-East Asia for the American
franchiser, opened only in January, but already Ms Tan has opened two more and
has several others in the pipeline. She has been invited to give Lego classes
in schools, and has been prepping potential bricks4kids franchisees from
elsewhere in the region.
Ms Tan says that she had to overcome some scepticism at first. After
all, she lives in the homeland of the "tiger mum". Asking parents to
pay extra for their kids to learn to play with coloured bricks flies in the
face of some deeply held values. Singapore's children, like those in Asia's
other aspirational societies, are often whisked off after school to yet more
classes—in music, maths, anything traditional and serious-sounding—to keep them
away from play, synonymous in their parents' minds with idleness and failing
exams.
Yet Ms Tan had a hunch that for a younger generation of parents, born
in the 1980s, those prejudices in favour of piano-bashing and rote learning
might be waning. She believes that these younger pussycat mums might instead
appreciate their children learning the creativity, teamwork and problem-solving
that, she argues, come from playing with Lego.
The Danish firm that makes the coloured bricks certainly agrees with
her. Lego has been enjoying extraordinary growth in Asia, much more so than in
the rest of the world. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, its chief executive, attributes
this success directly to the well-documented rise of an Asian middle class (who
can afford such a relatively expensive toy) coupled with a new-found
willingness of these parents to let their children learn through play.
All the bricks in China
After a strong 2012, Lego's sales to Asian consumers have risen by 35%
so far this year, outperforming the Asian toy market by a factor of five. Sales
have grown by 70% in China, 35% in South Korea and 20% in Singapore. The
company will start building its first factory in China next year. Anything
associated with Lego seems to flourish in Asia at the moment. The year-old
Legoland theme park in Malaysia, just across the border with Singapore, is
Asia's first. Run by Merlin, an entertainment group which floated successfully
on the London stockmarket on November 8th, it has already had 1m visitors.
James Button of SmithStreet, a business consultancy in Shanghai, says
Lego has found a receptive audience among some Asian governments, which agree
with pussycat mums that traditional Asian education techniques do not foster
the creativity and independent thinking that are increasingly needed in the
modern global economy. The firm has teamed up with the Chinese government to
open officially sponsored after-school Lego centres. There are now 20 of these
in China, and over 100 in South Korea.
The lesson for toymakers is that in the Asian market fun alone may not
be enough if they are to persuade parents to buy their products. Lego, Mr
Button points out, is cleverly "straddling the line between education and
play". And that appeals to governments and mothers, as well as to
children.
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013
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