When Ole Kirk Christiansen founded his workshop in Billund, Denmark in 1932 the workshop was a woodworking facility that made toys and furniture. The business was not very successful and he struggled to make ends meet in the early 30s. But in 1934, he shifted his focus on building toys — and changed the name of his company to LEGO which is a contraction of the Danish words “leg godt” (play well).
The company grew into other Nordic countries in the 1960s. The company developed a smaller model, perfect for children with small hands. It was named DUPLO (after the Latin word duplex which means twofold). This enabled children of all ages to create more detailed models.
In the 1970s Lego began to add new features to make its products stand out from the competition. They introduced different faces to the minifigures. This made the figures more real and capable of communicating different emotions and facial expressions. The Lego Group also added wheels to its bricks, opening up the possibility of creating vehicles and other machines that moved.
The next big step was to introduce themes system within systems that allowed customers to create a specific world or a specific situation. The company was able increase its brand’s recognition and draw younger audiences. In addition, the company increased production, opening factories in South Korea, Malaysia, and Brazil.
