Lego has been around for 91 years, and for much of that time, it’s been one of the world’s most popular toys. It’s currently the largest toy maker by revenue, and it has built arguably the world’s most loyal fanbase. Those fans aren’t just children, by the way. There are millions of passionate adults who still love building with Lego bricks. Of all the brands you might come in contact with, Lego has maybe the most loyal fans of all.
For years, Lego has done a lot of things to cultivate that loyalty. One of those things is the company’s loyalty program, previously known as Lego VIP. Last month, Lego announced changes to the program, including giving it a new name: Lego Insiders.
To call it a loyalty program isn’t entirely accurate — it’s a lot more than that. Lego Insiders is more of an all-inclusive digital profile to access all of the company’s digital platforms. If, for example, you sign up for one (like Insiders), you also get access to Lego Ideas and Lego Life, without signing up separately. It’s like the digital representation of your relationship with Lego.
As a rewards program, there isn’t a lot new about Lego Insiders. You still earn points when you make purchases that you can use for various rewards, like discounts on purchases, digital downloads, or other gifts.
There is one thing, however, that Lego’s most loyal fans can appreciate. You can now register previously purchased sets. Every set made since 2019 has included a QR code, and you can now register them and they count towards your rewards points.
Honestly, this isn’t a huge change either, except it does something really smart: Letting customers register older purchases communicates that even if they didn’t have an account at the time they made a purchase, Lego still values their business and wants to reward them.
Unlike an airline, where the potential benefits of being a frequent flyer are limited, for Lego, there is no scarcity in letting people earn rewards. Sure, you can give everyone free checked bags, but there are only so many seats for first-class upgrades.
On the other hand, Lego’s ability to provide benefits scales in direct relationship to the ability of a customer to earn those benefits. There is no limit to the number of $5 discounts Lego can give out if they are based on the amount of money you spent in the first place. It’s just a cost of doing business.
When you think about it, this costs Lego almost nothing, but the benefit is huge. Not only is this something every fan can appreciate, but there are also three reasons I think this is an interesting lesson for every brand.
Simple is almost always better.
One of the best things about the change is that it makes things more simple for customers. You no longer need multiple accounts — your Lego Insider account gets you access to everything. The easier you make it for someone to be your customer, the more likely they’ll stick around.
As a general rule, you should constantly be thinking of ways to make it easier for your customers to pay you money for the things they love. A rewards program doesn’t have to be complicated to make people feel like you appreciate their loyalty. In fact, simple is almost always better than complicated.
A rewards program should feel rewarding.
Companies spend a lot of time trying to figure out the right balance of benefits and rewards to give customers in exchange for their loyalty. The thing is, there’s usually a lot of math involved, but cultivating loyalty isn’t just about math. Letting people register sets they already bought is such a simple way to say “We appreciate your loyalty.”
Lately, it seems as though a lot of companies are making their loyalty programs a little less rewarding. It’s as though companies started to think they were too generous with the benefits of being a good customer, and they’re trying to reset the balance.
The thing is, even if you do the math and feel like all the numbers add up from a business perspective, if your customer doesn’t feel like they are being rewarded, none of that matters. Loyalty is about a feeling someone has toward a brand. If you want to earn it, you have to embrace that feeling.
Your most important job is to know your best customers.
The challenge of every loyalty program is designing it in a way to reward customers for a specific type of behavior by giving them the benefits they want. As a business, you want your customers to behave a certain way — usually, you want them to buy more of your products.
Figuring out what benefits will incentivize that behavior is your most important job. That means understanding what really matters to your customers and giving them that.
That goes beyond just what kind of rewards you hand out to your customers — it also involves the products you make in the first place. It’s hard to think of a brand that has a better connection and understanding of its customers than Lego. The company’s latest changes are a great example.