That's LEGO mania.

這就是樂高狂熱。

And this is a LEGO product now.

現在這已經是樂高的產品了。

Everything is awesome.

一切都棒極了。

That's because the company has become more than just blocks.

這是因為公司已經不僅僅是積木了。

They have video games, movies, theme parks, all these activities which ultimately reinforce the core, which is the sale of LEGO sets.

他們有電子遊戲、電影、主題公園，所有這些活動最終都加強了核心，即樂高套裝的銷售。

All that content helped it become the world's largest toy maker, raking in billions of dollars every year.

所有這些內容幫助它成為世界上最大的玩具製造商，每年賺取數十億美元。

Here's how the company uses licensing deals and media to expand its customer base and build its content empire.

以下是該公司如何利用授權交易和媒體來擴大客戶群和建立內容帝國的介紹。

This is the economics of LEGO.

這就是樂高的經濟學。

LEGO is 90 years old.

樂高已經 90 歲了。

It was founded in Denmark in 1932, and initially it was a company that made wooden toys, but then in the 1950s, it launched its trademark product, the one we all know now, the plastic LEGO brick.

它於 1932 年在丹麥成立，最初是一家生產木製玩具的公司，但在 20 世紀 50 年代，它推出了自己的標誌性產品，也就是我們現在都知道的塑膠樂高磚。

Since then, LEGO has beat out Hasbro and Mattel to become the biggest toy brand worldwide.

此後，樂高擊敗孩之寶和美泰，成為全球最大的玩具品牌。

In the first six months of 2022, the company's revenue hit 27 billion Danish kroner, or about $3.47 billion, up 17% from 2021.

2022 年上半年，公司收入達到 270 億丹麥克朗，約合 34.7 億美元，比 2021 年增長了 17%。

And it's anticipating growing demand, so much so that the company's building two new factories in the U.S. and Vietnam.

公司預計需求將不斷增長，是以正在美國和越南新建兩家工廠。

LEGO has made the bricks the building blocks of its business.

樂高將積木作為其業務的基石。

LEGO is still essentially a toy company.

樂高本質上仍然是一家玩具公司。

What they always say is that their core is still to make the plastic bricks for kids.

他們總是說，他們的核心仍然是為孩子們製作塑膠磚。

But of course, they do now do a lot more than that.

當然，他們現在做的遠不止這些。

Some of LEGO's first moves into content started in the 1990s.

樂高在內容方面的一些首創行動始於 20 世紀 90 年代。

The islanders are right behind us!

島民們就在我們後面！

When the company's sales slumped, it was trying everything, from new toys to electronics to theme parks.

當公司銷售下滑時，它嘗試了各種方法，從新玩具到電子產品，再到主題公園。

Can you find the power?

你能找到力量嗎？

Bionicle.

Bionicle.

Bionicle came along in the early 2000s, and that was a time when the LEGO brand was actually in danger of becoming a little bit stale.

Bionicle 誕生於 2000 年代初，當時樂高品牌正面臨變質的危險。

The Bionicle franchise featured buildable action figures and multi-platform storytelling.

Bionicle 系列的特色是可搭建的動作模型和多平臺故事。

Agile, determined, unstoppable.

敏捷、堅定、勢不可擋。

The franchise built a content universe through comics, books, movies, and video games.

該系列通過漫畫、書籍、電影和視頻遊戲構建了一個內容豐富的世界。

The bet proved successful.

事實證明，賭局成功了。

In 2003, when the toy maker saw a 26% loss in net sales, Bionicle was its best-selling line.

2003 年，該玩具製造商的淨銷售額虧損了 26%，而 Bionicle 是其最暢銷的產品系列。

And it really revitalized the brand and showed them a way that they could engage audiences with different types of content, with cartoons, movies, comics.

這確實重振了品牌，並向他們展示了一種可以通過不同類型的內容，如卡通、電影、漫畫來吸引閱聽人的方式。

And it wasn't just original stories.

這不僅僅是原創故事。

LEGO released its first sets based off of licensed material in 1999, Star Wars.

1999 年，樂高推出了第一套基於授權材料的套裝--《星球大戰》。

In 2005, it brought that into content with a five-minute short called Revenge of the Brick that aired on Cartoon Network.

2005 年，它在卡通網絡上播出了一部名為《磚塊的復仇》的五分鐘短片，將這一理念融入到內容中。

It was a twist, of course, on the Revenge of the Sith, which was the Star Wars movie which came out at the time.

當然，這是對當時上映的《星球大戰》電影《西斯的復仇》的改編。

That really paved the way for the content partnerships which we've seen in subsequent years.

這確實為我們隨後幾年看到的內容合作鋪平了道路。

That LEGO twist has since been put to use on all sorts of franchises, like Batman, Marvel, and Jurassic World.

樂高的這一創意後來被運用到了各種系列電影中，如《蝙蝠俠》、《漫威》和《侏羅紀世界》。

Really, we're now used to seeing not just the basic LEGO kits, but LEGO Star Wars kits and so on.

真的，我們現在已經習慣於看到的不僅僅是基本的樂高套裝，還有樂高星球大戰套裝等等。

That's really an integral part of what LEGO does now.

這確實是樂高現在所做工作不可或缺的一部分。

So it's really the content has changed LEGO's identity.

是以，內容確實改變了樂高的身份。

We think of it as part of these popular franchises which we all know, like Marvel.

我們把它看作是大家都知道的熱門特許經營項目的一部分，比如漫威。

And licensed material was on full display on the company's smash hit, 2014's The LEGO Movie, which grossed over $450 million worldwide.

授權材料在該公司 2014 年的熱門影片《樂高大電影》中得到了充分展示，該片在全球的總票房超過 4.5 億美元。

It held the top spot in the U.S. box office for three weeks after its release.

該片在上映後連續三週佔據美國票房榜冠軍寶座。

Superman, Wonder Woman, The Mermaid, Michelangelo, and the 2002 NBA All-Stars.

超人、神奇女俠、美人魚、米開朗基羅和 2002 年 NBA 全明星。

The goal of The LEGO Movie was to market LEGO to a wider audience.

樂高電影》的目標是向更多的觀眾推廣樂高。

I think it was a lot more successful than anyone imagined.

我認為它比任何人想象的都要成功。

It was a very successful movie in its own right, a big hit at the box office.

這部電影本身就非常成功，票房大賣。

That laid the template for a lot of the content creation that LEGO has done since then.

這為樂高此後的許多內容創作奠定了模板。

LEGO and Warner Brothers released three more feature films, the latest in 2019.

樂高和華納兄弟又推出了三部劇情片，最新的一部將於 2019 年上映。

None earned as much as the first.

沒有一個賺得比第一個多。

Of course, there is a risk of oversaturation.

當然，也存在過度飽和的風險。

LEGO doesn't want to do too much, but I think they're still very much at the stage of growing in a lot of markets.

樂高不想做得太多，但我認為他們在很多市場仍處於成長階段。

Content has helped the toy maker break into new places, like China, where LEGO is growing its presence.

內容幫助這家玩具製造商打入新的市場，比如中國，樂高在中國的業務正在不斷增長。

Of the 66 new stores it opened in the first half of 2022, 46 of those were in China.

2022 年上半年，該公司新開了 66 家門店，其中 46 家在中國。

Almost 42% of the company's 833 locations are there.

公司的 833 個網點中，近 42% 都在這裡。

Movies and games assist in raising awareness of the brand.

電影和遊戲有助於提高品牌知名度。

The main challenge LEGO has faced in new markets like China is that the grownups, the parents, just don't really know about LEGO.

樂高在中國這樣的新市場面臨的主要挑戰是，成年人、父母並不真正瞭解樂高。

They don't have LEGO in their own backgrounds like a lot of grownups in the U.S. and Europe do.

他們不像美國和歐洲的許多成年人那樣，有自己的樂高背景。

And using licensed material in that content also helps reach more audiences.

在內容中使用授權材料還有助於接觸到更多閱聽人。

Being part of these popular franchises like the Avengers, for example, is a great way for LEGO to reach out to all kinds of different generations, people across the world, people who don't necessarily even know LEGO.

例如，參與《復仇者聯盟》等熱門電影的製作，是樂高接觸不同世代、世界各地的人們，甚至是不一定了解樂高的人們的絕佳方式。

Content is also a way for it to appeal to its adult fans, as the brand has been trying to do in recent years.

內容也是該品牌吸引成年粉絲的一種方式，這也是該品牌近年來一直在嘗試的。

Find your flow.

找到自己的節奏

Build with LEGO bricks.

用樂高積木搭建

Reality TV show LEGO Masters, for example, features adults building extreme creations out of the titular plastic bricks.

例如，電視真人秀節目《樂高大師》的主角就是成年人，他們用名為 "樂高 "的塑膠積木搭建出各種極限作品。

The original LEGO fans took to LEGO as kids, and they're now grown up, and a lot of those people are still very keen on LEGO.

最初的樂高迷小時候喜歡樂高，現在他們長大了，其中很多人仍然對樂高情有獨鍾。

And I think LEGO very smartly realized that a lot of those people would be willing to buy kits that are pretty complex, pretty expensive, and are designed specifically for grownups.

我認為樂高非常聰明地意識到，這些人中有很多人願意購買相當複雜、相當昂貴、專門為成年人設計的套件。

The company has its eyes set beyond just the two-dimensional screen.

公司的目光已不僅僅侷限於二維螢幕。

Last April, LEGO and Epic Games announced a partnership to build a digital experience in the metaverse.

去年 4 月，樂高和 Epic Games 宣佈建立合作伙伴關係，共同打造元宇宙數字體驗。

All of this content, certainly in the company's current thinking, the movies, the games, that all is there to support the core product, which is the same as it has been for decades, the plastic brick.

當然，按照公司目前的想法，所有這些內容、電影、遊戲都是為了支持核心產品，而核心產品就是幾十年來一直不變的塑膠磚。