The tiny plastic blocks that are so unaccountably painful when stepped on with bare feet have surpassed Italy’s most desirable sports car as the world’s leading brand, according to a report.
Lego, deemed by the consultants to have been boosted by the success of last year’s feature length cinema release, has raced past Ferrari, which slumped to 9th place on the ranking of the world’s most powerful brands as it struggle to mount a proper challenge in the F1 racing competition.
Valuation and strategy consultant, Brand Finance, which compiles the report, said the brand of the Danish construction toys scored highly due “familiarity, loyalty, promotion, staff satisfaction and corporate reputation”.
It added: “Lego is a uniquely creative and immersive toy; children love the ability to construct their own worlds that it provides.
“In a tech-saturated world, parents approve of the back-to-basics creativity it encourages and have a lingering nostalgia for the brand long after their own childhoods.
“The Lego Movie perfectly captured this cross-generational appeal. It was a critical and commercial success, taking nearly US$500m since its release a year ago. It has helped propel Lego from a well-loved, strong brand to the World’s most powerful.”
But the luxury sports car’s brand remains “powerful”, it is “slowly diminishing”, Brand Finance said, as the manufacturer slipped from first place to ninth.
“It has now gone several years without an F1 title and last season struggled even to mount a challenge. The sheen of glory from its 1990s golden era is beginning to wear thin,” the consultants warned.
Meanwhile, the same group revealed that gadget maker Apple is the world’s most valuable brand, worth $128.3billion.