The LEGO Group continues its push into the Chinese market, with a partnership with Chinese internet experts, Tencent to provide safe online LEGO® experiences. Online LEGO content has increased tenfold in recent years and has also seen the release of a safe social platform know as LEGO Life, all of which will be tailored to a Chinese audience with the help of Tencent. It may not seem a significant announcement, but internet activities in China are far more limited than we are used to, so for LEGO to be able to deliver its digital experiences to Chinese consumers may help them to connect better to the brand values and thus move away from many of the clone brand currently rife in Asian markets. Learn more in the press release below.
THE LEGO GROUP PARTNERS WITH TENCENT TO EMPOWER CHINESE CHILDREN IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
The partnership will bring safe digital LEGO® experiences to Chinese children and seeks to increase the awareness of digital safety among children and parents in China
With more children spending time in the digital landscape, safe online play experiences have become a vital issue for parents and society in China. The LEGO Group and Tencent have a mutual understanding of the issue – and the importance of digital child safety. The two companies today announced a partnership to collaborate across a broad range of digital content and digital platforms to provide Chinese children with fun, creative and most importantly safe digital LEGO® experiences.
Julia Goldin, Chief Marketing Officer of the LEGO Group, says ”Our most important purpose is to inspire children and help them develop through play. Through our 85-year history we have always had children’s safety as our highest priority when developing LEGO products. This heritage and approach is also reflected in our work to ensure safe digital LEGO experiences.
Thirty Sun, Vice President of Tencent, and CEO of Tencent Penguin Pictures, says “A positive and healthy online experience for children is very important with more and more children connecting digitally. Tencent is accountable for protecting the online experience of every child, and we incorporate online child protection in all aspects of our business practices.”
Designed to comply with the LEGO Group Digital Child Safety Policy, developed with input from UNICEF and Tencent’s “Penguin Grow with You – Child Protection in Digital Age” framework and “Growth Guardian Platform”, the partnership aims at creating a safe online eco-system covering platforms, contents and experiences tailored for Chinese children.
Jacob Kragh, General Manager of LEGO China, says “We are very pleased to form the partnership with Tencent. We’ve seen more and more Chinese children engage with the world digitally, and the partnership will bring them safe and imaginative digital LEGO content that also supports their needs of learning, development and entertainment.”
Anna Gao, Vice President of Tencent Games, says “Faced with the tendency of lower age in internet users, the cooperation between the LEGO Group and Tencent can leverage technological and innovative means to build a healthy online environment for children.”
The scope of the partnership includes the development of a LEGO video zone for children on the Tencent video platform, development, publication and operation of LEGO branded licensed games. It also includes the publication and operation of the online operation system for LEGO BOOST – a building and coding set that lets children bring their LEGO creations to life – and the exploration to co-develop LEGO Life, a safe social network for children, in China.
Jacob Kragh: “Finally, through the partnership, the LEGO Group and Tencent will explore further initiatives to ensure digital safety management in each company, share best practices in child online protection and drive online literacy promotion.”
Facts about children online:
- Children and adolescents under 18 account for an estimated one in three internet users around the world, according to UNICEF.
- In China, internet users under 18 account for 22.5% of the total number, according to the 40th Statistical Report on the Internet Development State in China by China Internet Network Information Center.
Facts about the LEGO Group and online safety:
- The LEGO Group is the first company in the toy industry to establish a global partnership with UNICEF, focusing on children.
- Inspired by UNICEF’s Child Online Protection Guidelines, the LEGO Group launched its revised Digital Child Safety Policy in 2016 covering requirements in content, parental controls, dealing with abuse/misuse, dealing with child sexual abuse content/illegal contact, privacy and controls as well as safety awareness. The policy is implemented through mandatory training for employees who work directly or indirectly with children online. The policy also applies to all LEGO Group partners.
- In addition, the LEGO Group has a strict Responsible Marketing to Children Policy to ensure that no personal information is gathered without proper consent. The policy also ensures that all information is anonymised.
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company with headquarters in Billund, Denmark, and main offices in Enfield, USA, London, UK, Shanghai, China, and Singapore. Founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, and based on the iconic LEGO® brick, it is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials.
Guided by the company spirit: “Only the best is good enough”, the company is committed to the development of children and aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning. LEGO products are sold worldwide and can be virtually explored at www.LEGO.com.
About Tencent Holdings Limited
Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Our social products Weixin and QQ link our users to a rich digital content catalogue including games, video, music and books. Our proprietary targeting technology helps advertisers reach out to hundreds of millions of consumers in China. Our infrastructure services including payment, security, cloud and artificial intelligence create differentiated offerings and support our partners’ business growth. Tencent invests heavily in people and innovation, enabling us to evolve with the Internet. Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, China, in 1998. Shares of Tencent (00700.hk) are traded on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
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