Building (literally) a Global Marketing Strategy: LEGO? Serious Play? teaches how to connect the pieces

Marketing at a global level in diverse geographic regions is no doubt complex. From product positioning and market classification to target markets and buyer personas, defining one comprehensive global marketing strategy is difficult even for seasoned professionals. So, how can I teach strategy to a group of university business students?

This week I designed a LEGO? Serious Play? workshop focused on market-driven exercises to help my International Marketing students from University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC) Verona piece together (literally) the various concepts of marketing we've been covering during the semester and how to factor in adaptations for global markets.

"Construct a buyer persona for Nutella products in the U.S. market. You have 4 minutes."

This is just one example of the many build challenges I give students throughout the 2-hour workshop where they take market information in a business case scenario (hence market-driven strategies) and look to develop a piece of the strategy.

LEGO? Serious Play? is a proven methodology developed to bring the creativity, the exuberance and the inspiration of play to the serious concerns of the business and professional world. As both a marketing professor and certified facilitator of the methodology, I incorporate a workshop towards the end of the semester once the students have had time to digest the various concepts of marketing strategy and global marketing campaigns.

In this particular workshop, the class worked in small groups of 3-4 students for the build challenges, and I incorporated external marketing tools to then help them connect the "play" with the "work". Using the classic LEGO? bricks, I wanted to reinforce the concepts of metaphor and storytelling which would later help with concepts like product positioning and defining a buyer persona.

Workshops typically start with a quick skills build session to get participants comfortable with using and interpreting the bricks and their creations.

"Put 4 pieces together at random. You have 30 seconds".

The students frantically put four pieces together with no specific objective or preconceived notion in mind.

With no time to prepare, I ask them to tell me how their random creation represents self-actualization. They look at me wide-eyed, a bit panicked, but amazingly five groups pull out explanations for self-actualization, from the concept of "blossoming like a flower" to "have to deconstruct yourself to be able to construct who you want to be".

Why self-actualization? According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, that is the most complex need that humans seek to fulfil, and more than ever today, brands look to create experiences for customers to satisfy this need.

Now that they were warmed up a bit, I had them keep the same 4-piece brick creation and describe how it represents various brands: from Nike to Apple to Sephora.

Once we got metaphors down, we moved into storytelling from a strategic perspective.

"Construct the 3 levels of product for the FitBit Charge 6 in Italy. You have 4 minutes."

(side note: the 3 levels are core, actual and augmented)

When time was up, each group had to describe their creation and explain every single piece used. I wanted them to find common themes among their descriptions and figure out what might make this product unique in a highly competitive market. At its core, is it a fitness tracker? Or is it simply a watch that tells time? Is its uniqueness the fact that it is the only fitness/smartwatch that responds to everyday needs?

The outcome of this exercise is to find a strategic position for the product based on its tangible and intangible features and benefits to figure out how to then address the right target with the right messaging.

Next, things got more complex as we incorporated some mapping tools.

The students were shown a SWOT Analysis of Nutella in the U.S. market.

"Using the info from the SWOT Analysis, map the marketing mix elements for Nutella in the U.S. market. You have 4 minutes".

Using a quadrant map of the 4 classic Ps of the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion), the students build visual representations of this element, and in the storytelling and reflection part, they had to explain what the driver of the marketing mix is for this market. Through a general consensus among the groups, product and promotion were the main drivers identified.

Given that Nutella hasn't changed its core product, the hazelnut spread, in 60 years, I asked the students to reflect on their marketing mix analysis, and to decide what type of strategy Nutella should take in the U.S. market by placing the product build into a quadrant in the Ansoff Matrix.

There was a divide between Product Development, developing new product variations in the U.S. market like collaboration with Oreo, and Market Development, trying to reach different market segments with the same products.

In any case, we needed to understand the consumer.

"Construct a Buyer Persona for Nutella products in the U.S. market. Extra challenge: you can't use figurehead pieces. You have 3 minutes".

A Buyer Persona is a fictional character representation of someone from your target market. So why no figurehead pieces? Too easy! I wanted them to create a scenario of the journey of a typical buyer.

In the end we had some interesting characters, from a 37-year old stay at home mom with two kids in the suburbs to a 32-year old software developer new dad from Colorado.

Overall, mixing strategy with a bit of fun! (We ate some Nutella too - how else can you really know your product?)

You noticed each build has a time limit: it's meant to move the workshop along and to motivate the participants to spark creativity based on instinct. And, as always, there was a musical playlist!

Workshop Playlist

1. "Stand" by R.E.M.
2. "Howlin' For You" by The Black Keys
3. "Flashed Junk Mind" by Milky Chance
4. "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix
5. "How You Like Me Now" by The Heavy
6. "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin

Student Feedback

"I enjoyed this expirience because it was very hands one. It was a unique way to make us think creatively and strategically. A lot more memorable than a lecture"

"I really enjoyed this activity. I feel like it brought out creativity in me that I didn’t know was there. I also enjoyed working with my classmates and getting to hear their creative ideas."

"I think the experience was greatly formatted to have guidleines but also room for creativity."

#LEGOSeriousPlay #MarketingStrategy