2012 100 - Networld Media Group

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LEGO
The 76-year-old, family-owned Danish
toy maker topped $1 billion in U.S.
sales for the first time in 2010 and was
on track to repeat that performance in
2011. The snap-together plastic brick
empire has grown and evolved dramatically
to include robotics, films, video
games, theme parks — even a business
consultancy to foster creative thinking
— but all focused on boys. On New
Year’s Day 2012, Lego introduced Lego
Friends, a full line of 23 different products
aimed at girls aged 5 and up. “This
is the most significant strategic launch
we’ve done in a decade,” said Lego
Group CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp.
“We want to reach the other 50 percent
of the world’s children.” The company’s
commitment is evidenced by a $40
million global marketing push behind
the launch.
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QUICKRESPONSE (QR) CODES
HIGH-TECH DRESSING ROOMS
Shoppers at San Francisco’s Industrie Denim no longer need to venture outside the
fitting room to ask friends (or strangers) if the jeans they’re trying on make their
butts look big. Nor do they have to take anyone else’s word for it. They can see for
themselves using the closed-circuit “Booty Cams” installed in the retailer’s dressing
rooms. (Store manager Rob Jolin is quick to assure shoppers that the process is
completely private.) Some of luxury retailer Prada’s dressing rooms employ plasma
mirrors similar to the Booty Cams, as well as doors that go from opaque to transparent.
A growing number of clothing retailers are using such gee-whiz technology
to entice customers into trying on clothes and get them excited about shopping.
Consumer psychologist, Kit Yarrow, said the high-tech dressing-room tools are as
much about customer assistance as they are marketing. “What it tells consumers,”
she says, “is that a store is trying and they’re thinking.”
At first glance, QR codes seemed a sure bet to be the next big thing. So why aren’t they? They’re everywhere: on billboards,
magazine ads, business cards, T-shirts, shop windows, every variety of signage — even on trees and playground equipment in
public parks. Yet, according to a recent survey conducted by Archrival research group, nearly 80 percent of college students
across the U.S. had no clue how to scan a sample QR code when presented with one. No clue and little interest. Nearly 75 percent
said they were unlikely to scan a QR code in the future. Go off campus and QR’s prospects are a little brighter. A recent survey
by Prosper Mobile Insights found that nearly one-third of general-population smartphone and tablet users have scanned QR
codes to access in-store coupons. But unless someone comes up with an application that will catch fire with the cool kids, the
only place you may see those now-ubiquitous do-hickeys — often described as barcodes on steroids or a checkerboard on LSD
— will be in the next millennium edition of Trivial Pursuit.
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