Last month, Volkswagen announced a new collaboration with LEGO Middle East, to merge their mutual customer values to create inspiring and positive customer experiences and care. The collaboration aims to produce creative Aftersales content for the Volkswagen customers, to bring a light-hearted and fun touch to the aftersales experience. Communicate spoke with Urszula Bieganska, Head of Marketing, LEGO MEA (Left) and Anja Petrovski, Marketing Director, Volkswagen Middle East (Right), to learn more about the reasons behind this new partnership and how it'll work. 

What were the reasons that led to this collaboration? 

Urszula Bieganska: At the LEGO Group, we look to inspire people by introducing them to fun experiences. As the world’s most reputable company, we’ve made it our mission to positively impact society through creative initiatives that allow people to discover new and engaging opportunities. In the Middle East, we see the possibilities in bringing the full range of LEGO experiences to local audiences by unleashing the true potential of the LEGO brand. Over the years, our long-standing partnership with Volkswagen has introduced families to exciting building experiences through model replicas of the LEGO® Creator Volkswagen T1 Camper Van and LEGO® Creator Volkswagen Beetle. Now, through this latest collaboration, we are thrilled to be reaching more families across the UAE and look forward to forging stronger connections by bringing them a fun experience, that offers them a new way to interact with the brand.

Could you explain how this new platform will operate?

Anja Petrovski: The partnership enables us at Volkswagen to develop fun and inspiring content that focuses on consumer care in a playful way by showcasing LEGO elements across various touchpoints. Customer care communications such as newsletters and social media will present relevant information about aftersales package deals and the latest service offers, which now feature iconic LEGO elements, that'll bring a light-hearted touch to the overall experience. The content will also include valuable tips to Volkswagen customers, enabling them to continuously get the best out of their vehicles. 

Could you discuss more about the After-sales content? 

AP: Customer care remains a top priority for us, and it is important that we maintain a good relationship with our customers, based on trust. The partnership allows us to combine our values of expertise and quality with authenticity and a more fun human touch to an offering that can sometimes feel like a chore. Our brand tone continuous to focus on being human and by incorporating LEGO brand elements into our communications, we can steer away from a more reactive maintenance tone to showing helpful care with understanding.

One of the reasons behind this collaboration was due to similar customer centric values. But there are multiple brands which share similar customer centric values, a few in the automotive business. Why partner with LEGO in particular? Could you explain what kind of synergy you see between the two brands?

UB: As a family brand, the LEGO Group seeks to inspire new memories for families. As such, our aim with this partnership was to reach more families across the region by providing them with an immersive experience, that underlines our mission to introduce fun and playful moments. Built on mutual respect, our long-standing partnership with Volkswagen, globally, has thus far allowed us to introduce model replicas of Volkswagen cars, that have created engaging building experiences for families. Now, through this latest collaboration with Volkswagen in the region, we are looking forward to introducing families to new ways of engaging with the LEGO brand through creative formats and digital experiences.