Live Company Group PLC (LON:LVCG) Executive Chairman David Ciclitira caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss the launch of BRICKLIVE Kids in China
Q1: David, can you explain for us what BRICKLIVE Kids is?
A1: BRICKLIVE Kids is a new concept really, it’s an area within a shopping mall which is there for kids to play and learn, young kids really so you’re talking LEGO DUPLO, you literally leave your child there and go shopping, it’s basically like a creche I guess you’d call it in simple language and I think it’ll be really popular.
The first one is signed for China, the local partner has basically picked probably the busiest mall in Beijing and we’ve got a fantastic venue and it’s basically next to a bunch of serious kids brands and I think it’ll be really popular.
Q2: What’s different about BRICKLIVE Kids?
A2: It’s basically for younger children, it’s not a café, it’s basically where kids are able to play under supervision and can just enjoy themselves whilst the parents are not sitting there, they’re out shopping.
Q3: So, what’s to come for this brand in the future do you think?
A3: Well, if you start at the beginning there’s obviously BRICKLIVE which is the exhibition and we have BRICKLIVE centres.
To remind everybody, these are permanent spaces, we have them in Korea already and we have announced 2 BRICKLIVE centres in China. The first one, which is going to launch very shortly, is actually in the site of the Beijing Winter Olympics so you can imagine, you’ve checked in with your children to the hotel, you’ve done some skiing in the morning and the children have a wonderful place to go and play in. The second one is launching in Shanghai and we’ve stated that we’ll be committing to five this year within China and we hope to increase that number year in year.
We then have BRICKLIVE kids Café which is a café with some LEGO in, some LEGO statues, and we’re launching those in China and also early next month the opening will be for BRICKLIVE Kids Café in Seoul.
Now, we’ve got BRICKLIVE Kids which is as I said this creche, we are in discussions to launch other extensions of the brand and they will be obviously announced in due course.
The other thing that’s interesting, we’ve obviously announced some time ago that we’re going to launch BRICKLIVE Touring, touring is a major themed show that would go into a theme park or its own space, that’s obviously very exciting and Live Company Group are working on that, again for release later this summer.
So, it’s all very exciting, what it proves is that BRICKLIVE, the brand which is obviously a fairly new brand, is very attractive to customers. We feel that obviously the extension of the brand, the building of brands, as you know we announced last week the very successful launch in Buenos Aires for the BRICKLIVE show, it’s all about the brand and the extension, within a very short period of time, building that brand on a global basis.
Q4: The focus seems to be on China at the moment, why is it such a key market?
A4: As you probably remember, the Chinese government had a strict child policy, they released that a short while ago to having 2 kids, now I think they’re going to consider just abandoning the entire policy, so families can have as many kids as they want. The reality is that this creates a fantastically new market because so many new kids being potentially born to Chinese citizens.
The other thing about China, and in fact the whole of Asia, it’s all about education and LEGO is such an amazing brand, the whole ethos of BRICKLIVE is building and education and using your creativity. I think there’s been a complete change in the mind of Asian and Chinese educators, previously it was you’ve got to do maths and you’ve got to do well in maths etc., the more traditional curricular. There’s a desire now amongst young parents and teachers to come away from the classroom and do things that bring creativity to the fore.
So, BRICKLIVE is just at the right place at the right time I think.
Q5: What other types of expansion in China can we expect for the BRICKLIVE group?
A5: As you know, we’ve already announced our 2 centres and we’re going to be building centres year in year, and then of course, we have a commitment to launch BRICKLIVE Kids Cafes and we’ve got BRICKLIVE Kids. As I said, we have already announced that we’re going to be launching BRICKLIVE Touring which is obviously touring shows and obviously we’d love to do something on this subject in China.
Live Company Group operates as a live events and entertainment company. The Company offers sports marketing, media, and management services. Live Company Group also provides television and radio broadcasting services. Live Company Group serves customers worldwide.
