Hello again friends and neighbors!
Today's Honest Editorial is about LEGO's VIP program.
It's free.
You sign up for it.
You have a username, a password, an account #,
a card you can carry and use in stores.
Yes, LEGO knows who you are.
And they know what you buy.
But they reward you for this information with a lot of perks.
American Girl has done a lot of work recently to figure out who exactly everyone is -- and put your name in the system and tie it to all of your purchases.
Online, over the phone, and in the store.
They want your name, your address, your email address,
your phone number, the name of your first pet, etc. etc. etc.
So American Girl knows who I am.
They know what I buy.
And yet, the system does not allow for a VIP program like LEGO?
Hmmm.
Well, it's true that American Girl's technical systems are kinda shaky.
The website crashes all the time.
And leaks are constantly all over the site.
And most people have like 20 versions of themselves in the system.
But really, if LEGO can do it -- American Girl should really step up their game.
Just hire whoever it is that manages the LEGO VIP program.
Have them handle your system, American Girl.
I've never had a problem with the LEGO website.
Or the LEGO VIP program.
What are the perks of LEGO VIP?
Well, with every eligible LEGO purchase (directly from LEGO, either online or in their stores) you earn points. And with these points you get some money off future LEGO purchases.
"Earn 1 VIP Point for every $1 you spend online or at the LEGO® Store.
Once you reach 100 VIP Points, you will receive a $5 reward!"
You choose what to use those points on.
You can pool them up.
Or you can spend them in small amounts as you buy throughout the year.
It's like a frequent flyer program.
The more you fly, the more miles you get.
The more you buy, the more you earn.
Some days they have "Earn 2x the points!" specials, or 3x or whatever.
They know how to hook in the VIPs and get their money.
But when I get the credits toward future purchases,
I feel okay about spending the money.
I go into my LEGO VIP account and see my little credit balance, and I feel like -- yay!!! I have some money for more LEGOs!!! Weeeee!!!
Currently I have 320 points in my account, which equals $15.
They never expire.
They just sit there, lying in wait to make you happy.
Imagine if every time you bought from American Girl you could earn 1 VIP Point for every $1 you spent online or at the AG Store.
And once you reach 100 VIP Points, you would receive a $5 reward.
And when American Girl needs more sales, they offer one of those "Earn 2x" or "Earn 3x" the points this weekend! offers.
Why doesn't American Girl do this?
Maybe I'm too stupid or something, but it seems like a logical decision for the company.
Also, LEGO VIPs get exclusive looks at upcoming merch.
And they get exclusive deals, pre-ordering privileges, special sales, special discounts, etc. etc.
There are a lot of benefits to being a VIP.
More than I could write about here, without boring you.
(You'd have to be a LEGO fan to really get excited, haha.)
In additional to essentially creating a membership discount program,
American Girl could foster it's fan community through a VIP program like LEGO's.
Anyone can sign up for the LEGO VIP program.
It's not elitist.
It's not like you need to spend $1000 on LEGO before you can join.
But it still feels like a happy little club of fans.
Even though there are probably a billion of us -- it feels special, and like the company appreciates its die-hard fans -- whether they are big-spenders or little-spenders.
I feel appreciated by LEGO because of the VIP program.
Which isn't something I can say of American Girl.
I feel appreciated by my Personal Shopper.
But by the company as a whole?
Nope.
And how many people actually use a Personal Shopper?
Probably not that many.
Anyways...
Hey, American Girl make a FREE VIP program like LEGO's
and I bet you that your sales will increase.
Just look at LEGO's sales.
They are impressive, man, impressive.
As you can read in that article ^^^, out of all the toy companies in the world,
LEGO consistently earns the most money.
$2.1 billion for the first-half of the 2015 fiscal year.
Compared to Mattel's $1.9 billion.
Yes, that's ALL OF MATTEL vs. LEGO.
Do the math Mattel.
2 comments:
Hey! Cool! I'm a Lego VIP too!
You're absolutely correct in feeling special when you have that card and those perks. In fact, I've stopped buying sets from Walmart or Target just so I can earn the points. (Well, the mini figure mystery packs and the little bag sets I buy from Target.)
It would be nice if American Girl had a similar program. It would even out the whole distribution of coupons and discounts. Grocery stores have rewards programs why not. Would be fun.
~Xyra
I've said it before and I'll say it again--American Girl needs a new webmaster, someone who actually knows what they are doing. I'm wondering if this person is somehow related to the CEO or something because as far as I'm concerned, the sloppy maintenance/design of their website is totally unacceptable. If this person can't even manage that, they will never figure out how to set up a VIP system like Lego (and other companies) have.
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