The new LEGO’s initiative was presented at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in a session hosted by Naked Communication, its consultant.

Under LEGO Cuusoo or Cuusco, translated from the Japanese as a ‘wish,’ LEGO’s fans are asked to make a wish for a set of their own design and then have people vote for the idea. When the number of online pledges for a product reaches 10,000, LEGO will send it to production. Smart move!

Image: www.clickz.com

Cuusoo represents a new technology—consume-designed products for a mass market. Every qualifying product will be evaluated by a jury of LEGO employees for design, production, and commercial considerations, clickz.com reports. With this Japanese pilot, LEGO will share revenue for Cuusoo-created products, paying designers 1 percent of revenue for products. The sets will be sold in the LEGO online shop and through LEGO brand retail outlets. Generous and fun!

Previous successful examples of LEGO ‘s collaboration with fans include ‘MadeByMe.’ That allowed fans to order custom LEGO sets using software built specifically for the purpose. According to Casper Willer, executive creative director at Naked, fans have uploaded more than 700,000 videos of their creations to YouTube and have attended 180 ‘Brickworld’ LEGO events in 30 countries. In fact, LEGO actively ventures into crowd-sourcing and co-creates products with the consumers. The brand’s products like ‘Lego Architecture’ and ‘Lego Jewellery’ are being even co-run by fans.

Willer also stated two main reasons for LEGO ‘s community success. «Firstly,» he said, «the brand’s philosophy is ‘System in Play’—it relies on systematic creativity.» The Lego Brick is a perfect social object in a networked society, and this is why the Lego Brick is so popular amongst people. «Secondly,» he continued, «this brand puts consumer engagement at the heart of its business strategy,» according to afaqs.com.