In the days when I was able to stroll across the Sultan Qaboos highway carrying a mini fort; Lego kindly made a Lego-brick version of the first feature that a visitor arriving in Muscat in the mid 1980’s saw, for our Lego in Oman show.
The company I had arrived in Oman to manage needed to differentiate itself from other toy retailers (and importers and wholesalers), and, for me, Lego would support that differentiation – and we, in turn, would enable Lego to have greater market penetration in Oman, and hopefully more sales as a result.
That first feature was the fort-like clock-tower on the roundabout at Seeb International Airport. I had worked hard to obtain the sole importation rights to Lego for Oman, against companies that already imported the product and were much larger than my company. We decided to hold a Lego exhibition of Arabian Towns – and what better than to have buildings from Muscat depicted? One of Oman’s iconic roundabout features – from the airport roundabout was chosen.
Lego was an effective marketing company, with a key focus on the brand, not just the product. Lego, of course, also produced a far superior product and range from comparable companies. We would benefit from our partnership in marketing terms – we would in turn benefit Lego through active sales and marketing locally.
Oman was a developing market – and by having a Lego show we could support the product with a groundbreaking insight into what Lego could be used for.
Literally every person who arrived into Oman through the airport saw the original fort – and I guessed every person in Muscat would also pass it most months (the roundabout is on a key route in Muscat) .
As a square, blocky building, it was not so difficult to build from Lego bricks. Lego in Denmark agreed, and their team built our piece and shipped it in the container with our Arabian Town all the way from Denmark to Muscat.
Most of these roundabouts with their monuments have disappeared into a world of flyovers and traffic-lights needed by the colossal increase in car numbers on Muscat’s roads.
The Lego show achieved three purposes.
The first was to show customers what was possible with imagination and standard Lego bricks. Our special tower joined a fictional townscape: Sinbad’s hometown from the 1001 Nights – a mariner Oman claims originated in Sohar.
Another purpose was to raise our company’s profile among potential customers, initiating a brand boost through hands-on experiences, competitions, and media coverage.
The final, and initially most important, objective was to assure Lego they had made the right decision in appointing my company as its sole Omani importer – demonstrating we were prepared to go the extra brick to reach their users.
We invited the Danish consulate staff in Muscat to officially open our show – even though it was important to us – I doubted the Ambassador would fly in from Riyadh, where Denmark’s embassy was. Alongside the brand, we promoted Denmark itself.
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