In-house life: Emma Perkins, Lego
Emma Perkins has been Head of Lego Agency EMEA since 2017, where she leads a London-based team of 55 people. She previously worked for leading advertising agencies such as CDP, Cheil Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi X and MullenLowe London, where she was ECD. Here she talks about the difference between working in-house for a brand and working in an external agency.
This interview is part of a series by the agency's in-house head, created by consulting firm WDC and former CR editor Patrick Burgoyne, that explores the unique opportunities and complications of internal work.
IHALC: What made you move in-house?
Emma Perkins: It's the love of the brand that brings people to the Lego Group, beyond any job title, and that was certainly the case with me. Working on a brand with a strong purpose is an amazing feeling this year more than any other.
I had become an ECD at MullenLowe London. I worked in advertising agencies for over 20 years and thought about what the next 20 years would look like. I wanted a role in an organization where creative people are not pigeonholed and in a culture where creativity can be explored in more diverse ways. That drew me to the Lego Group. As a mother of two young boys, I was looking for a culture that the whole person sees. Give me space for the things that are important to me.
IHALC: How is the Lego agency structured and how has it developed?
EP: The Lego Group has had a kind of internal agency for up to 20 years. Initially, design teams sat with advertising teams, who were also responsible for writing content for TV series such as Ninjago (the animated TV series produced by the Lego Group). Over the past four years we have brought together many of the in-house creative talents from different parts of the group to build an end-to-end agency with 400 employees from around the world.
We tend to attract people who are interested in working more as a collective. We have many disciplines in brand identity, packaging design, promotional activities, experience marketing, digital engagement platforms, social media and brand communication. The global hub, based in Billund, Denmark, develops global strategies and campaigns. We have four regional hubs in Enfield, Connecticut for the USA, Shanghai for China, Singapore for APAC and in London, where we have around 55 members of the agency team and create campaigns for our regions of Western Europe and REEMEA.
Above and above: From Lego's collaboration with adidas, which began with the release of the limited adidas Originals ZX 8000 Lego sneakers in September 2020
IHALC: One of the things we talk about a lot is the challenge for in-house agencies to go from a service department that only fulfills task-oriented requirements to a real strategic partner of the company. How did the Lego Agency make this transition?
EP: I think we looked at three key areas. The first thing I think of most in-house agencies is to say that we have skin in it. Our work has to work, we don't work for fame. I would say this is a difference between most external and internal agencies.