In a childhood increasingly shaped by screens, getting children to simply sit down and build can be its own challenge. For LEGO India, the answer lies in making play more immersive, creative and relevant to how families spend time together.
Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Bhavana Mandon, LEGO India Country Manager
LEGO has traditionally been associated with childhood, but what are you seeing in India that tells you play is becoming increasingly relevant to adults too?
Children will always be our top priority. Making products that they want to put at the top of their wish lists and that help them learn through play is our core focus.
We’re seeing a sustained interest across age groups, including among adults embracing play in their own lives. Adults are an important audience for us, as many families also enjoy building together with children and sharing these experiences across generations.
We are incredibly encouraged by the passion adult fans have for building with LEGO bricks. To support this, we offer a broad portfolio designed to connect with their different interests, from art and craft to sport and vehicles, particularly cars, as well as experiences that promote relaxation and mindful creativity.
Hyderabad already has a strong culture of technology, creativity and fandoms. How does that change the way LEGO thinks about the city beyond simply seeing it as another retail market?
Hyderabad has a vibrant culture shaped by creativity, making it a natural fit for the LEGO brand. Opening a LEGO Certified Store here gives us the opportunity to create a more immersive brand experience for families and fans.
We also wanted the space to feel connected to the city itself, with locally inspired surprises to discover inside the store, complemented at the launch by a LEGO mosaic inspired by Hyderabad’s landmarks and culture, made using over 49,000 bricks. The result is a space that combines the creativity of the LEGO brand with elements that are uniquely Hyderabad.
In a culture where academic achievement often takes priority over unstructured play, how do you make the case to Indian parents that play is not a luxury but part of a child’s development?
Indian parents are increasingly recognizing the important role play. According to the recent LEGO® Play Well Study, 96%* of Indian parents say skills developed through creative play are as important as those learnt through formal education, while 95%* believe children learn best through play. Through play, children learn to solve problems, think creatively, gain confidence and try again when something doesn’t work.
As LEGO expands from its first store in India to its eighth, what have Indian consumers taught you that has genuinely changed the way you think about the brand here?
From opening our first LEGO Certified Store in India in 2025 to opening the doors to eight stores in just over a year, Indian consumers have continued to demonstrate a strong love for the LEGO builds, even as we welcome new audiences into the community.
What we’re also seeing is that consumers increasingly want to engage with the brand through richer, more immersive experiences, and our growing retail presence allows us to bring those closer to them.
As we’ve grown, we’ve seen how the love for building takes different shapes with a variety of LEGO sets. Whether it is children exploring their imagination, adults connecting around their passions or families creating something together, people are finding their own ways to connect through LEGO play.
We saw that enthusiasm firsthand when Mumbai’s first LEGO Certified Store welcomed over 10,000 visitors during its launch weekend. And this enthusiasm is shaping our expansion: not simply more stores, but richer experiences that bring the brand closer to people and feel relevant to the communities they’re part of.
If the real competition for a child’s attention today is not another toy but a screen, what does LEGO need to become to remain irresistible?
In a world where children have more ways than ever to engage, explore and be entertained, meaningful play becomes even more important. LEGO play gives children the freedom to follow their imagination, build with their hands, solve problems and keep experimenting until an idea comes to life.
In doing so, they develop creativity, confidence and resilience while experiencing the joy of creating. For us, staying relevant is about continuing to inspire that curiosity and giving every generation new reasons to play and learn.
*Data from the LEGO® Play Well Study 2026, commissioned by the LEGO Group and carried out by Edelman DXI, with insights from a total of 27,000 Adults (aged 18+) from across 27 markets between February and March 2026.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
