iris Singapore + LEGO launch city adventures to nuture creativity with the gift of imagination

Imagination is one of the most important contributors to creativity and innovation. It allows children to see beyond reality, and encourages them to come up with unique ideas and solutions. Skills essential in today’s ever evolving, fast paced modern society.

We enter this world as children with genius levels of imagination – but retain less and less as we grow older. By prioritizing academic study over imaginative play, parents in Asia are making their children less creative – and this could have a huge impact on our society.

VIEW THE FILM

Asian workers clock some of the longest working hours in the world. A work culture where late nights in the office are commonplace, and academic excellence is prioritized, result in less attention being placed on expanding children’s imagination and creativity. And if not nurtured and encouraged, it disappears during the wonder years.

This is something that LEGO is keen to address with the launch of ‘City Adventures’, a campaign that asks parents to give their children the ‘gift of attention’. A brand no stranger to capturing imagination, LEGO teamed up with the creative minds at iris Singapore, to imagine what it would be like for a busy parent to see just how creative their child is, and have an insight into how they are using their imagination. And more importantly, how much their child wants to share it with them. 

The 3-minute film was captured in Taipei city, Taiwan – a city with one of the longest average working hours in the world.

The film focuses on the story of 6 year old Hsiao Feng. Hsiao Feng likes to build, because he wants to take after his father, who repairs and sells cars. But, just like most other working parents in the modern metropolis, Hsiao Feng’s father works extended hours, and consequently, like a lot of Taiwanese children, Hsiao Feng’s creativity often goes unnoticed.

To bring all this to his father’s attention, LEGO worked with Hsiao Feng’s mother to film Hsiao Feng building with LEGO at his local enrichment centre and talking about his father, sharing that he wanted to spend more time building and creating with him.

LEGO then dedicated its media space across the city, to allow Hsiao Feng to get his father’s attention. The film was aired across 25 OOH media screens in the city, including a 100-metre digital screen at Taipei Arena and in Taipei 101, which Hsiao Feng’s father would walk past on his way home from work.

At the end of yet another long working day, Hsiao Feng’s father was surprised to see his son’s face on the screen, and moved to hear the thoughtful message expressed by him. The film finishes with his father promising to not neglect his creativity, impressed with what his son has built.

The campaign will roll out across Asia – specifically in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, with LEGO hoping to spark a social conversation – and a change in mindset around the role of imagination.

“At LEGO, we have a mission to inspire imagination and creativity to develop the builders of tomorrow through play. Our kids are all creative geniuses and we want parents and the world to see how amazing they are. Hsiao Feng’s message to his father is a powerful message to all parents. We all have busy schedules – but a childhood doesn’t last forever. Through this film, we hope to inspire parents to value the importance of their child’s imagination, and give it the encouragement and attention it deserves,” said Kevin Hagino, Senior Regional Brand Manager, Southeast Asia at LEGO.

“It’s easy to talk about the importance of imagination, much harder to truly drive the message home. I’m incredibly proud that instead of an ad campaign, we had the support of LEGO to walk the talk by giving precious airtime and media spaces to a boy and his priceless imagination,” said Ed Cheong, Creative Director at iris Singapore.

LEGO City Adventures Top Builder Contest

As part of the City Adventures campaign, LEGO has also launched the Top Builder competition to give kids the opportunity to exercise their imagination and be recognized for their amazing creations.

The contest provides the opportunity for kids to invent and build their own unique stories using LEGO City bricks. They are then encouraged to upload their creations onto LEGO.com/CityAdventures, where the best will be curated. LEGO then gives the winning builders a stage to shine on its website as well as in participating outlets – as a true celebration of their extraordinary talent.

Parents can also play a role in supporting their child’s imagination by uploading their children’s creations onto the official LEGO Facebook page with the hashtags

#CityAdventuresTW/ #CityAdventuresSG/ #CityAdventuresHK/ #CityAdventuresMY*

and #LEGO.

Credits –

Client: LEGO

Senior Regional Brand Manager, Southeast Asia: Kevin Hagino