Martin Urrutia, head of global retail experience and innovation at LEGO, joined NRF's Retail Gets Real podcast at NRF 2025: Retail's Big Show.
LEGO is a timeless, cherished brand for kids and adults alike. In an episode recorded live at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show, we’re joined by Martin Urrutia, head of global retail experience and innovation at LEGO.
Urrutia says that working at LEGO is just as exciting as playing with them. “As a company, we embrace fun and creativity. That’s the ethos of the brand,” he says.
All that playfulness and imagination helped build an iconic brand. In today’s episode, we talk about how LEGO continues to innovate while remaining true to its core values.
For Urrutia and his team, storytelling is at the heart of everything they do. ”One important point to me is the storytelling part of innovation. What is the role of this innovation? What do we want to say to people? What message is going to come across?” he says. “Innovating for the sake of innovating, it's always interesting, but probably the largest impact is when you actually have a message. In our stores, for example, when we innovate, we ask ourselves, ’What do we want people to remember? What do we want them to tell others?’”
When consumers leave a LEGO store, they have plenty to reminisce about and share with their friends. That’s because LEGO creates one-of-a-kind experiential activations — like a LEGO spaceship in the middle of its London store, for example, and one of the largest LEGO flower shops in the world.
“At the center of everything is making sure that we are sharp and engaging in the story that we want to tell people when they visit the store,” Urrutia says.
He believes these types of in-store experiences are an integral part of the future of retail. “It excites me that the next step will be how do shoppers keep asking more from stores? They're expecting storytelling, experiences and fast, fast service. So, as a retailer, how do we cater and meet those challenges or expectations that they have?”
Martin Urrutia's LEGO business card.
LEGO’s innovative spirit and connectedness to its consumer makes it a timeless brand — no matter how old you are.
Urrutia believes that LEGOs transcend age and help us connect to ourselves. “ Talking about early days, childhood moments with the family, all the way to the latest,” he says, “we have a lot of adults actually enjoying play again for mindfulness. When you build your flower set or a Formula 1 car, it's just amazing. You disconnect and start remembering those childhood memories.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about the importance of brand storytelling, creating unique in-store experiences and building community with consumers. Plus, Urrutia shares highlights from working for LEGO and his most impactful career advice.
(00:02:30) Urrutia’s career journey
His background on the agency side of retail
How he came to work at LEGO
His favorite projects that he’s worked on
(00:06:28) LEGO movies and TV shows
The genesis of a LEGO reality show
Behind production of A Big LEGO Christmas
(00:08:08) Balancing innovation with timelessness
Staying true to brand values and personality
Innovation led by storytelling
(00:10:12) Exciting innovations for 2025
Creating unique in-store storytelling experiences
Standout in-store activations
Taking risks to find the next big innovation
Treating the ecommerce site like a flagship store
(00:16:39) Urrutia’s career advice and leadership philosophy
Learning to be brave and take risks
Trusting and empowering your teams
What he wants to learn about AI
(00:20:30) Building community with LEGO
Hosting in-person events and clubs
Bringing customers into the innovation process
Creating LEGOLAND and LEGO House
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