If you build it, they will come. A new LEGO store at Charlestown, that is.
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LEGO has a powerful appeal. It's one of those things that's hard to put into words. But we should probably try. After all, we're a writer of sorts.
You see, it all comes down to brand essence. It sounds daft and it kind of is.
A brand's power, as we understand it, tends to form when thoughts combine with emotions to create a kind of magical symbiosis that makes us want to reach into our pocket and buy stuff.
We think of ourselves as rational beings, but we're really slaves to our emotions.
And LEGO, well, that tunes us into the time when we were footloose and fancy-free kids without a care in the world.
If we wanted to sit on the floor and build stuff with colourful plastic bricks, well, that's what we did.
That's a powerful memory that we're chuffed to pass on to our kiddywinks. Plus, as well as building actual stuff, LEGO tends to build a capacity in young, fragile, eggshell minds to be creative.
Some people take the idea further and go work in the construction and engineering industries. But that's probably not as much fun as playing with LEGO. Mind you, it would be pretty cool to build a skyscraper.
Some folks who spent a decent chunk of their childhood playing with LEGO actually go on to own LEGO stores. That's how we want to imagine it, anyhow.
It's a much better story than a bunch of expensively-suited bean counters sitting around a boardroom in a cold office plotting their next move to boost profits.
Alas, let's get back to LEGO, its colourful bricks, sweet childhood memories and the new "LEGO certified store" that's set to open in Charlestown Square.
Which brings us to another clever marketing tool - building anticipation.
"The grand opening date for the Charlestown Square store will be announced over the coming weeks," Alceon Group and LEGO Australia said in a statement.
Star Treatment
We like our hotels five-star. We're talking excellence, extravagance, high-end dining. We only accept the best.
Would we ever lower ourselves to four-star? Perhaps. It'd have to be a pretty interesting and unusual hotel, though.
Enter stage left - the "draft Maitland Gaol Development Plan and Site Master Plan". [Crikey, what a mouthful!]
This really long-named and capital-lettered plan includes "exciting and ambitious proposed plans for the future of the gaol site", according to Maitland City Council.
This includes free visitor access to parts of the site, boutique accommodation and "potential for a future four-star hotel".
These grand plans also include a so-called "activity hub", with an upgraded cafe that connects to the jail, a new 200-seat theatre and an "exciting new guard tower experience". [What else could a guard tower experience be?]
If this four-star hotel gets up, maybe we'll give it a go. But we strongly urge the organisers to aim higher. You know, five-star.
Non-Viral Jokes
My three favourite things are eating my family and not using commas.
How do you make a pirate furious? Take away the p.
What do scientists use to freshen their breath? Experi-mints.
In 1905, Albert Einstein published a theory about space. And it was about time.
Want to hear a sodium joke? Na.
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