Apart from whatever official marketing they do, they're also simply a very well-known and well-regarded brand. Even the word "Lego" is basically synonymous with

Apart from whatever official marketing they do, they're also simply a very well-known and well-regarded brand. Even the word "Lego" is basically synonymous with the whole market segment they're in. Finally, Lego sets are just addictive (as I remember well from my childhood). I think I got my first one by accident--it was a tiny $3 (or something) set because the matchbox cars I liked back then weren't available. This was years ago so the details are fuzzy, but I still remember which set it was :) After that I was completely enthralled by Lego and continued getting more and more for years. Ultimately, the only reason I stopped playing with them was because I got even more addicted to programming. That alone must supplement their conventional marketing by a large amount.