Lego hires chief for UK multimedia division

David Evans, former managing director at Warner Interactive, has been appointed to head Lego Media, the Danish toy company’s UK multimedia division.

Lego Media’s first product, to be launched in January with press and television advertising, will be the Lego Technic Nautilus Submarine with CD-Rom, priced at about 35.

The Nautilus kit combines traditional Lego components with a CD-Rom which provides information about life under the sea. It will be followed by similar “added-value” products, Lego says.

Gordon Carpenter, managing director of Lego UK, says: “We have had years of experience combining construction, entertainment and computers through Lego Dacta, which deals mainly with schools. We expect this new initiative to pay off by keeping the Lego brand at the top.”

The programmes for the new multimedia products are being developed by the US software house Mindscape. They were originally expected to launch this autumn.

A spokeswoman for Lego adds: “Anything that has the Lego name on it must portray the Lego brand values. That’s why this product has taken longer to develop – it’s not just a case of Lego shoving its name on a computer product.”