Yardly, The Robot Mower
Kickstarter Project from Brand Experiences class
Carli Aldape (AD), Raquel Fereshetian (AD), Grey Walters (CBM), Emery Schindler (CW), Arielle Adens (ST), Bryce Randall (ST)
Fun Fact: We originally chose to work on a different product - a massive car camping tent. Very happy we pivoted at the last minute.
For Brand Experiences class, teams were asked to develop a launch campaign for a product on Kickstarter. My team chose the Kowoll M28E, a smart robot lawn mower similar to a Roomba. But to understand how to launch it and who to target, we had to understand the cultural context in which it exists.
Integrated Launch Campaign / Product Rebrand
Setting the Cultural Stage: The Millennial Migration
America’s largest generation sparked an urban revival in the early 2000’s, but times are changing. Housing research suggests that as Millennials have aged into their 30’s /40’s, their urban presence may have peaked already and could decline further.
Further confirming this trend, a Bank of America survey from 2023 revealed that almost 45% of Millennials expect to buy a house in the suburbs.
Suburban homeownership can bring unfamiliar responsibilities and expectations though - most notably lawn care.
The American obsession with having a perfectly manicured lawn goes back generations. It’s a status symbol that serves as an outward expression of success and well-being. But regular maintenance can be a constant battle.
400-500+ hours
On average, Americans spend almost 400 hours of their lifetime mowing their lawn. This average increases to over 500 hours for residents of Southern states.
10 Hottest Years
To make matters worse, we’re seeing environmental conditions rapidly deteriorating. The 10 hottest years on record have all happened in the last decade.
THE ASK
Develop a launch campaign for the Kowoll M28E, a smart robot lawn mower, that targets suburban Millennials in Southern states.
THE TURNING POINT
THE TURNING POINT
The smart lawn mower category is lacking in personality and relatability.
Like Kowoll’s M28E, many others in the robot lawn mower category have very technical sounding names that combine empty buzzwords with letters and numbers that don’t mean anything to the average consumer.
This can make it difficult to connect with newcomers to the category, particularly for one that’s still developing. However, the lack of a category-defining brand creates a massive opportunity to step into the void and become that household name.
Inspiration for how to approach this opportunity came from a kindred spirit in a similar category - the Roomba. It wasn’t the first robot vacuum on the market, but its explosion in popularity was quite literally one for the books. You can now find the Roomba in the National Museum of American History for its cultural significance.
A big part of Roomba’s staying power has been the way consumers see them as almost members of the family, and much of iRobot’s brand building in recent years has leaned into the humanness/personality of the Roomba.
For Kowoll, rebranding to a friendlier identity that’s more approachable can be the key to breaking through to a wider audience and creating a category-defining brand.
Introducing Yardly, The Robot Mower!
After concluding a rebrand was needed, tons of names and concepts were thrown around. Ultimately, Yardly was one that could be easily understood by a newcomer or an expert while also having a friendly twist to differentiate from competitors.
THE STRATEGY
The great outdoors has nothing on the comforts of modern indoor living.
In an era when smart devices are taking over more everyday tasks, there’s no reason people should be making time in their schedule to struggle through mowing their lawn.
“We Outside So You Can Inside” Campaign
The campaign will begin early in the spring and highlight first world pain points associated with mowing, positioning Yardly as the hero to save the day.
Direct Mail Flyers
Yardly will start planting seeds for awareness - by quite literally planting seeds. Seed paper flyers for windowsill herbs will be hung on front doors in targeted Southern suburbs that Millennials are flocking to (e.g. Arlington, Austin, Savannah). A little taste of the outside without actually going out there.
OOH Billboards
A targeted OOH campaign on popular commute routes home will shortly follow, hitting the audience where they’re already uncomfortable with painful first world realities of mowing.
LLWS Activation
Hitting suburban Millennial parents where it hurts the most…
Yardly will show up at the Little League World Series with targeted product demonstrations disguised as entertainment between innings.
Fans can vote on mower races for chances to win branded Yardly prizes! One lucky winner will get to sit in a special air-conditioned enclosure that will spark jealousy (and hopefully earned media).
At Home Product Demonstrations
At the end of the summer when it’s the hottest, Yardly will rescue those brave enough to mow their lawns. A Yardly Mowasis truck will patrol targeted Southern suburbs during heat waves to stop people from mowing and let Yardly take care of the rest. Videos of the rescue missions could also be turned into reels for social content.
Debriefing
In the same way that Roomba defined the robot vacuum category and quickly became a part of everyone’s vocabulary, Kowoll has an opportunity to define the robot lawn mower category with Yardly. There isn’t a household name out there yet, but by hitting the ideal target audience in all the right pain points in a variety of ways, that all can change in the course of a summer.
