Gardner Award Winner for New Media – Marketing Communications

National Aerate Your Lawn Day Campaign

Gardner Award Winner for New Media – Marketing Communications
Websites
EPIC Creative

by Dawn Rigby

We asked Scott Covelli, EPIC Creative public relations supervisor, the following questions about the “RYAN – National Aerate Your Lawn Day – Campaign.”

Please briefly describe your winning project.

On behalf of our client RYAN, which makes turf renovation products such as aerators and sod cutters, we launched an unofficial new holiday called “National” Aerate Your Lawn Day. The holiday aims to educate both lawn care professional and homeowners on the importance of aeration. The hub of the holiday is a website – AerateYourLawnToday.com. For the pros, we focused on how aeration services can grow their business; and for homeowners, we sought to show them that aeration will help improve their lawn health and increase their home’s value and curb appeal.

What were your main objectives in developing this project?

The first goal was education. The website provided information specifically for pros and homeowners, so we knew we were providing valuable content for each audience. We knew that not everyone aerated their lawns and not every landscaper offered aeration services. Aeration can seem like a daunting task, so we wanted to empower website visitors and show them that it’s much easier than they think. In the end, we encouraged homeowners to ask their local rental stores or their lawn care service about aeration. On the pro side, we wanted them to sell aeration services to their customers, helping them grow their businesses.

What influenced your approach?

Fall is a very popular time to aerate lawns, but many people still don’t, despite all the benefits. We saw an opportunity to bring to light how important aeration is while telling people that “now is the perfect time to aerate!” It was a step further than “do it;” it was more like “here’s WHY you should do it.” That was an exciting challenge.

Please tell us what you think stood out in your winning entry.

When we pitched this idea to industry publications, we received a lot of positive feedback that they’d never seen anything like this before in the turf industry. The unofficial holiday concept is fun and inclusive, turning what seems like a cumbersome task into something much more inviting. Plus, it brought attention to something that a lot of people have heard about but not as many people do.