• by Karl Greenberg , May 11, 2009

Yard equipment maker Troy-Bilt -- a division of Cleveland, Ohio-based MTD Products, whose lineup includes string trimmers, push mowers, tractors, tillers and cultivators -- is launching a new ad campaign.

This year, the company is boosting its ad budget by half with this effort, which focuses on the elevating the brand rather than touting individual products. The campaign is also a move to appeal to younger couples and families.

The effort -- "Built for Life," via Cleveland-based Marcus Thomas -- is also the first in five years that includes national TV.

Eran Weber -- account supervisor on the Troy-Bilt account at Marcus Thomas, the company's agency of three years -- says the campaign reflects a 50% increase in budget this year, and a need to act while the economy was down.

"It's been hard to focus on the brand because we had limited dollars, so in the past it's been about specific products and features, but we felt that overall awareness was missing," she says. "We felt consumers weren't making a direct correlation between product and brand, and this is why, more than ever, we wanted to make an association for consumers with the brand."

The campaign -- which features a pop theme song, "Shining Down," downloadable at iTunes -- is aimed at Gen X and positions the brand as a partner in one's yard endeavors. The ads show people working on yards and gardens with Troy-Bilt products. They wear tee shirts that say things like "I heart spring" and "Compost happens." One guy has a belt buckle that says "Kiss My Grass." The voiceover says: "Crazy about your lawn and garden? So are we."

The company, 90% of whose sales are through Lowe's, will be doing point-of-purchase efforts at the big-box store. There is also a product placement partnership with HGTV, wherein Troy-Bilt products will be featured in a vignette about a Gen X family at their California home. The show is about how the family creates their ideal lawn. Troy-Bilt will also run Flash and rich media banners.

Weber says the company will continue with a fall and winter effort in September that extends the campaign, but not with TV. "Eighty percent of media is for spring and summer," she says.