John Deere launched its annual spring “Deere Season” campaign for its worldwide commercial and consumer equipment division in March with the theme “Everything we’ve learned goes into everything we do.”
“The new campaign demonstrates the more than 170 years of John Deere heritage and spotlights the John Deere dealer as the face of the brand,” the company said. For that reason, the campaign also utilizes John Deere’s iconic tagline “Nothing runs like a Deere.”
Although the company runs a “Deere Season” campaign every spring, this is the first year, according to the company, that John Deere has attempted to connect the dealer to the customer through its advertising.
Austin-based GSD&M Idea City worked with John Deere on the campaign, which features television commercials and interactive banners appearing on such sites as Weatherbug.com, DIY.com, HGTV.com, Handyman.com, PGATour.com and Zillow.com.
On the weather sites, for example, banner ads were placed in strategic places like with the rain index or the mowing area, said Megan McCurry, digital media director at GSD&M Idea City. “The messaging is there to really resonate with those landowners who are out there using the product,” she said.
One of the interactive banners, “Measure your mowing,” allows users to calculate how many times they’ve mowed the equivalent of Central Park or “things like that,” said Sam Bennett, account manager at GSD&M Idea City. “It’s kind of a fun way to engage with the consumer.” Based on how much a customer may say they’ve mowed, they’ll get a message recommending a specific product to help them mow faster, she said.
When users click on one of these banners they are sent to the residential section of the John Deere Web site where there is a “virtual dealer” who provides an overview of the company’s products. “If you have a moment, I’ll be happy to show you around,” says a video image of a John Deere dealer in a button-up tan shirt when you access the residential section of the John Deere site. “Go ahead and pick one,” he says, referring to the virtual show room of mowers and tractors.
When a user clicks on the X534 Tractor, for example, a second video loads. Those who want more information about that tractor can then click on the various features of the mower (Edge Xtra cutting system) for more details.
“John Deere has an amazing dealer network so that’s one thing we wanted to leverage and to try and get people to understand what an asset the dealer is,” Bennett said. It’s a way to engage the consumer in a scenario with a dealer in order to show him or her how great the in-store experience can be, she said.
The campaign includes televisions spots, which have been running during the NCAA basketball tournament on CBS as well as cable stations like Fox News, HGTV, CNN and CMT, according to John Deere. The “Deere season” campaign will run through July, Bennett said.
Founded in 1837, John Deere is based in Moline, IL. It consists of four major business segments: agricultural equipment, commercial and consumer equipment, construction and forestry, and credit.
