The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2024
Husqvarna robots now leave 10% of each lawn wild for pollinators
A software update turned 150,000 robotic mowers into tools that leave small sanctuaries for pollinators.
Husqvarna
the move
Robot lawnmowers deliver the sterile, perfect lawn that leaves little for bees and pollinators. Husqvarna, the market's biggest maker of robotic mowers, could have run a green advertising campaign; instead it changed what its machines actually do.
Rewilding Mode, released via the Husqvarna Automower Connect app, uses radar technology to program mowers to leave 10% of each lawn uncut, creating small nature reserves for pollinators. The update applied to the company's entire European fleet of 150,000 robotic mowers, making them environmental allies.
The feature was covered in over 200 outlets including Fast Company and Forbes, touched 218 million people across 20 countries, and generated a PR value of 50 million Swedish crowns. 8.5 million customers engaged, over three million viewed the film, and more than 267,000 square metres of lawn became pollinator habitat.
why it works
- A software feature on the installed base scales instantly to 150,000 machines.
- Users participate by choosing the mode, deepening their relationship with the product.
- The result is measurable habitat, not a claim.
- It redefines what a perfect lawn means, shifting the category's norm.
what transfers
When your product is part of the problem, fix the product itself - a real feature on your installed base outlasts any campaign message and makes every user a participant.
what came after
Husqvarna promoted Rewilding Mode as its most important feature ever, with the pollinator area still growing daily, and the campaign was a finalist at the UK Purpose Awards while earning recognition at the Golden Drum festival.
references
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