To launch Click & Grow, Yates’ game changing garden care system that takes the complexity out of garden and lawn care tasks, Yates has tapped into the competitive nature of lawn owners and created the National Gardening League (NGL) in new work via Howatson+Company.
The fastest, slowest growing sport on Australian soil, the NGL transforms the everyday act of lawn care into a low octane, medium adrenaline spectacle, with the chance to take home $10,000 cash, a Championship Green Thumb ring and a pretty good story.
The rules? Simple. Scan your lawn via the AI-powered web app, get a score (based off level of growth, consistency, greenness and other criteria), and get placed on a national leaderboard. As the Official Equipment of the NGL – Click & Grow – hand in hand, the higher you’ll climb.
Sabrina Hill-Bailey, head of integrated marketing at Yates Australia said: “Australians love two things: sport and lawns. By combining the two, the National Gardening League makes lawn care fun, competitive, and accessible. Powered by our new Click & Grow System, it’s designed to inspire a younger audience and novice gardeners who want to get started but need a nudge – and what better motivator than glory and bragging rights?”
Gavin Chimes, chief creative officer at Howatson+Company, added: “Gardening in Australia is already an extreme sport. Torrential rain, searing heat, Jumanji- like bindis, weeds, possums and more. With the National Gardening League, we’ve given it the platform it deserves. All while showing Yates’ Click & Grow is the ultimate equipment for it all.”
Underpinning the fun is a pioneering image recognition tool developed by Howatson+Company’s Data and Technology team, refereeing lawns consistently and fairly across the nation.
The National Gardening League will unfold nationally across TV, OOH, radio, digital, social and even in stadium for NRL and AFL finals. Expect sports style coverage, commentary, and more than a few laughs along the way.
With Yates’ NGL, anyone with a lawn can enter. Only one will leave a champion.
Credits
Brand: Yates Australia
Group Capability Director, Brand and Digital: Antoinette Tyrrell
Head of Integrated Marketing: Sabrina Hill-Bailey
Senior Integrated Campaign Manager: Anique Ballesty
Content Manager: Jamie Cother
Digital Marketing Manager: Sam Bochiwal
Horticultural Communications Manager: Angie Thomas
Agency: Howatson+Company
Group Managing Director: Renèe Hyde
Client Partner: Sophie Sykes
Senior Business Manager: Eddie Moult
Executive Planning Director: Georgia Pritchard
Chief Creative Officer: Gavin Chimes
Executive Creative Director: Jeremy Hogg
Creative Director: Simon Friedlander
Copywriter: Madeleine Semit
Senior Art Director: Huei Yin Wong
Senior Producer: Caitlin Perz
Senior Lead, Sound & Music: Shane Vancuylenberg
Senior Editor: Fraser Kelton
Chief Data & Technology Officer: Hoàng Nguyễn
Group Head of Digital: Anna Boucaut
Head of Experience Design: Trent Roberts
Lead Digital Producer: Beth Nokes
Engineering Director: Brendan McKenzie
Full stack developer: Bao Luong
PR Senior Account Director: Michael Rossiter
Chief Design Officer: Ellena Mills
Design Director: Trent Michael
Design Director: Reece Lawson
Designer: Jock Price
Studio Lead: Simon Merrifield
Finished Artist: Patrick Rivera
Production Company: Chee Productions
Executive Producers: Matt Chee & Tamiko Wafer
Director & Photographer: Oliver Rose
Props & Wardrobe Stylist: Lucia Arias Martinez
Standby Props: Iwona Lau
Hair & Make-Up: Michelle Cox
Media Agency: IPG Mediabrands
Group Business Director: Mark Dawson
Client Director: Tase Jaycobs Stefkov
Client Director: Michael Wood
Investment Manager: Genevieve Casey
Associate Activations Director: Alex Owsianka
Senior Account Manager: Bec Baldwin
