The garden machinery world is a competitive space and knowing where to begin the purchasing process can be daunting for consumers. For many, the first step is a simple online search for ‘best lawnmower’, or reading a review when flicking through a magazine.

This means that reviews and endorsements are vital for brands that want to stand out, which is exactly what we do for Cobra.

We’ve worked with Cobra since January 2020 to make sure its products are front and centre when people begin their search for a new lawnmower, or any other piece of powered gardening equipment!

Our strategy for this is intricate and varied. As part of that, an important focus for us is securing reviews and arranging trials to get the amazing Cobra products into the hands of journalists, influencers and key media so they can tell their readers just how great Cobra is, and why it is so much better than its competitors!

• Secure placement in shopping guides, best buy features, reviews and awards in top titles across the home and garden media
• Ensure coverage is in traditional print, but also online with backlinks to the Cobra website to aid online sales and SEO
• Showcase the entire Cobra range, with a focus on key product categories at the right time of year
• Reiterate Cobra’s lawncare expertise
• Bolster the brand’s position as the leading player in the industry

We know the Cobra range inside out (and that’s no mean feat with more than 160 products to get our heads around) so we have an abundance of wonderful items to choose from when it comes to planning reviews.

With such a huge amount to pick from, we have to be strategic, so start by devising a calendar to make sure we are talking about the right machine at the right time of year. We plan mower and lawncare campaigns that land in spring, and leaf blower and garden clean-up campaigns for autumn features – and everything else around that too!

We align our plans with the sales strategy and factor in any new product launches (which come thick and fast, particularly in spring), and then line up our plans with audience demographics. This means we have to be knowledgeable about the intricacies and capabilities of the tools, while also recognising that entry-level gardeners reading Ideal Home may have never read Gardeners’ World magazine. We know that they are perhaps more likely to be looking for a lawnmower just to get the job done, or need a hedgetrimmer to give their garden a quick tidy, instead of something to give them perfect stripes and crystal-bladed hedge cuts.

With that plan in place, we then crack on with the conversations! We research and identify the best people and reviewers to work with, and speak to our contacts. We’ve got close working relationships with reviewers and shopping editors at the likes of Amateur Gardening, t3, Which, Gardeners’ World, The Independent, Expert Reviews, and English Garden (among so many others) and are in regular contact with them to find out what they are working on, to then secure inclusion for our clients. It’s not all outbound activity though. Fortunately, our reputation precedes us as we often get requests for reviews, and we then help facilitate these too!

We know the power that a genuine recommendation from a leading title can carry, so it’s vital that we work with the journalists to ensure the review is the very best it can be. It’s not just about arranging a delivery, it’s about making sure that the right product is sent for the feature, to make sure Cobra stands out. We work with the journalists to find out what they are specifically looking for, and what other brands are being featured, to make sure that our client steals the spotlight and receives the best review possible.

Barely a week goes by where we aren’t arranging tests and for deliveries to be sent out for reviews.

Since working with Honest, Cobra has appeared in more than 500 features! With half of these being reviews, inclusion in shopping guides and best buy awards. We’ve secured “best buy” seal of approvals in Modern Gardens, the Evening Standard, BBC Gardeners’ World and Your Home among many others, as well as the Independent who recognised Cobra’s Mowbot robotic mower as the ‘best for lawn finish’ and “one of the best on test”.

It’s not just reviews – we’ve also helped secure recognition in the 2023 Expert Reviews Garden Awards 2023, and multiple endorsements from the tech experts over at t3 in their annual awards.

If all that weren’t enough, we’ve also secured 60+ competitions and almost 50 pieces of expert commentary in Cobra’s top target media titles!