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For many years, Stihl has been the number one chainsaw worldwide. When a disaster happened, it was Stihl Chainsaws that cleanup crews used. In heavy logging areas, familiar orange and white German engineering could the heard above the felled timber. In the building of roads, Stilh was the preferred concrete cutter. Anywhere professionals used outdoor power equipment, Stihl was the top choice, few questions asked. But there was a small problem.

Large retail "big box" stores like Lowe's and Home Depot were rising up across suburbia. Homeowners flocked to those stores in droves. These massive one-stop department store / hardware / home centers ate up giant chunks of disposable income across the country. And no Stihl product could be found inside their 30 foot ceilings.

Stihl sold exclusive through thousands of smaller retailers. These retailers were not so convenient as the big stores and they tended to be a little "rough-around-the-edges" when it came to making typical suburban homeowners feel at home.

These places were hardcore, serious power equipment dealers. They sold Stihl, worked on Stihl and lived by Stihl. The pros knew these establishments like the back of their saws and it was business as usual for them. The fellow who sold you a Stihl here knew everything about it. He could take it apart and put it back together and his hands often bore the grease to prove it.

Stihl needed to have a relevant place in the midst of those suburban homeowners who were at Lowe's and Home Depot three times a weekend. So we began to do research about this suburban homeowner. And what we found sounded sweeter than a well-oiled 2-cycle at full purr.

We found a man in suburbia who felt he'd lost a lot of his manliness in the shift to pampered cul-de-sac-ville. We found a man who watched sports but wanted to play again. A white collar man who looked enviously at his blue collar brother as he drove his sturdy truck to work, filled with serious power equipment. A man who wanted to crank up the equipment he saw on the backs of professional landscapers vehicles. We found a deep truth inside this fellow who wanted to feel like he belonged with the real men. He wanted to feel equal to the tough, hard-working guy who knew exactly what his two hands and a power tool could do in an 8-hour day.

We took this knowledge, matched it with several Stihl products and created the Professional Homeowners series. Over the top of this in-store product effort, we created communication that built a new level of consumer power tools on the foundation of a simple question: "Are you ready for a Stihl?"

The images and verbiage brought the professional grade equipment to a compelling and relevant level for the man we'd researched and told him how to go to these small retailers and fit in. We made that experience something akin to a rite of passage for the homeowner who had been lusting for those pro tools and created an aura around the small dealers. It created a huge stir 7 years ago and it continues to this day. Right now, out there somewhere, you will pass a billboard or see a TV spot or an ad or images on the internet that ask you, "Are you ready to quit playing with toys? Are you ready for a Stihl?"

The answer was a resounding yes in every way - to the point that Stihl's USA headquarters and manufacturing plant had to expand considerably.

Television

Radio