I have spent this week deep in preparation for the next issue of Service Dealer.

That was, however, in between the massively frustrating gaps battling technology. After a proliferation of blue language and pacing up and down waiting for System Restores to fail, I finally had to give in and replace my old steam-powered laptop. Apparently it's not very modern to still be using Windows Vista.

Anyway, I am now typing this on a new machine, which it turns out, acts like a spaceship from the future compared to my old one. However, I trusted that annoying old thing and knew all its foibles. I thought nothing of having to turn it on about 45 minutes before I actually wanted to use it and power it off completely if I wanted to leave it untouched for more than a quarter of an hour.

Frankly my biggest problem as a consumer in not replacing my computer sooner, was simply being unaware of what new laptops could do (seemingly more than one thing at once - who knew?!).

This issue of consumer awareness cropped up again this week when I spoke to Husqvarna's UK Sales & Marketing Director Ken Brewster for a piece in the next magazine. We were discussing the popularity of robotic mowing in the UK and Husqvarna's Automower Challenge that they are currently running.

In what seems to me like a very innovative marketing campaign, Husqvarna have chosen 100 people out of 11,000 applicants to test out a robotic Automower for the summer. The chosen testers have signed a contract which obliges them to post about their experiences with the robot a requisite amount of times across all their social media channels and the company's website. If they keep up this side of the bargain, at the end of August the mower is theirs.

And it's not just the Automower itself which is having its profile raised by the campaign, Ken told me how dealers should benefit too.

"One positive aspect for dealers which cropped up when the campaign was run in France last year," said Ken, "was that the testers there started to post videos of the dealers turning up in their gardens to do the recce visit and to undertake the installation of the mower. So in our advice pack to the UK dealers taking part in our campaign we’ve said make sure you turn up with a branded van and overalls so that as you are being filmed your business is getting publicity as well as the Automower."

I asked Ken why he thought in general robotic mowing hasn't taken off thus far in the UK as it has in Europe? He told me that while the UK is little bit different to the European markets - he doesn't believe it is fundamentally so.

"Our gardens may be a little smaller on average," he said, "we may want stripes on the lawn, but I see no practical reason why the UK should not start to adopt robotic mowers to a similar level that we've seen in France, Germany, Holland, Sweden and so on. For example, 1 in 5 mowers sold now in Sweden is a robot. Switzerland is the most extreme example with 50% of mowers sold being robotic!

"I think perceptions of it are shifting now in the UK," he continued. "I think the biggest reason the UK lags behind though is lack of marketing investment. Most consumers are simply unaware that robot mowers even exist. Once they do become aware, mostly they are really interested and seriously think about them. Their convenience, their quality of cut and the time and effort they save people are very appealing."

So if a forward thinking campaign such as this can make the wider public aware of this new form of grass cutting technology, and indeed of the experts who sell it, people like me who simply wait until their old equipment utterly packs in might start to become a thing of the past. You may find some completely new customers walking in through your doors.