How did covid impact Durden?

Wow. How do I begin.  We lost our sales manager / best friend / fishing & hunting buddy / IBO conference partner  Benjamen Frankie Stone on Feb 4, 2021 to COVID.  He had been a “Famous Maker” with Durden Outdoor for 32 years and started when he was 19.  During COVID we lost several other great employees due to high stress from low sales volume, attitude problems, political differences, etc.  Our 2020 billings were off approximately 25-30% from 2019 which from what I’ve read is about industry standard.   However, in 2021 we hired on several energetic new team members and ended up with a great 2021 and are excited about 2022.

Have you seen any effects from inflation and supply chain disruptions?

Most of our 34 digital displays are made in China by a company we’ve had a relationship with for over 15 years.  Durden normally buys a container full of displays at a time and installs them as needed.  Prices on displays had gone down, but freight cost had almost tripled and delivery times have lengthened.

What are some of your objectives for 2022?

We have been in the digital billboard game for almost 15 years now and are in display replacement phase with several units in our digital network.  This year we are replacing several 26mm and 20mm displays with 16mm and 10mm in some locations.  This new module features an SMD led which statistically have a lower brightness and viewing range.  However, we have been testing out a new 16 mm product manufactured by Chainzone Displays.  I am excited to show you below a photo of one of our new 16mm displays that features an SMD led.  I can promise you that this image was not photoshop’d.

Another objective we have this year is to increase the number of current clients and prospects to have dynamic content on our digital network.  Over the past 6 months we’ve found a new online software called LUCIT.  Our sales team has been highly impressed with this product that allows our clients to upload inventory from their website or from their mobile phone.  It’s pretty bad ass!  Currently we have two real estate firms, clothing retailer, car dealer and a local pet store using this product to create content on their digital billboard space with us.  Incorporating LUCIT into these buys has allowed us to increase and even double the clients budget.  For example, Realtors are a different breed and very independent when it comes to their promotion.  If we sell one full slot to a realty company, LUCIT will allow us to partition that slot into and give each realtor access to control independently how  many spots they purchased.  This realtor can choose to promote inventory from their MLS or post their own photos and change out headlines at the touch of their cell phone.

2022 should be the last year that we ever order glue again (AMEN)!!!  Hopefully by Q2 we should have our entire poster plant converted to LIND PosterSpring.  This has been a huge time saver as we’ve been able to cut cost, improve vinyl install productivity, and easier to train new personnel to install.