Verde Outdoor Media and Renfroe Outdoor announced back in November of 2021 that Verde had made a substantial investment in Renfroe and became the majority shareholder. The company remained branded as Renfroe Outdoor and Jed Renfroe continued as President/CEO of Renfroe Outdoor.

This week, the companies are announcing that Renfroe will be operating under the Verde Outdoor Media name.  Insider reached out to Dave Wood, President & CEO of Verde Outdoor and Jed Renfroe to discuss the name change and the thought process behind the transition.

Dave, Verde’s acquisition of Renfroe Outdoor was in November 2021. Why is now the right time to transition the Renfroe name to the Verde Outdoor brand?

The decision to transition the Renfroe name, along with its tremendous legacy, to Verde Outdoor was carefully considered. It was always the plan to unite under the Verde Outdoor moniker, but we wanted to make sure the rebrand was strategically planned to meet the needs of the markets and our team. We felt now was the optimal time to unify the two brands to create a more cohesive and streamlined identity that advertisers can recognize no matter which market of ours they’re in.

Jed, the Renfroe Outdoor banner has flown in Georgia and South Carolina for close to 45 years. What does this look like for Renfroe moving forward?

Renfroe Outdoor was something my father Charlie Renfroe built and comes with a rich history and legacy. He had a vision for our family and set a great example of success. Faith in Christ, family and work ethic are the qualities that have molded our business for over 50 years. He always said if hard work wins, we are going to win. Now our opportunity to expand this reach and provide more visibility in our markets with Verde Outdoor is very exciting to me and it allows us to have an impact on more people every day. Our teams share the same core values of character, integrity, community partnership, collaboration and innovation, so it was a decision that just made sense.

You chose to stay on after the sale.  What have been the advantages for you and your staff working as a part the Verde Outdoor organization? 

With Verde Outdoor, we have access to greater resources and even more expertise, which has been advantageous for everyone. We’ve expanded our team with the addition of Mark Benkiel – who has tremendous experience in the OOH industry – taking on the Regional Sales Manager role to oversee our Georgia and South Carolina sales efforts. The renaming streamlines our teams and enhances our overall capabilities, giving our advertisers improved services and increased customer satisfaction.

Dave, tell us what is involved in planning for and executing the rebranding? 

Planning for and executing the rebranding involved an analysis of our markets and looking at the opportunities ahead. We developed a comprehensive strategy for the transition and implementation of our branding across all relevant platforms. Renee Larson, our marketing manager, has led the transition efforts with support from Eric Latimer, our director of digital marketing, who was part of the original Renfroe team, so it’s truly been a collaborative effort on both sides. It’s been amazing to see the strength of this team. They’ve organized timelines of the rollout, ensured imprints are ordered sized and installed, updated marketing materials and are working through updates on our website. It’s been a work in progress for some time now, and we’re excited to see it.

Jed, when the rebrand is complete, what will the benefits be for your clients?

This will allow us to expand our offerings and provide a wider range of solutions to meet our clients’ evolving needs. Advertisers will also now be able to find all our information under the verdeoutdoor.com site. We’re currently migrating the current Renfroe site over, so all our mapping and inventory will be integrated into Verde’s system soon. We’ll also be expanding each of our pages to add more valuable content, such as resources about the overall process and how to start the campaign process, and also building out more on who Verde Outdoor is and who our team is.

Has this initial year of operation been more than just maintaining the current inventory?  I assume there have already been some growth opportunities in the market? 

While maintaining our current inventory has been a priority, we have also identified growth opportunities in our market and have taken steps to capitalize on them. We’re situated between two port cities so there’s a lot of potential there. We’ve got great existing billboard locations and are actively pursuing both acquisitions and organic growth.

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