The Billboard Insider Podcast
00:26:06 · Jim Johnsen, Dave Westburg
[00:26:06] S1: I think that's exactly right. It's, you know, slow and steady wins the race kind of philosophy, if you will. [00:26:11] S0: What about Adams? They've been pretty quiet. [00:26:14] S1: Adams. First of all, I love Adams. I love Kevin Gleason. [00:26:20] S0: Yeah. [00:26:20] S1: I had the good fortune to meet Steve Adams back in the day several times. Yeah. What a what a gentleman he is. We actually did a... Believe it or not, back in the early nineteen nineties, we did a a recap two or three times with Adams where we had helped them refi out, call it, you know, a 100 to $120,000,000 of debt with Heller Financial. [00:26:41] S0: Wow.
00:26:41 · Dave Westburg, Jim Johnsen
[00:26:41] S0: Wow. [00:26:42] S1: So, you know, we go back a long ways with Adams, and we love the company. I mean, it... You know, its roots are twofold. Right? One is Creative Outdoor, which had a phenomenal, you know, plant across several markets and had great roots and was sort of known as as, you know, super premium builder and operator after advertising. So they've got that in their roots, then they've got... I think they've got Central Outdoor, which is Michigan based, which was also a great operator, albeit more of a 30 sheet player than a than a bulletin player. So, again, the the, you know, the underlying assets that Adams continues to own are dynamite assets. They would go off at a at a super premium price if they were ever to go to market. I don't think they will go to market, actually, anytime soon at least. But great great company. It's... You know, I... I'm good friends with Jorg Cities lock, so I I think the world of him. I I think for him, it'll be a bit of a learning experience having having run Canadian, you know, high profile, splashy, gigantic, spectacular types of assets in Toronto and other places in Canada and then also running Titan's operation in in Chicago for a while. It's just, you know, it's a different animal. [00:27:55] S0: Adams is a little more smaller market, local, that kind of thing. Yeah.
00:27:55 · Dave Westburg, Jim Johnsen
[00:27:55] S0: Adams is a little more smaller market, local, that kind of thing. Yeah. [00:27:59] S1: Very much so. Yeah. Very much so. Is wildly creative, and and I know Kevin values creativity up there as number one, two, or three. So I think from that perspective, we'll get along. And and and and, you know, it'll be it'll be really fun to watch Adams progress over the next few years as management changes and as company continues to grow. [00:28:22] S0: Jim, what out of home companies are people not paying attention to that they should? [00:28:26] S1: I'll put number one on the list, Orange Barrel. I think Orange Barrel is a phenomenal company that was hand built from scratch, and people would be shocked if they knew how large it was right now. Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to say, but [00:28:40] S0: And quality assets. Iconic assets. [00:28:42] S1: Right? Super quality assets. You know, their reputation in the marketplace is stellar. Everybody loves them. Anybody who does business with them loves them from a customer side, from a landlord side, from a municipal side. They're... They are certainly a company to watch. And and having said that, I'd say New Tradition, albeit a little bit of a different culture, just more of a New York City culture than a Columbus, Ohio culture, but albeit still a great company, is another company to watch. The fact... The the way they were able to kinda sneak in there at the last minute, construct a dynamite deal on a lot of the Regency assets, which is phenomenal. What a what a great sort of life changing event for them on that one.
00:28:42 · Jim Johnsen, Dave Westburg
[00:28:42] S1: Right? Super quality assets. You know, their reputation in the marketplace is stellar. Everybody loves them. Anybody who does business with them loves them from a customer side, from a landlord side, from a municipal side. They're... They are certainly a company to watch. And and having said that, I'd say New Tradition, albeit a little bit of a different culture, just more of a New York City culture than a Columbus, Ohio culture, but albeit still a great company, is another company to watch. The fact... The the way they were able to kinda sneak in there at the last minute, construct a dynamite deal on a lot of the Regency assets, which is phenomenal. What a what a great sort of life changing event for them on that one. [00:29:22] S0: I'll throw out Huntington Outdoor. Formed by a kid that couldn't get a job out of college in the middle of the two thousand nine recession, family run firm. They're at 2,000 faces now and growing like crazy. Started roots in Ohio and now seeming to wanna move across The United States. Just, you know, that that Justin Powell and the Powell family, just remarkable story. Remarkable [00:29:48] S1: story. Love love them. Love them. I just I just... To me, it it injects new blood into the business and Yes. Really reinvigorates the whole business when you can see people that, you know, start from nothing, bootstrap it, and and build it out the way they built it out. It's just super impressive.
00:29:48 · Jim Johnsen, Dave Westburg
[00:29:48] S1: story. Love love them. Love them. I just I just... To me, it it injects new blood into the business and Yes. Really reinvigorates the whole business when you can see people that, you know, start from nothing, bootstrap it, and and build it out the way they built it out. It's just super impressive. [00:30:03] S0: Another intriguing player. And, again, this is someone that decides to go whole hog in the business even though he had a job elsewhere. John at Kenjo Outdoor. He's an engineer working at a big company. He says, man, I wanna get in this out of home business, assembles a good team. And every... When I travel a lot, I'm stunned how many markets now. I look around, and I see great looking Ken Joe Outdoor signs. [00:30:28] S1: Yeah. Yeah. No. That's great. [00:30:30] S0: Jim, if you could change one thing about out of home, anything, what would you change?
00:30:30 · Dave Westburg, Jim Johnsen
[00:30:30] S0: Jim, if you could change one thing about out of home, anything, what would you change? [00:30:35] S1: If I could change one thing, Dave, it would be content. As an industry and as individual players in the industry, we we have the biggest megaphone in the world to be the agents of change. Yet instead, we just sell space. I I think it's unfortunate that we don't get more creative both with our commercial messages on behalf of our our clients and customers and advertisers and on behalf of nonprofits and and other things that... In the world that we'd like to change. We have a CRO. We have a CMO. We have a COO. What... You know, why don't we have a a chief content officer in every one of these decently sized outdoor companies or at least a chief content officer at the OUTFRONT level? Mhmm. Where are we on that? [00:31:22] S0: That's all for this week. Thanks for appearing on the show, Jim. [00:31:26] S1: Thank you, Dave. [00:31:27] S0: This podcast was edited by Lucas Jones and sponsored by the Ultimate Out of Home Sales Guide. Purchase your copy of the guide at billboardinsider.combackslashpublications. You can listen to episodes of the Billboard Insider Podcast by visiting billboardinsider.com or subscribing to the Billboard Insider Podcast at any of the usual podcast outlets. My email is Dave Westburg@BillboardInsider.com. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening. I'll be [00:31:51] S1: back in [00:31:51] S0: a couple weeks.