Fortis College Increases Enrollment with Billboard Campaign

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

fortis

As a leading Medical career training school in Alabama, Fortis College sought out a way to inform the locals of their programs in Electrical Trades. HVAC- R Trades, Medical Assisting, Medical Office Administration, and Pharmacy Technology.

In 2009, Fortis College began marketing their programs through Durden Outdoor Displays. First, Fortis started using Durden’s four week rotary billboards promoting Medical Assisting and Pharmacy Technician Programs.

“98% of people that come in because of billboards enroll and start. We were highly surprised at this statistic! The dact that we can have several different messages rotate every month is great for us,” says Patrick Donivan, Fortis College School Director.

Since then, Fortis College in Dothan, Alabama has simultaneously used Durdens directional billboards, Durden digital billboard network, and four week rotary billboards. They have seen a significant increase in their enrollment of the following programs:

  • HVAC-R Program
  • Medical Assisting
  • Pharmacy Tech

Fortis College has been working closely with our Creative Team and has been utilizing their award winning in-house design services. The Fortis Campaign has stayed clean and consistent because of the Creative Departments desire to make a cohesive statement for the client.

“In Jan 2012, Fortis will be adding CDL Training — and a RN Program will be forming later on down the road,” says Ben Cole, Admissions Director.

Durden will be able to help promote these newest aditions to the Fortis Family with the help of our large selection of print posters & bulletin billboard spaces. Durden’s Digital Network , alone, has 13 Displays in 3 Cities (Dothan, Enterprise, Eufaula) that reaches over 600,000 cars daily.

If you would like to see your company grow, like Fortis has, please contact one of our sales reps today. They will be able to get you on the right track when it comes to outdoor advertising & we can start making you FAMOUS!

 

downtown-christmasDURDEN INSTALLED SNOW ZONE BANNER in Downtown Dothan for this weekends Christmas Festival. The banner stretched to 20 ft high and was hung with out damaging the new and expensive vinyl roof. This is just another one of the ways Durden Outdoor Display supports our community and it’s events.

The Festival will be held Saturday, December 2, 2011 from 9:00 am – 3:00pm in Historic Downtown Dothan. You can enjoy a day of FREE Family fun on Foster Street. Snow will be coming to Dothan on this day thanks to sponsor Century Link. At the Downtown Christmas festival you can visit with santa, ride the train, roast marshmellows, decorate cookies and make ornaments for the family tree. Families will delight in the horse and buggy rides and rows and rows of vendors with delightful Christmas crafts and gifts for sale.  Most activities are free, thanks to the generosity of local businesses who sponsor the venues.

Be sure to go out and support our Dothan Community at this fun family event that comes once a year to Dothan.

Thanksgiving & Black Friday in Dothan, Alabama

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

happythanksgiving

Here is a little history to be thankful for… In 1621, the colonists and Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

Thursday, November 24, 2011 will be a day of good home cooking, family, friends, and a time to be thankful for all that we have. I know most Dothan Citizens were thankful the gas prices went down the week of thanksgiving. This blessing came at a great time since a lot of Dothan Natives travel out of town to see their families.

Here at Durden Outdoor Displays, we are thankful for our clients who continue to do business with us and our staff that works hard every day (even holidays) to get boards posted. The Durden Outdoor office will be closed Thanksgiving day so that our staff may spend time with their families. Regular work hours will begin again on Monday the 28th.

If you’re out in Dothan, Alabama shopping on BLACK FRIDAY you might see our digital boards running early Friday morning. From 12pm-6am we plan to have a Special Ad playing for all the black Friday shoppers. Next year we hope to sell this spot to a lucky Dothan business to help direct shoppers their way at such early hours of the morning.

We’ve done some research for you on WHO will be opening & WHEN for Black Friday. Below is a list of Dothan Business Hours for Black Friday 2011.

  • Freckled Frog is open 8am -6pm Their big Black Friday Sale is for every one item purchased, receive 50% off of a second item of lesser value also their  Sidewalk Sale is a huge selection of merchandise 75-90% off!
  • Target opens at Midnight
  • Doodlebugs  warehouse sale from 9am-1pm
  • Khols is open Friday at 12am but you can shop online Thursday until 3pm!
  • Jewels is having a sale on pearl earrings, open at 10am
  • Toys R Us & Babies R Us open THUR 10:00 PM – FRI 10:00 PM
  • Wiregrass Commons will be fully open at 5AM
  • The following stores will be opening earlier at 3am at Dothan’s Mall: Gap and Gap Kids • Finish Line • Express • Altar’d State • Body Central • Rack Room Shoes • Wet Seal • The Limited • The Children’s Place • GameStop • Belk • JC Penny (3:30am)
  • WalMart is having 3 in-store events. Thursday at 10pm, Friday at 12am, & again Friday at 8am

If you miss out on Friday’s deals don’t forget Cyber Monday, where you can purchase online at a discounted price. Next year don’t forget to purchase your Durden Billboard Ads to help advertise your business’s thanksgiving Black Friday Deals before and during shopping time.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Durden Team !

Music Festival Coming to Dothan

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

toadlick music festivalTOADLICK MUSIC FESTIVAL is a 3-day outdoor country music festival held at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds in Dothan, Alabama on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th of March 2012. TOADLICK will feature some of the biggest names in Country Music performing on two stages throughout three fun-filled days and nights. General admission tickets are available for purchase online at toadlick.com. Trace Adkins, Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington, and Montgomery Gentry are just a few of the fifteen acts that will be performing on the two amphitheater stages. Not only is there music but there is camping…Camping spaces (full hook-up, partial hook-up, and primitive) will allow you to enjoy the complete TOADLICK experience.

Durden Outdoor is grateful to have had a first hand experience in helping this great event in coming to Dothan, Alabama. They are utilizing all three of the Durden advertising products: Rotary Poster, Bulletins, and our Digital Network.

Bulletins are the largest, most impaction standard-size form of outdoor media. Located on highly visible locations, such as expressways and primary arteries, they offer advertisers exposure from heavy traffic patterns. Bulletins afford great visibility due not only to their size, but because they allow creative customizing through extensions and embellishments.

A Rotary Poster program is one of the preferred methods used to penetrate the market and build strong brand saturation. Posters are purchased in increments called showings. Poster showings provide a broad, simultaneous market reach that can achieve instant market saturation and high frequency where your customers live, work, and play. Posters are extremely powerful for launching new product campaigns, time sensitive promotions, seasonal and special events (like TOADLICK Music Festival).

Digital billboards are the billboards playing an on a large LED display.  The display shows one specific ad for roughly 8 seconds before rotating to the next advertisement.  The advertisements can be featured for both long term brand building marketing campaigns, and short “pulse advertising” to make a direct advertisement to promote an social event, sale, grand opening, or other event. Different ads can be displayed depending on many variables such as time of the day, month, weather, and more.

TOADLICK will surely be FAMOUS before its all over. If you would like to be FAMOUS contact us today and become a part of the Durden Advertising Family.

National Peanut Festival Crane Cam

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

npf-2011

The 2011 DURDEN CRANE CAM is Streaming Live and 65′ high at this year’s National Peanut Festival. It’s located on the midway at the entrance to the rides. You can view the action at www.nationalpeanutfestival.com. This live stream is also being used by Ricky Stokes News & Local News Stations in the Wiregrass Area. Last year the Camera had 25,111 visitors to see all that was happening at the Peanut Festival.

Only 5 more days are left to visit Dothan’s National Peanut Festival. Today (Wednesday, Nov 9, 2011) is Special Citizens Day (Sponsored by Knology) & Girls Night Out! Females are admitted for $5.00 and can purchase armbands at a discounted price of $10.00. Percey Sledge will be performing at the Amphitheater at 7:30pm.

Also Upcoming events Include:

  • Thursday, November 10th
    • Senior Citizen Day Sponsored by SAMC (Southeast Alabama Medical Center)
    • Military Day
    • Alex Maddox will perform at 7:00pm followed by Mustang Sally at 8:00pm (at the Amphitheater)
  • Friday, November 11th
    • Hip Hop Night with Queazy, on at 7:30
  • Saturday,  November 12th
    • NPF Parade will start at 9:30 in Downtown Dothan, WTVY will be reporting on the parade
    • Demolition Derby Sponsored by Schnitzer Steel will start occur at 2:00pm & 7:00pm at the Wells Fargo Arena
  • Sunday, November 13th
    • Visit The Fair’s Midway one last time between 1pm – 6pm

The National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds are located on Highway 231 South — just three miles south of the Ross Clark Circle in Dothan. If you cannot make it out to the fair — visit the National Peanut Festival’s Live Camera.  But you’ll be missing out on the Famous Corn Dog Man’s Corn dogs, Boy Scouts of America’s elephant ears, funnel cakes, corn on the cob, kettle corn, fair rides, farm animals, glow sticks, games & prizes and BOILED PEANUTS!

Remembering Jason Barfield

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

jason-barfield

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason N. Barfield,  22, of Ashford, Ala.; assigned to 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twenty-nine Palms, Calif.; died Oct. 24 while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

The wiregrass area welcomed home a fallen hero, Lance Corporal Jason N. Barfield.  Jason lost his life just over a week ago while serving our country in the war in the Middle East. The entire team at Durden Outdoor was honored to be able to participate in the Jason Barfield movement on Tuesday, November 1, 2011. We were able to create a memorial billboard to play on our Durden Dothan Digital Network in memory of Jason.

Along with us, thousands of Dothan Area residents remembered Jason on the day of his arrival home.  Ricky Stokes News was able to help communicate gathering opportunities to the public through his website. People gathered at Lowe’s parking lot where American flags were passed out. All along the circle our community gathered to watch Jason pass by them to his final resting place. WOOF Radio, FM 99.7, also reported on the route of Lance Corporal Jason N. Barfield’s procession as it left the airport and traveled to the funeral home.

At RickyStokes.com or Youtube, you can find very touching videos of the events as well as the Angel Flight video.  If you would like to leave a memorial comment Jason has a facebook page dedicated to him.

A young soldier once remarked, “We did not go because we are soldiers; we went because we are AMERICANS.”

Thank you, Jason, for your service as well as all the other men and women who have given their lives fighting for our great country and everything we stand for.

Featured Article about Durden Outdoor

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Durden Outdoor was featured online at Sign Builder Illustrated. They wrote about the most recent digital addition to our family, The Eufaula Digital Lighthouse.

The three-sided billboard structure located in Eufaula, Alabama, is anchored by a 19mm twelve-foot-by-twenty-four foot digital billboard manufactured by Watchfire Digital Outdoor. The digital billboard is flanked by two static billboards.

Traffic counts are up in Eufaula generating a perfect opportunity for local businesses to capture market share from those passing through the area as well as locals. Digital billboards are the perfect for building awareness for upcoming sales, events, community functions, and more. The display is in close proximity to some of the following businesses and communities in Eufaula, Alabama:

  •     New Super Wal-Mart
  •     Chevron
  •     Local restaurants
  •     Hi Residential Area
  •     Eufaula Industrial Park (Hummingbird Corporation, American Buildings)
  •     Wallace Community College – Eufaula Campus
  •     Billy Lawerence GMC
  •     MiCasa Mexican Restaurant
  •     Lake Eufaula

Thank you to Sign Builder Illustrated for recognizing our structure. Contact Durden Outdoor Displays today for more information and to get special rates to advertise on this beautiful display.  You can visit out Rates and Information page for more info.

Lighthouse

Durden Traffic Cameras in Dothan

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

traffic camera symbol

Whats happening on the Digital Billboards right now? Check out our Traffic Cameras and see!

While Durden Outdoors has had traffic cameras for quite some time, the City of Dothan is debating whether or not to install  cameras at the city’s busiest and most dangerous intersections. Some think it would reduce violations and, as a result, injuries and deaths caused by traffic crashes.

Until then… you can check out our cameras here at DurdenOutdoor.com

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Yes We Can… Advertise

Thursday, October 13th, 2011
yeswecan

Yes We Can Dothan's Advertising Campaign

“Yes We Can! Dothan” is a community driven group working toward helping make better schools for a better Dothan. They want to help our community realize how important our public school system is to our city. Also, they want people to know about the many good things which have happened in Dothan City Schools. They are excited to partner with Durden Outdoor to share the good news about Dothan City Schools.

YWCD uses a combination of Durden’s Rotary Posters and Digital Billboards to spread the word about what great things that are happening with our schools. The initial phase with their advertising approach was to use the Durden Outdoor 4 Week Rotary Posters.  Yes We Can-Dothan received a new billboard location every 4 Weeks and really nailed down there brand by sticking with the same design for 3 months. Now on their fourth month they are starting to showcase a different design each month. By using a total of 2 billboards per month they were able to capture a large section of the Dothan market.

Yes we can Dothan also rotates among our digital boards each month. They are on Justice Park – a tri-sided digital billboard display– and 84 RHR, a digital display located at the busy intersection of Main Street and Ross Clark Circle. They also appear on 84LHR & 231S, and then swap to the Westgate Parkway & Ross Clark Circle Digital Billboards.

If you would like to speak with one of our marketing professionals about getting your campaign started, please contact us today.  We will be happy to assist with any questions or concerns you may have.

If you would like more information about Yes We Can and their educational  movement, please visit their web site at www.yeswecandothan.com.

On the Road Again

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

roadmartRoad Mart has been serving the Wiregrass since 1974. They are a family owned tire and automotive service center serving Troy, Ozark, Dothan, Enterprise, and Marianna.

Road Mart offers multiple brands of tires and sizes, such as:
Akuret

Akuret-Commercial
Akuret-Industrial
BF Goodrich
Bridgestone
Bridgestone-Commercial
Dayton
Del-Nat-LG
Del-Nat-Trailer Firestone
Firestone-Commercial
Firestone-Farm
Fuzion   Galaxy-Industrial
Goodyear
Long March-Commercial
Maxxis Michelin
Michelin-Commercial
Nexen
Primewell
Primex Sumitomo
Toyo
Toyo-Commercial

Road Mart is currently advertising with us using rotary posters and bulletins to show off their multiple locations. Rotary Posters are purchased in increments called showings. Poster showings provide a broad, simultaneous market reach that can achieve instant market saturation and high frequency where your customers live, work, and play. Posters are extremely powerful for launching new product campaigns, time sensitive promotions, seasonal and special events. Bulletins are the largest, most impaction standard-size form of outdoor media. Located on highly visible locations, such as expressways and primary arteries, they offer advertisers exposure from heavy traffic patterns. Bulletins afford great visibility due not only to their size, but because they allow creative customizing through extensions and embellishments.

If you would like to make your company FAMOUS, we are the right billboard company for you. Durden Outdoor Displays has been designing awesome billboards for Wiregrass business owners since 1968. Contact us today to start making your business famous.