Outdoor entertainment really seemed to come into the fore during the last few years as consumers put effort into creating lively spaces outside the four walls of their homes. Yet, as Furrion National Sales Manager Aaron Mellow shared, there’s still plenty of education needed around this space – for both consumers and independent retailers.

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Rob Stott: All right, we are back on the Independent Thinking Podcast. I always love jumping back into the world of consumer electronics and displays. Doing it right now, with Mr. Aaron Mellow, national sales manager for Furrion. Appreciate you jumping on.

Aaron Mellow: Absolutely.

Rob Stott: We’re here at PrimeTime and getting away from this floor. It can be difficult at times.

Aaron Mellow: It’s at least good to sit down, take a break for a minute.

Rob Stott: Amen. Don’t tell your team that when you get back there, and say you needed a break. What’s going on? How are you?

Aaron Mellow: Can’t complain. We’re super busy over here at Furrion.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Obviously, it’s peak season for us right now.

Rob Stott: Right, right.

Aaron Mellow: During the summer months. But we’re rolling out some new products right now as well, too.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Which is super exciting. Everybody likes to talk about new products.

Rob Stott: Yeah. Well, we’ll dive into those in a bit. Before we do, how’s business? How are things going right now?

Aaron Mellow: Business for us is doing very well. I know the category for outdoor audio/video is a little bit challenged in places. But for us, we continue to take share.

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. We’re place happy with the performance so far, and adding new dealers on a regular basis.

Rob Stott: To that point, on different markets, do you find, just looking at the US, thinking about coast-to-coast, is there different pockets that perform better with outdoor TV as opposed to other? I feel like summer months, everywhere could benefit from an outdoor TV. Does it do well in the South and whatnot, as opposed to the Northeast?

Aaron Mellow: It’s funny that you bring that up. When we first started down this venture, we figured, okay, the season’s probably Memorial Day to Labor Day, and then the light switches and everything is turned off. Which isn’t really the case.

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: Because if you take a look at the US, and as we’re starting to get into some of the fall months, we’ll see the business start to taper off more North. But at that same time, it’s getting cooler down South and people are coming back outside. If you’re in Las Vegas, Nevada, you’re probably not sitting out in your backyard with 104-degree temperatures and watching your outdoor TV.

Rob Stott: Yeah, fair.

Aaron Mellow: But come October, November, when it’s beautiful out, that’s when people are coming out.

Rob Stott: Interesting.

Aaron Mellow: It is truly a year-round business for us.

Rob Stott: No, I love it. When you talk to retailers that are in different markets, do they have to sell differently at all? In how they talk to their customers about outdoor TV?

Aaron Mellow: I think it just boils down to the environment that they’re in.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: You would think, okay, outdoor TV, summer months. The best places to get an outdoor TV is probably California, Arizona, Texas, Florida. You know, the smile.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: But actually, the number one market for outdoor TVs is the Northeast.

Rob Stott: Interesting.

Aaron Mellow: New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut is the highest population density.

Rob Stott: We got to get PA on that list.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah.

Rob Stott: Maybe I’ll help with that, we’ll see.

Aaron Mellow: I know a guy.

Rob Stott: No, that’s incredible. Talk about what’s new. What’s happening at the show, and what are you showing off and excited about?

Aaron Mellow: Yeah, absolutely. Going into some of the different channels that we talk about, when we started this business it was a traditional consumer retail/e-tail. As we’ve evolved the product line, starting last year, a year-and-a-half ago, we started to tap more into that custom install integrator space. Learned a lot from that and figured we needed to come out with a product line that would make sense for some of those guys that are doing bids and jobs that are more in the commercial side of the space.

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: We’re introducing and showing for probably only the second time is our brand new pro series.

Rob Stott: Okay.

Aaron Mellow: The pro series is a true commercial-grade panel.

Rob Stott: Wow.

Aaron Mellow: Can use for high end residential applications as well. But the claim to fame on these series of TVs is the fact that they can be installed with direct sun shining on the screen all day long. Residential panel TVs, from myself and from our competitors as well, you don’t want to have direct sun shining on the screen.

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: You’ll get black-spotting and whatnot. These new TVs are designed to handle that.

Rob Stott: I can imagine outdoor bars, patios, that type of thing. Is that what you’re thinking for commercial side?

Aaron Mellow: Yeah, you’re spot on. Bars, restaurants, hotels. Again, high end residential. We know folks out on Long Island and South Florida, that’s what they need is a direct sun panel.

Rob Stott: Makes you wonder. I imagine product planning, you guys think ahead and this thing eventually comes into the plan at some point. Crazy to think that … Why weren’t we there? Why wasn’t outdoor TV part of that? I feel like at restaurants and bars you go to, it’s normal TVs that they just have out on the patio and stuff.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. It’s pretty funny. They’ll just take a regular-

Rob Stott: It’s like, “Oh, wait. Why didn’t we think of that?”

Aaron Mellow: Indoor TV and stick them out there. Yeah. Depending on the environment where they’re at, sometimes they’ll hold up for a period of time.

I remember, our first year doing outdoor TVs, we had a bar/restaurant owner down in the Florida Keys. He was complaining he was changing out TVs every six months because that salty sea air just whips through and just destroys them. We set him up with some of our TVs for his place and we haven’t heard from him since.

Rob Stott: For better or for worse.

Aaron Mellow: Right, exactly. There’s a lot more education that needs to be done out there. That’s something that us, as well as some of our competitors, are getting better at.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Just the education side of that. That there is a product that is designed for the outdoor application.

Rob Stott: I’m glad you brought that up because I wanted to ask about it. Do you feel like consumers and the industry are getting more educated? Or to your point, I guess, obviously you can always use more, right?

Aaron Mellow: Exactly. There’s always more to be done in that space. But I think, yeah, just that awareness campaign, and getting products placed at more retailers, and different types of retailers just helps with that exposure.

Rob Stott: Is it awareness or is it understanding of the product? Or, both?

Aaron Mellow: I think it’s a little bit of both.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: I could look down my street, and when we first started this product category, probably 30 out of my 32 neighbors had no idea there was a TV design that can be used for the outdoors.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: But again, with that education, awareness, they’re seeing it more online as well as in stores. They’re like, “Oh, I didn’t even know this existed.”

Rob Stott: Just got to start hosting more pool parties or house parties, or something.

Aaron Mellow: Right.

Rob Stott: I think that’s what I’m hearing out of this. That’s education, right? You got to see it in action.

Aaron Mellow: Absolutely correct.

Rob Stott: It’s that light bulb moment. The consumer, in some sort of … I imagine too, once it gets into more commercial applications, they start seeing them at bars. They’re like, “Oh, wow. The display is really great, not what I’m used to seeing out of display like this.” Maybe they ask the bar owner or someone there. Then, all of a sudden, it just naturally spreads.

Aaron Mellow: Exactly right.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: That’s where we’re just starting out right now, on that journey.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: We see it a lot. Because you’ve been to bars, and restaurants, and outdoor places, and they’ve got TVs that are lined up there. You can’t see them.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: They’re not bright enough. There’s too much glare on them. The right product with the right application.

Rob Stott: I’m thinking maybe I should copyright, or I don’t know, get some royalties out of you guys. Also, too, thinking sports arenas.

Aaron Mellow: Yes.

Rob Stott: You think of just the displays, I was just recently at a Phillies game, and they got all the displays where all the games, where you’re in line at the concession stands and things are going on. These are open stadiums and they still, no matter what time of day, they’re getting some sort of light thrown at them. All kinds of things for you guys, areas and ways that, commercially, they could be applied.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. We’re growing that business into that CI channel, where those installers and integrators know those spaces. They’ve got those customers. We are starting to see all of that unfold.

Rob Stott: The awareness is one thing. On the other side, where do you think we are education-wise, as far as understanding the product?

Aaron Mellow: Well, I think we’re getting better. We still have dealers walking through the show here that maybe haven’t been exposed to it, haven’t looked at it as a product category. We just start talking them through it, and show them the product. Let them touch and feel it.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: To your point, they have that a-ha moment. They’re like, “Oh, wow. This is really robust. This is going to handle the elements.”

Rob Stott: Those that aren’t here that can’t see and touch it, and see the differences, how would you explain the difference between one of your displays and a regular television that you’d have in your living room?

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. Even just looking at the pictures on our website, you can see how much more robust it is. You think in terms of an indoor TV that everybody’s got in their living room or their den, look at the back of it.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: All your connections are exposed. That’s not great for an outdoor environment. They all have vent slots to radiate the heat that’s generated from the panel away. Well, that’s more openings for moisture, bugs, dirt, dust, debris just to climb right in. All of our TVs are completely sealed. They’ve all got a weather resistance rating on them. You can sit there and hit them with a garden hose, rainstorm, leave them out in snow, it doesn’t matter. That’s what they’re built for.

Rob Stott: Oh. Innovation in this space too, is it as much … I don’t want to relate it to an iPhone and things you’re seeing in the smartphone world, where they’re becoming more waterproof, and displays, the images are getting better. For the outdoor space, the outdoor display space, is that the way innovation happens? As much as it’s getting a better looking display, it’s also improving that IP rating. It goes by IP ratings and stuff like that.

Aaron Mellow: Correct.

Rob Stott: It’s making sure that, with every iteration, it goes up, those numbers?

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. That’s exactly what we’re doing.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: The new pro series TVs that we’re just rolling out now, they actually have an IP66 rating.

Rob Stott: Okay. Wow.

Aaron Mellow: Extremely robust-

Rob Stott: That’s crazy.

Aaron Mellow: And extremely durable.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: That will continue to evolve as well, too. Just the TV technologies, as the big guys come out with their different platforms and feature-sets, that will trickle down into the outdoor TV space as well, too. It’s just trying to match it all up with how much do you want to put into the TV and what price point does that put you at?

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: You still want to be palatable, because they are over-built so they do cost more money.

Rob Stott: For the retailers and dealers that are out there with this product in their stores right now, what’s working for them? Where are they seeing the most success with your brand? What’s driving business for them?

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. I think it’s actually just explaining that to the customer. Quick story.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Going back to when we were all locked down in COVID, and here we are trying to sell outdoor TVs when retailers are closed, from a brand that nobody’s ever heard of. And again, in a category that most customers don’t know exists.

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: Obviously, we got our traction, got our start. Then, doors started opening.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Then we started getting product on the retail sales floor. I’ll call out one dealer, not by name. He actually set up three different outdoor TVs, ours placed right in the middle, all on an end-cap. It looked beautiful.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: His team couldn’t sell it. We tried to scratch our heads and figure out, “Well, why are they not selling them?” Well, if you look at it and just walk around the TV department, they’re all just black rectangles, right?

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: It looks the same as any TV. But, “Whoa, why is this one so much more money?”

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: It came down to, okay, well, let’s help qualify the customer better.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Sales 101. But we wanted to flip the script. A customer walks into the TV department. Basic question, what size TV are you looking for?

Rob Stott: Right.

Aaron Mellow: That type of thing. What brand are you looking for? We challenged them to say, okay, when a customer walks into the TV department, the first question you can ask them is, “Is this TV going indoors or outdoors?” You’ve done two things. You’ve identified that outdoor TV customer and you could lead them to the right product.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: But at the same time, you just educated the rest of the customers.

Rob Stott: Oh, wait a minute.

Aaron Mellow: “Wait a minute. There’s such a thing as an outdoor TV?”

Rob Stott: Exactly.

Aaron Mellow: That’s what it boils down to, just to crack that seal to see what people are looking for.

Rob Stott: Well, that begs the question too, that in-store experience. Is there ways or are you educating retailers on how to showcase this product? Ideally, you’re able to put these TVs outside and show the difference between an outdoor TV and an indoor TV. But for those that might not be a possibility, are there ways for them to showcase that in their store?

Aaron Mellow: A couple different ways. Going back to your point, not every dealer or retailer is going to be wheeling the TV out and wheeling it back in. There are some that do that, and we love it. We also our retail solutions as well, that we can provide.

Rob Stott: Okay.

Aaron Mellow: A fixture to go on the floor that has the TV. Outdoor televisions, big signage, a call-to-action. Then the explanation of the product and the features down below. That’s another solution that we’ve got.

There’s also magnetic signage that we can provide that will stick directly to the sides of our TVs that will call out those same features for dealers that don’t enough floor space to put our four-foot fixture out there. But just to have that signage and that messaging, so it doesn’t look just like another black rectangle on the sales floor.

Rob Stott: No. That’s awesome. It’s a true differentiator. It all comes down to, everything, no matter who we talk to, the storytelling. And being able to have the right story, and have the words to tell the story. But also, the visuals. It’s as much seeing and interacting with the product, and other product around it, or the signage that you’re able to attach to it. If you’re able to tell that story properly, it does more than just help sell the product. It can, to your point earlier, educate the customer, educate anyone, a passerby during a conversation. No, it’s awesome to see that.

Aaron Mellow: You just reminded me as well, too. We also do video content as well.

Rob Stott: Okay, yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Commercials, infomercials, whatever. We’re always updating that with the latest products that we’ve got.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: We just got a new version last week. We put those on thumb drives, send them out to the dealers. They pop it in the back of a TV, and there. You’ve got your commercials-

Rob Stott: Awesome.

Aaron Mellow: Selling the product for you.

Rob Stott: 12 minutes, do you think that’s enough of a rest?

Aaron Mellow: Well, one other category-

Rob Stott: Yeah, go for it.

Aaron Mellow: That I’ll touch on.

Rob Stott: Please.

Aaron Mellow: Another thing that we’re showing here for the first time, the first time I’ve actually seen it in-person.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: We’re actually launching Furrion residential awnings for your house.

Rob Stott: Oh, okay.

Aaron Mellow: Some differentiators for ours, some cool features that we’ve got. Ours are actually solar-powered.

Rob Stott: Okay. Oh, that’s awesome.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. You don’t need an electrician to come out, a couple hundred dollars, and trying to figure all that out. Dealer can sell the install line. Two guys, two hours, you can have this hanging in somebody’s backyard.

Rob Stott: It’s incredible. Now, are they intended full awnings? Or are these as an accessory to the displays? Give a little more info there.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. No, full awning for your backyard.

Rob Stott: Okay. That’s incredible.

Aaron Mellow: If you bought a new place, or have a place and you’re just looking for some shade, we’ve got sizes starting at 12-feet by 10, up to 20-feet by 12.

Rob Stott: How does Furrion get into awnings?

Aaron Mellow: That’s a great question. Actually, our parent company, Lippert, is actually the world’s largest supplier of awnings to the RV industry.

Rob Stott: Okay, yeah. Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: So we’ve already got the knowledge and expertise.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: We just needed to bring it across to the residential side and add it on to our category.

Rob Stott: A potential for more crossover? Well, without sharing … I don’t want to have a CIA incident here, and have to be like you told me too much, and now you got to take me out back, and no more podcasts.

Aaron Mellow: No, not at all. We’re pretty good at keeping some secrets when we have to.

Rob Stott: Good.

Aaron Mellow: That’s the whole thing.

Rob Stott: Yeah, that’s pretty cool.

Aaron Mellow: For us, we started with TVs, and then we started to expand beyond that. What we say, “Stepping away from the wall.”

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: We’ve always had the TV on the wall, so now we’ve got into audio. We’ve got landscape audio.

Rob Stott: Yeah.

Aaron Mellow: Now we’re into the awning space. And we’re looking at other categories for years to come.

Rob Stott: That’s pretty cool.

Aaron Mellow: So we can help fill out the rest of the backyard.

Rob Stott: Well, just more reason to follow the story, and continue to keep and eye on this brand, and what’s going on. No, we appreciate it. We got you an extra two minutes of time off of your feet. No, I appreciate that, man. Mr. Mellow, this was a great time. Appreciate you, like I said, hopping over and sharing more about the brand. Look forward to catching up down the line.

Aaron Mellow: Yeah. Always great chatting with you. Thanks.

Rob Stott: You bet.

Aaron Mellow: See you.