Friday, February 10th, 2012
For the past years, the Lakewood city council has been forming partnerships with brands for advertisements and product placements in exchange for some extra revenue. Recently, the city council agreed to two multi-year sponsorship packages for city property advertising.
It was not an easy negotiation. As a matter of fact, the proposal was rejected by two members of the city council. Eighth District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich was one of them. Gabelich claimed that the pay-off was not enough to ?sell? the city. Gabelich was contested by Third District Councilman Gary DeLong, who maintained that it was past time to act on the proposal.
In the end, the council approved the advertising plan with a 5-2 vote. However, Gabelich and Uranga motioned some amendments on the deal. The revised details of the contract have not yet been finalized.
Originally, the arrangement with Charter Communications was set for five years with a total payment of $929,099. The other deal, with Office Depot, was also for five years with a total payment of $552,562.
In return, the advertising brands have rights to the ?Official City of Long Beach Partner Logo?, as well as rights to product placements throughout the city. The companies will also have embedded hyperlinks in the city website, and will be credited for some city-sponsored events.
