Lincoln could be awash in advertising if the City takes on every option presented in a marketing report shown to the City Council. There would be ads, signs, vending machines, and more every which way you turn.
The City won't go quite that crazy, of course. Sure we can use a little extra cash to help out the budget, but we have our pride. Our fine community won't become Nelnet, Nebraska, just yet. (Unless...)
I've suggested before that Lincoln should more aggressively pursue advertising opportunities on its properties. Wouldn't the now-empty fences on the ball fields at Holmes Lake and Mahoney make excellent billboards? Surely there are several companies that wouldn't mind tossing in a few bucks to support park maintenance in exchange for a tasteful and context-appropriate sign at the entrance. And all those miles of bike trails? Every time I run on that blank concrete I think about the Burma Shave advertisements of years past. (Mile after mile / Minute after minute / Just for fun / Or in it to win it / Gatorade.)
Marketing and advertising can go too far, of course. We need to be cautious. But we oughtn't let our fears about what could happen paralyze us from examining perfectly palatable possibilities. There are very simple options available to us that could help support specific City activities. Let's go after them.
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We could take care of a good chunk of the swimming pool budget by letting companies hawk their wares to kids. All it would take is a few cheap banners on the fence of Irvingdale Pool.
I would rather see more special promotion events instead of just hanging signs or banners. For example, the City could have “Amigo’s Night” at the pools where Amigo’s could serve food and hand out coupons or prizes to encourage traffic to their stores. Local sports clubs could sponsor “fitness nights” by setting up stations or booths along the trails to educate people about their programs. The City could charge companies a promotion fee to participate. Too many signs look trashy. If old or damaged signs aren’t replaced or maintained, they become an eyesore.
Especially the pools…They could paint the bottom of the pools with company logo. Fence space, etc. A lot of this becomes those in the know get space type of things. But we do need to be creative. Omaha has long had benches with advertising that took care of the costs of benches to the bus routes. All sorts of ideas on this area.
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