DeKalb looks at elevating revenue with water tower ads

DeKALB – Some DeKalb City Council members say providing travelers with an impression of the city's history and culture is what is driving their opinions about a proposal to put a decal of the famous "winged ear" DeKalb logo on the city's north water tower.

Monsanto purchased the DeKalb Genetics company in 1998, but it continues to use its brand name and "winged ear" logo marketing agricultural seeds and other products. The company wants to put the logo on the water tower in honor of the brand's 100th anniversary in 2012.

Bryan Faivre, assistant director of public works, said the logo would feature the words, "100 Years Strong," to honor more than the brand name.

"It is to honor the 100th anniversary of the farming movement in DeKalb, which led to the formation of DeKalb Ag," he said.

If approved by the council, the city would receive $2,000 a month from Osborn-Barr, an advertising firm for Monsanto, to keep the logo on the tower from September through December 2012.

The proposal has the council considering allowing others to advertise on the city's water towers.

"It's definitely an option, but whether that's one the council wants to pursue, that's up to them," Faivre said. "Right now, I haven't contacted other corporations and am not actively seeking other advertisements for the water tower."

But other municipalities throughout the country have asked the same question with mixed results.

In Pickerington, Ohio, the city council turned down an offer earlier this year to allow advertising on water towers.

"There were several factors involved in that decision," City Clerk Lynda Yartin said. Those factors included costs associated with putting the ads up and maintaining them.

There also were concerns about what businesses would be allowed to use the advertising space. Yartin said some officials were concerned about the city putting up an ad for a bar.

"And what if the business went out of business?" she said.

But the board in Olympia Fields in south Cook County recently allowed South Suburban Hospital to advertise on village water towers to help cover the costs of repainting them, according to a May 2011 article in the Southtown Star. Messages left with Olympia Fields officials were not immediately returned.

Faivre said repainting towers – a task municipalities usually perform every 10-15 years – can cost as much as $500,000.

For advertisers, placing an ad on a water tower is almost no different than placing it on a billboard, said Derek Rucker, associate professor of marketing for the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

"The water tower is a new take on an old strategy," he said. "The first time something appears on that space, it garners more attention ... but over time, people become familiar with it and are better able to ignore it."

The location of the tower is crucial to whether advertisers see it as an attractive space, he said, but municipal governments have to be aware of how the public perceives the towers and whether residents would be OK with seeing ads on them.

"It's a bit like product placement," Rucker said. "People think product placement is great, but if they feel like they're being advertised to, there's a huge backlash."

DeKalb already has Northern Illinois University's logo on the city's south water tower. The council approved putting the Huskie logo there in September 2003, said City Clerk Steve Kapitan.

Faivre said the west water tower also has an NIU logo on it as part of a lease agreement because the tower is on university property.

But NIU doesn't pay for space on the water towers, although the city receives between $20,000-$30,000 annually from cellphone companies that have built antennas on the towers. That money goes into the city's capital projects fund.

City Manager Mark Biernacki said the city hasn't decided where the money for the DeKalb Brand logo would go if approved by the council. The proposal was scheduled to be considered at the council's Aug. 8 meeting, but it was pulled by Biernacki because Monsanto had not provided a signed contract in time for consideration.

Fourth Ward Alderman Brendon Gallagher said he supported the proposal and was open to selling more ad space on water towers because it could create a new revenue source.

"This is going to be one of those areas where it's not a tax-type situation," he said. "It's just revenue."

But 3rd Ward Alderwoman Kristen Lash said she worries about setting a bad precedent.

"I grew up in small towns, and you know where you are when you look at the water tower," she said. "I don't want to look at our water tower and see DeKalb with a Target logo or a Walmart logo on it."

Lash said she supports the DeKalb Brand logo on the north water tower because it represents the city's history.

City officials have said any other offer to advertise on the city's water towers would be taken on a case-by-case basis.