What’s in a Name? For L.A., Money

Will Coke or Pepsi someday be the official soft drink of Los Angeles?

How about making Lexus or the GMC Yukon the city’s favorite car? Surely there’s a breast-implant manufacturer out there with some money in the marketing budget.

Officials of the cash-strapped city are considering whether to sell the naming rights for Los Angeles, following the lead of New York (official beverage: Snapple) and other municipalities.

“There is money to be made,” said Councilman Eric Garcetti, who has enlisted a graduate class at USC to help explore opportunities and examine what other cities are doing with corporate tie-ins.

A City Council committee kicked the idea around Tuesday, an outgrowth of a discussion about how the city can get more money out of the 400-plus vending machines in its parks and public buildings.

San Diego has made millions by giving Pepsi the exclusive right to put its vending machines on city property, some council members said, so why not L.A. -- the capital of self-promotion?

“I wasn’t sure what the initial public sentiment would be about this -- whether people would like to see L.A.’s name sold off,” Garcetti said at a hearing on the idea. “I’ve done insta-polls when I am out there in the community and usually it’s about 95% to 99% of people who say absolutely, do stuff like make Arrowhead the official water of L.A. if it makes us money.”

Councilman Dennis Zine said companies ought to be forced to bid against each other for the right to sell their wares on city property. He also envisions motorcycle makers bidding for the privilege of being the official motorcycle of the LAPD.

“We are missing a golden opportunity to raise millions of dollars,” Zine said.

New York made headlines in September when it auctioned off the exclusive right to sell beverages on city property. The winner was Snapple, for $166 million over five years. Other cities have made similar if smaller deals, all of which has prompted Ralph Nader and other critics to bemoan what they see as the selling of public property.

Marketing experts said there probably are many companies that would like see their products tied to the city’s sunny, beach-going, fun-loving image.

“Definitely, L.A. has substantial cachet, substantial positive equity,” said Noah Manduke, managing director of Siegel & Gale, a corporate brand consulting firm.

Mayor James K. Hahn, who is scratching for money to avoid a projected city budget shortfall of $250 million next year, is working with Garcetti to do “an assessment of what is sellable,” said Deputy Mayor Doane Liu.

Although sports stadiums have been named after corporate sponsors for years, the sale of city naming rights is relatively new, Manduke said.

Any deal might give the city millions of dollars that could be used for police and fire services, while the corporate sponsor would get the benefit of being associated with a hip, cutting-edge city, experts said.

“It’s the same kind of effect you get if you match a celebrity to a product, the image of the celebrity filters down to the image of the product,” said Michael Kamins, an associate professor of marketing at USC.

Maybe so, but at Tuesday’s hearing, council members couldn’t help cracking jokes.

Zine wondered whether, if a record company put up enough cash, a popular intersection in Hollywood would be renamed Britney Spears Plaza. Councilman Jack Weiss, perhaps thinking of the city’s waistline-obsessed population, had his own suggestion:

“What is the official drink of Los Angeles likely to be, Mr. Garcetti? Ultra Slim-Fast?”