The City of Corner Brook is still selling advertising on the Civic Centre digital sign at the bottom of University Drive, but Mayor Jim Parsons said it is looking at a better way to do it.
In 2016 the city turned down a request to set up a digital sign, which would be used for third-party advertising. Shortly thereafter council passed a motion to stop selling advertising on its own sign after it was suggested it could be competing unfairly with businesses.
At the time there were no regulations regarding digital signs in the city. The motion was rescinded in April when the city said it would be developing such regulations.
Those regulations were approved in July.
All this happened under the previous council and now the new one is looking at developing a strategy for the sign, as Parsons said advertising is not within the city’s expertise.
“Of course we want to be able to use the sign to promote events for our purposes, but we’re looking at different models.
And he said there are a number of different ways that such a thing could be done.
“Maybe we can involve other marketing or advertising agencies,” he said.
“There may be others that can do it more effectively and more economically for the city.”
The city is in the preliminary stages of developing the strategy and Parsons said it wouldn’t be completed until the new year.
