February 4, 2005
A north Scottsdale car dealership will lead the Scottsdale Unified School District’s drive for advertising on many of its buses.
Martin Buick, Pontiac, GMC has agreed to pay $80,000 for ads on about 50 of the district’s 160 buses during the next four months. District officials will introduce the dealership at Tuesday’s board meeting.
"Our owner (Martin Del Castillo) has always been committed to supporting education in the local community," said Mike Strickland, the dealership’s fleet manager. "It makes sense in our market. We’re relatively new (changing from Lou Sobh Pontiac, Buick, GMC on Nov. 1) and we thought this was a terrific idea."
"This is a very positive step," said Superintendent John Baracy. "We’re trying to increase resources by utilizing other methods than just relying on the state Legislature."
Scottsdale is paying Media Advertising in Motion of Menifee, Calif., to solicit ads. The district will receive $48,000 after the firm takes a 40 percent commission. Funds generated will be used within the district.
The firm’s Jim O’Connell hopes Martin will be the first of many advertisers. "We want to be specific about the types of ads we go after," he said. "It’s a bit of a shotgun approach. We have other potential advertisers. We’ve gone the gamut between clothing stores, dentists’ offices and car dealerships. It’s an excellent opportunity for neighborhood advertising."
District spokesman Tom Herrmann said ads should start appearing by Feb. 14.
