• Mediaweek, Tuesday, February 3, 2009 9:15 AM

Branded cities, such as Southern California's new El Portál, are urban real-estate developments with out-of-home advertising opportunities written into their DNA.

At El Portál, which will begin construction in May, community spaces and town hall locations will include large and sophisticated digital displays, totaling 4,500 square feet. Three high-definition LED advertising billboards will beam down on a plaza, where up to 4,000 people can gather. The façade of a Regency Theatre movie house will be covered in interactive screens where the public can watch anything from local sports events to user-generated content, including commercial messages.

Lest this approach seems farfetched, experts say developments in south Boston and Hartford, Conn. New Orleans, Minneapolis and Baton Rouge are currently weighing the branded cities approach. El Portál is unique because it will be the first branded city in the United States catering to a specific cultural group, Latinos.

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