In this edition of our “Member Spotlight” blog series, we interviewed Mike-Charles Nahounou, founder of TimePost. TimePost is a social platform that allows users to buy affordable digital billboard ads, using a desktop or mobile device. TimePost reduces the cost of high-impact, non-intrusive digital advertising by at least 75%. The company’s mission is to assist marketers that have limited marketing dollars to compete against major labels.

What is TimePost and what inspired you to create the business?

“TimePost is a social platform that allows you to buy digital billboard ads for a fraction of the cost, using a desktop or mobile device. Think of us as Google Adwords for Digital Billboards. The idea was inspired from the many challenges I faced as an independent recording artist trying to make a living by marketing and promoting my music releases and live performances. I quickly learned how expensive and time-consuming it is for startups and small to medium-sized businesses to reach new consumers and become profitable. TimePost reduces the cost of high-impact, non-intrusive digital advertising by at least 75%. Magna Global recently revealed that digital advertising will surpass TV faster than expected to become the largest media channel in 2016.”

What makes TimePost unique from other advertising models? For example, can you explain what digital out-of-home (DOOH) is?

“DOOH media (aka billboard advertising) is the oldest, most time-tested mass media channel in existence. It’s the arm of digital media that targets consumers where they spend 70% of their time – “on-the-go,” in public locations such as shopping malls, bus shelters, transit hubs, highways, airports, stadiums and casinos. Location is considered the new currency of marketing, and DOOH media is the most unique and cost-effective way to leverage this paradigm shift. What’s more, DOOH is the only high-impact, mass reach medium that allows advertisers to assume control over content, whereby, consumers cannot skip, swipe or close advertisements.

TimePost is fundamentally different from other models in that it seeks to democratize advertising, making it more affordable for anyone desiring to advertise. The system dramatically improves market inefficiencies by optimizing the value exchange between advertisers, consumers and DOOH network owners using a timeshare-like model that sells “time-of-exposure” as a proxy for consumer attention. This is a departure from the antiquated impression-based model that essentially charges advertisers per eyeball. Time-of-exposure is a more exact, thus efficient basis for pricing. In this way, ad wastage is eliminated and marketers are no longer obligated to pay for ad time they don’t need. In fact, we don’t sell AD SLOTS, we sell TIC TOCS! TOCS®, which are 2-minute slots that algorithmically schedules one or more advertisements called TICS®. Advertisers can now make single ad-buys that can support multiple campaigns in several locations, and service both marking and branding initiatives.”

I know TimePost is still in beta form, but in what ways do you see it impacting our community?

“TimePost was created with a socially-driven mission at heart: to empower creative entrepreneurs, disrupt monopolies, and better connect social communities around the world. Advertising is a powerful tool that boosts economic output (sales), supports jobs, and stimulates competition. Pro-competitive markets grow economies, promote entrepreneurship and innovation, lower prices, and ultimately increase consumer options. Our pledge to donate significantly more “free advertising” than industry standards to various nonprofits, social enterprises, and community-formed organizations made the proposition of becoming a benefit corporation appealing. With the exciting new economic developments happening in our state, TimePost is well positioned to serve as a hyper-efficient way of delivering your marketing or branding message to thousands of captive, attentive and receptive audiences daily.

Beyond that, TimePost is part and parcel of an innovative economic development initiative, which recently built award-winning technology that connects and powers Smart Cities. We’re currently forging private/public partnerships with municipalities and economic development-focused organizations in an effort to help identify, create and inaugurate new revenue-generating programs.”

Why be based out of Hartford?

“Aside from the fact it’s where I was born and raised, Hartford is a great place to live, work and play. It’s time Hartford be the topic of global conversations as a model city for economic prosperity. Hartford is an emerging market with a coveted talent and resource pool that could ultimately produce the next generation of industry disruptors, game changers, and innovators. We’re already nurturing a culture of entrepreneurship. What’s missing is fearless leadership, better tax treatment for early-stage startup investments, and a dedicated social community of citizens, investors, business, political and religious leaders willing to collaborate and build a new economy organically.”

We see that you are co-founder of PB Dolla Entertainment and that you had early professional success as a performing artist and songwriter. Why did you leave the music industry and/or do you still write and perform?

“I never left the music industry. I just quietly focused on studying the $600 billion global advertising industry. Henry Ford once said, “The man who stops advertising to save money is the man who stops his clock to save time.” This revelation, coupled with accumulated frustration from years of limited marketing budgets, inspires me to revolutionize the advertising industry like Steve Jobs and Apple did the music industry. If iTunes made it equitable and affordable for independent artists (producers) to publish their own music (content), TimePost does the same for advertising the availability of that content to active consumers on the path to purchase.”

“My company, PB DOLLA, LLC (People Building Dreams Off Life Long Associations) helped pioneer the independent music and entertainment scene here in Connecticut. This won us the opportunity to work with some of the hottest artists and producers in the game. As for writing and performing, creating art is a lifetime discipline for me. I wrote a song called “Come Back 2 Stay” that’s been playing on Hartford’s #1 urban radio station, Hot 93.7 for 10+ years. Notwithstanding, I considered this success a validated ‘proof-of-concept,’ and increased brand equity, because I never had the proper infrastructure and financing in place to fully support a comprehensive, sustainable promotional blitz. With TimePost, I can now afford high-impact, location-based marketing and branding campaigns using DOOH media, and can engage thousands of new fans in public places every day.”