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The Valley Indoor Billboard Group takes the concept of outdoor billboard advertising (that you see along the interstate) and it brings it indoors. The goal is to offer small business time and space on flatscreen TVs inside brick & mortar establishments while consumers are inside, Valley-wide. In a nutshell, we help brands stay top of mind when customers aren't in their locations shopping and spending money. Overall, we hope to reinforce a sense of community among proprietors by helping them help each other reach and speak to members of the local economy.
A message from the founder: "Small business is the backbone of economy, but it really doesn’t feel that way as of late (at least to me). We hear that from various personalities and professionals (in TV ads and during election seasons), but outside of the annual “Small Business Saturday”, there really isn’t much in the way of prioritizing the local proprietor. Entrepreneurs have become the stuff of reality TV - good for a good “high stakes” biopic or “uber-sensational” docudrama - and that’s a real problem, if they’re the backbone of our free market; we’ve all heard how “9 out of 10 small businesses fail”, and nobody really seems to mind (frankly it seems expected anymore) (for start-ups to not succeed). I’ve been an entrepreneur for most of my adult life - participating in commerce as said proprietor in a few different industries now - and I’ve been on both sides of that stat. I’ve been a 9, and I’ve been a 1, and frankly put - I want to see more 1’s, and not just because our collective spine depends on it, but because failing sucks; it’s expensive, and it’s painful, and it’s very much just not a lot of fun. Nobody thinks they will fail either until it’s too late, and oftentimes, it’s due to circumstances beyond the founder’s control. We can’t afford any more of it either (us, as a nation) - we do need the jobs (our people do) - so let’s push your contribution forward. Don’t fail (and especially not “often”). Jobs are important, but so are you and your brand. We need you."
Mark has been in the marketing and creative spaces for 10+ years. He started out as an intern for Elektra Records, graduating to Marketing Rep for Atlantic Records soon thereafter, then launched his own indie record label & production company where he built the company’s branding. The business went on to break the Billboard Chart Top 25, earn RIAA ‘Gold’ Certification, reach the Top 10 on MTV, VH1, and BET, have their music licensed by the NBA, MLB, NBC, score Hollywood films, and produce for the likes of Chris Brown, ‘Lloyd’, Letoya Luckett, and Natasha Bedingfield, among other achievements in the music industry (earning the opportunity to partner with hip-hop star and media mogul Ice Cube among them).
He wrote the company’s business plan and designed its investment materials - they proving successful in his raising venture capital, and he produced some of their songs, and he’s since gone on to author and produce other original works - many of which too have proven marketable: a pop song he wrote was nominated “Best Pop Song” in the Hollywood Songwriting Contest; one of his country songs was nominated “Best Country & Western Song” in the American Songwriting Awards; both his short films were “Official Selections” in the Burbank International Film Festival, Paris Art & Movie Awards, Los Angeles Film Awards, among other events (the Cannes Short Film Festival among them) and were approved for release by Amazon (streaming in 4 different countries); his first feature-length script won the Beverly Hills Film Festival screenplay category’s grand prize (“Golden Palm Award”) and has been lauded as a good candidate for a ‘Netflix Original’; a tech start-up for which he wrote and designed web content, investment materials, mobile app wireframes, and wrote and produced a short demo video (available on Vimeo), had their app approved for release by the Apple App and Google Play stores and partnered with a publicly traded company; (among other examples). Since he was a kid he’s loved to write - winning poetry & short story contests as early as the 3rd grade - but he never really took it too seriously: it was always a creative outlet, nothing more. After learning of his being related to world-famous essayist & philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, he began to, and he’s since gone on to write and produce various works for a variety of people and industry. Mark holds a B.S. in Engineering & Minor in Business, Certificate in Financial Accounting, Certificate in Corporate Valuation, among other accolades, and was recently awarded a patent for a technology he invented from the USPTO. He helps produce all content for all billboard clients - overseeing a team of creatives - and they work until clients are “ready for the red”. He’s been active in the private sector for close to 20 years - working in entertainment, engineering, finance, real estate, and technology - and pulls from that experience when crafting material. His belief in creating enterprise dates back to the early 2000s - check out the article in Inc. Magazine covering his first start-up - his commitment to The Valley running just as long (the music co. was the first of its kind in the area). He likes to play guitar and mountain bike - volunteering at Phoenix Children’s Hospital and mentoring student entrepreneurs at Arizona State when he can - and is a Superhost on AirBnb. For a full list of screenwriting awards & nominations, visit him on IMDb. He hopes to one day speak Italian and never misses a Chicago Bears game.
