A 25-year veteran in media and advertising, Aziz Rahimtoola, co-founder and CEO of Sabio Holdings Inc., believes he and his 130-member team have developed the secret sauce to reach the holy grail of advertisers: diverse audiences.
Whether Hispanic, Latino, Asian, or African-American, Sabio (Spanish for wise or experienced) offers clients including Rocket Mortgage, General Motors Co., and Ford Motor Co. a way to reach different audiences via targeted advertising that includes mobile apps and streaming TV content.
Based in Los Angeles, Sabio Holdings recently opened an office in downtown Royal Oak as a way to better serve an array of local clients in sectors such as automotive, retail, quick-service restaurants, and consumer products.
“We supply targeted advertising content on such channels as Roko, and from the feedback we receive, we supply our clients with very specific information on what potential buyers are motivated by and what they’re looking for in a specific product or a service,” Rahimtoola says. “There are lots of data points to understand.”
With a portfolio of companies in the streaming TV ad industry, the company provides its clients with advertising solutions, advanced audience analytics, and content monetization.
The Sabio Holdings portfolio is comprised of Sabio, a content monetization DSP (Demand Side Platform); App Science, a real-time measurement and attribution SAAS (Software as a Service) platform; and Vidillion, a cloud-based ad-insertion, content distribution, and management platform.
Having launched several startups in the media production and global trade space as well as holding leadership roles at NBC Universal and AT&T Adworks, Rahimtoola says Sabio Holdings, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, will grow by adding more data science offerings and proprietary software engineering processes.
“We hire quite a few recruits from the University of Michigan, and we see metro Detroit as a hotbed for innovation and smart technology,” Rahimtoola says. “This year we plan to introduce Sabio TV to further help brands reach diverse audiences, as well as enhance our ability to drill down to the factors that motivate buyers to make a purchase.”
For example, when buying a new car, truck, or SUV, a Hispanic buyer often prefers different colors, styling, and features than someone from Asia or the Middle East.
“If you can highlight certain attributes unique to specific customers, it’s a whole lot better than providing a one-size-fits-all advertising campaign,” Rahimtoola notes.
“In the past, global advertisers would target specific ads to, say, Hispanic magazines, newspapers, radio, and television, but it was expensive and there was literally little to no feedback. In the digital age, not only can we target specific audiences, but we also get feedback. It’s our job to take that feedback and act on it to drive more sales and brand loyalty for our clients.”
