With NDA’s Summer ‘Trinity Lunch’ approaching, we caught up with the leaders of businesses sponsoring the event. Here, we meet DJ Agahi, Managing Director – UK & EMEA at Sabio…
Why is your organisation supporting the latest Trinity Lunch event?
It appeared to be an excellent network to be involved in, and as we establish our company in the UK, the upcoming Trinity Lunch event provides a chance to introduce ourselves to UK brands and agencies.
What are the biggest issues your clients/customers are facing at the moment?
Uncertain macro environments are causing brands and agencies to be more intentional with their ad dollars. Connected TV is a critical component to media buys, as streaming television continues to surge in the UK and cost-conscious viewers are watching ad-supported video content. As consumers’ viewing habits shift, advertisers are challenged to adapt new platforms to reach and engage their audiences. Connected TV allows advertisers to provide a more engaging ad experience for UK streamers.
Sabio provides CTV solutions to drive impact, while ensuring quality and transparency. We have an award-winning in-house creative team who create more engaging ad experiences, to enhance your creative strategy and deliver greater results.
What are the big priorities for your organisation this year?
In the U.S., we work with top agencies and deliver award-winning CTV campaigns. As we broaden our footprint in the UK, our priorities revolve around executing campaigns that showcase our unique CTV solutions. Our utmost focus lies in gaining the trust and confidence of brands and agencies, like we’ve accomplished in the U.S.
What do you consider to be the biggest changes to digital marketing over the last 12 months?
Speaking of digital marketing overall, the biggest change is the increase in video consumption. This does not limit to AVOD and CTV, but platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and streaming services are encouraging consumers to consume more video content. As a result, video advertising and CTV/OTT advertising have become an essential part of digital marketing strategies today.
What trends are you seeing at the moment that might be important over the next 12 months?
One thing that I believe will be important over the next month is the movement toward transparency for clients and brands. This can mean many things such as the depreciation of 3rd party data and increased emphasis on reaching the right audience without it, a need for a privacy-first platform, as well as better validation and measurement solutions for campaign performance.
Sabio provides solutions for these challenges. Our platform is privacy compliant, working with several partners to ensure brand safety. We provide full inventory lists for preferred or blocklists and accept all tracking and monitoring pixels to ensure transparency where advertisers are reaching their audiences. We also provide a post-campaign wrap-up report to validate and drive further success by providing insights beyond standard CTR and VCR performance metrics.
In addition to prioritizing transparency and ad quality, we are a certified minority-owned company, and have expertise in reaching culturally diverse audiences.
If you could make one change that would improve your industry as a place to work, what would it be?
Leaning into change. Ad-tech space is very fast-paced by nature and there are constant innovations in a rapidly evolving industry, including CTV advertising. By fostering a culture that encourages people to lean into change, adapt, and optimize, companies can create an environment where employees feel empowered to experiment, explore new ideas, and take calculated risks. Our expansion to the UK is an example of this. We saw there are growing opportunities in the UK, and we believe we can provide CTV solutions to advertisers in the UK based on our success and expertise we fostered in the U.S. I truly believe leaning into change and encouraging innovation can lead to the development of ground-breaking solutions, creative campaigns, and the ability to adapt to emerging trends.
