Claude Zdanow, CEO of ONAR (OTCQB:RELT), discussed the company’s focus on growth through acquisitions and strategic partnerships.
ONAR (OTCQB:RELT), founded by two large financial institutions, recently rebranded after three years in operation.
Zdanow emphasized ONAR (OTCQB:RELT)'s expertise in middle-market companies and digital transformation.
Proactive: The company has put out a bit of an update on what's been going on the last little while, and we'll get into that in just a second. But first, I want to talk to you a bit about you and the company itself. This is not a bunch of guys who just started up a couple of weeks ago. This is a well-oiled machine and with a lot of experience, starting with yourself.
Claude Zdanow: Absolutely. I think people are just getting to know us because of the recent rebrand, and it may seem like we're coming out of nowhere. But the company has actually been around for three years. It was founded by two large financial institutions with a vision to grow and consolidate technology-enabled marketing agencies. They brought me in for my experience in doing just that. Since then, we've built a team around that same mission. So, while we've been operating in the private sector for some time, we're now reaching the stage where we can finalize the reverse merger and complete our audit.
What I think people are going to see in the coming quarters, months, and weeks is a lot of information about who we are, where we've been in terms of financial performance, and where we expect to be going with acquisitions and growth.
From reading your bio, it’s clear you’ve worked with some major clients and built trust with some industry giants.
Yes. I started my career in a non-traditional way, transitioning from the music business to marketing and advertising. At my previous firm, we primarily worked with Fortune 500 brands, including LVMH, Diageo, Rolls-Royce, BMW, Microsoft, and some smaller companies as well. At Onar, while we aim for opportunities with enterprise clients, our main focus is building a business for the middle market. Large holding companies like Omnicom, WPP, and Havas have been around for years and target major enterprises, but we see the middle market as a growing area. With technology, we can create solutions for middle-market and growth-stage companies, as well as traditional companies beginning their digital transformation journey.
Claude, you’ve mentioned partnerships as a key focus for the company. One of these is with a telecom leader—can you tell me more about that?
Yeah, it's super exciting to be working with iQSTEL. They have a similar story to us in that they’ve been a publicly traded company for some time, and now they’re in the process of uplisting to Nasdaq. We’re talking about a company on its way to doing $1 billion in revenue. But they’ve grown so fast that they haven’t focused on their brand and communication strategy. It’s a great place for us because they’re the exact type of client we want—working directly with their CMO, CEO, and CFO to develop marketing strategies that not only communicate their message but also drive revenue growth as they go public.
And that’s just one partnership. I’m sure your pipeline is full of potential partnerships and clients.
Yeah, absolutely. There’s a range of customers. We have a very active growth pipeline, and we’re hiring behind it. As we’ve talked about before, acquisitions are key to what we’re doing. We’re looking for companies that are strong, fundamental businesses that can continue to grow after we acquire them and expand our client base.
Well, it sounds like an exciting time for you and the team. We appreciate your time, Claude, and we’ll talk again soon.
Thanks so much. Appreciate you having me.
Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity