Best Creative PR & Communications Agency 2023 - Cape Town As an award-winning PR and communications agency, HLS delivers outstanding PR campaigns that are creative, specialised, and targeted. In this, it works to develop newsworthy and engaging content (hook), then selects the best platforms and channels (line) to deliver the ultimate ROI (sinker). In 2018, HLS was established by Founder and Managing Director Adam Hunter, who was inspired to breathe life back into the PR game by creating a company that would combine the powers of marketing, publicity, content, and social media. As a young, fresh, and innovative start-up, the agency would soon serve its first client, an international ICT software company. Enthused by its promising debut, the company was thrilled to see what its future held. However, within HLS’s first two years of operation, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. With lockdowns and travel restrictions plaguing the world, many companies found themselves struggling to grow, and the PR industry faced a number of challenges. Having suffered the effects of factors like digitalisation, AI, and inflation for several years, print media was significantly impacted by the pandemic, causing multiple media houses to close and countless publications to disappear. For HLS, the ever-growing world of technology and digital has played a key role in its ability to not just survive but also thrive throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Historically, humans have responded to times of crisis with creation and innovation. The pandemic was no exception to this pattern, leading to the dramatic acceleration of technological advancement. Specialising in serving business-to-business (B2B) tech brands and global start-ups, HLS experienced a surge in demand from clients working to bring digital innovation to the market. Additionally, a number of its existing clients required the agency’s support as they worked to enhance their digital offerings, aiming to fill the gaps in their services caused by the pandemic. As its clients evolved and changed during this time, HLS evolved alongside them to ensure that it continued to serve as an asset to their businesses. Furthermore, HLS believes that it has benefited from its location in South Africa. With a high degree of English proficiency, convenient time zones, a skilled workforce, advanced digital infrastructure, and attractive exchange rates, the country is the most favoured location for offshore customer experience delivery. Brands have realised that, by working across borders, they can secure internationally competitive services at reasonable costs. In recent years, this outsourcing trend has broadened to include content production, marketing, and communications. These factors, along with its forward-thinking, results-driven, strategic, and creative nature, have enabled HLS to defy all odds, becoming a rising star in the media and marketing industry. What initially appeared to be a business threat quickly became a promising venture. Thanks to its digital offering and its focus on intelligent content development, the agency was able to secure both local and international clients. Before long, it was forming partnerships with global giants like SAP, IBM, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and the United Nations as it expanded its reach across Africa, Europe, America, and the Middle East. All the while, the agency’s revenue quadrupled, along with its client list and workforce. Now, Adam leads a growing team of professionals at HLS, hiring specialists who share the agency’s ethos and have the necessary skills to contribute towards its growth strategy. The team support 16 different market units across the globe, working with brands that are interested in translating the complexities of digital and publishing into opportunities. However, it is not only HLS that has seen promising results and significant growth in the last few years. For example, amongst its client list is Skynamo, a local Stellenbosch start-up that secured 371 million South African rand in funding during the pandemic and began acquiring UK competitors as part of its growth strategy. In addition, with school closures having affected students across the world throughout the pandemic, education has changed dramatically due to the rise of e-learning. Two HLS clients in this field are Meet and Code Europe and HyperionDev. Based in Cape Town, Hook, Line & Sinker (HLS) is one of South Africa’s best public relations consultancies, serving an extensive list of clients. Equipped with an excellent team of writers, in-house news reporters, and social media specialists, the company brings a dash of digital creativity to its work. Here, we dive deeper into HLS’s work and its journey over the last five years.
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