Public Relations Services & Communications

Established relationships with tech & business media

The DUO Marketing team is made up of Tech PR professionals, dedicated to building brand visibility in targeted digital platforms and print publications for our clients in the technology sector.

We employ both traditional and digital PR strategies, carefully curated by experts to achieve the best results, locally and internationally through our partnership with Plexus.

At the heart of our PR and Digital Marketing agency is the aim to provide measurable return on investment (ROI), which we achieve through aligning our Tech PR activities with the strategic roadmap in our public relations services. This is only possible with the backing of our commercial expertise, deep industry experience, excellent track record and established relationships with tech and business media.

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Strategy

Our strategic approach focuses on aligning your business objectives with public relations services and digital marketing activities. We’ll delve into your business and marketplace to create a comprehensive roadmap for successful brand elevation. We immerse ourselves in your business to become experts to create a strategic marketing and public relations services communications blueprint. We understand the importance of aligning PR and marketing activities to business objectives to show real value and return on investment (ROI). This is why our full range of communications services starts with a deep understanding of your business, your technology; solutions and goals.

Developing a holistic marketing strategy and plan.
Aligning and amplifying opportunities, where a marketing strategy already exists.
Creating digital campaigns that drive brand awareness.
Delivering internal marketing campaigns to drive loyalty and trust.
Identifying what to prioritise on a budget.
Measuring the impact of your investment and who to hold accountable at critical milestones.
Clarifying what critical elements are required to elevate your brand effectively
Identifying which tools, platforms and messaging to use
Identifying when the best time is to launch a product or solution
Reporting to the Board and shareholders to ensure that they understand the value of your investment

Content Creation

Content is king at DUO. All good PR and digital marketing starts with good quality content. Our creative team, led by award-winning writers that include former IT journalists, and editors of leading tech and business magazines, excel in producing engaging, original content tailored to your brand’s voice and commercial objectives.

From press releases, thought leadership articles, to customer case studies, we craft original content that educates your audience and highlights your business’s expertise and differentiation in the industry. Our goal is to produce quality published media articles to boost brand credibility and enhance your SEO. Our content strategies are informed by deep industry insights and aim to position your tech company as an authoritative thought leader in its field.

While DUO is excited about the rise of generative AI and its use in public relations services. The role that it has to play in the evolution of content creation, we are fully aware of the negative impact of over-reliance on such content when it comes to SEO, and that there is no substitute for original, thoughtful content that adds value to the lives of readers. Please read our AI policy here

Media Relations

Effective media relations are essential for successful communication strategies. Our experienced public relations services team ensures your news resonates with the right audience through meticulously crafted content, media briefings, and relationships with key journalists and media outlets. We closely work with selected Tier 1 publications to secure coverage and ensure that your brand, company news, and messaging are conveyed in a positive, consistent and credible manner.

Additionally, we manage everything from media release examples to expertly training your team on how to communicate effectively with the media, ensuring your brand maintains a positive image in the public.

Crisis management

Crisis management is the process by which an organisation deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organisation or its stakeholders. DUO has a team of experienced PR practitioners to support our clients in this process within our public relations services.

Crisis can vary from a data breach to a misinterpreted tweet. There is no blueprint for crisis resolution and as such, we treat each incident with careful precision, weighing up the risks and considerations for all parties concerned.

We take a proactive approach with trained spokespeople to remove the opportunity for media speculation. It’s never comfortable or easy and as such, we offer this service to retainer clients only.

We will work with our clients to prepare the following documents to ensure that all the necessary information is immediately available:

Crisis communication plan
Crisis communication team (who should manage the crisis)
Letters to staff and shareholders
Media announcements and interviews with relevant media
Possible Q&A’s
Policy documentation on: Handling the media

Internal Communication

At DUO, every audience matters and strategies are tailored to get the most impact. The team assists clients to develop and strengthen relationships across organisational boundaries through effective internal branding and staff communication.

Our services assist businesses in:

Creating an internal brand aligned to your external brand and business strategy
Internal brand ambassadorship campaigns to drive motivation, loyalty and productivity
What to prioritise on a small budget
How to measure the impact of your investment and who to hold accountable at critical milestones
What critical elements are required to elevate your internal brand effectively
What tools, platforms and messaging to use to drive engagement and any changes your business may be experiencing
Reporting to the Board and shareholders to ensure they understand the value of your investment

Personal Profiling

You probably know the masterminds behind Apple, Microsoft and Facebook, but do people in your industry know the brains behind your company?

Personal profiling creates presence and visibility on client competencies, successes and vision for the brand and/ or organisation. DUO has over 15 years’ experience in personal profiling for our customers and understands how to boost the presence and visibility of an organisation’s executives. DUO assists executives in:

Finding key industry analysts to engage with
Identifying and connecting with influential journalists within the tech industry
Creating opportunities for executives to be published in prominent publications

Speaker Opportunities

DUO strategically identifies speaker opportunities at leading industry events in order to provide clients with a platform and opportunity to engage with, and influence audiences beyond their current base. Participating at events not only elevates brand awareness, but helps profile the business, and its key employees as subject-matter experts in their field. This is done through:

Identifying the themes and events that best match the client’s focus and business strategy
Crafting speaker motivations that get submitted to the event organisers
Once secured, creating briefing documents and/or assisting clients with speaker notes in preparation for the opportunity

PR Events

We have introduced a PR events bundle for retainer clients to ensure that their events gain maximum media exposure. The service will extend clients’ PR event editorial beyond their existing retainer and includes a comprehensive list of input/ output deliverables to ensure pre- and post-event awareness and brand recognition.

The services in the bundle include the following:

Writing and placement of a pre- and post-event press release
Inviting media and securing interviews on the day of the event
Creating and posting social media content to promote the event and drive interest (before, during and after)
Distributing photos and captions to media
Driving post-event social media engagement

Media Training

Our media training programme is designed to equip spokespeople with the necessary know-how to hone messages and handle even the trickiest interviewer. The primary objective of the workshop is to prepare your company spokespeople to face the media and help create a messaging blueprint that becomes a point of reference for future engagement with the press.

The agenda for the four-hour media training includes:

Introduction to the media
Engaging the media
Dealing with crises
The changing media landscape
The risks of AI in PR
Social media
Roleplay (to test your knowledge)

The workshop is facilitated by a DUO team member and a journalist, who have extensive knowledge of working with and in the media.

Reputation Management

A business’ reputation is something that can make or break an organisation. A bad review or an angry social media blast can be detrimental to your business. The reputation of a business is real and the impact can quickly be felt. We help our clients protect their reputation and speedily resolve issues as unexpected challenges arise through our public relations services.

We assist businesses to: Identify business reputational goals; Examine the current reality of their business’ reputation; Analyse areas in the business that need to be addressed from a reputation perspective; Develop a tactical plan on how to deal with these issues; and Monitor and measure online, print and broadcast content.

We have worked with incredible clients, including:

I’m writing to thank you for the outstanding work that you and your colleagues at DUO Marketing have done for us over the past year of our engagement with you. When we set out on our contractual journey with DUO, you identified the need for a campaign that was focussed on building recognition of the GhostDraft brand, as a precursor to specific lead generation activities. And that is exactly what you achieved for us: the statistics as measured through our social media and web presence are clear and gratifying.As you know, we have now decided to bring our direct marketing activities in-house for the next phase of this journey. This is not a reflection of any disappointment with Duo from our side. To the contrary, we have really enjoyed working with you. Both of you are professional, wonderfully experienced, and a pleasure to have had in our team. I’m sure our paths will coincide again in the future – I look forward to it.

Mark Todes

Co-Founder & Director

Over the last year, DUO has enabled us to achieve exposure in the South African market to audiences we could never have reached otherwise. Your extensive networks in the tech media industry, your insightful contributions to our articles and thought leadership pieces, your proactive management of our monthly goals and targets, and your wise guidance to us as we embark on our PR journey have all been invaluable.

Wayne Toms

Chief Executive Officer

Having worked with DUO since the inception of redAcademy has been instrumental in the communication and market awareness of pioneering a new way for organisations to obtain ICT talent.Their deep understanding of the technology sector, media relations and professional approach to communications has brought our impact and success stories to the forefront with our target audience, supporting redAcademy in sharing a new way for youth to enter skilled careers in tech.It is wonderful to partner with an organisation that understands our vision and values so deeply, the DUO team are a true pleasure to work with.

Jessica Hawkey

Managing Director

DUO has been the trusted partner to Mukuru for B2B PR support since 2020. In 2023, the partnership with DUO was strengthened and affirmed with a restructure of the DUO team and streamlining of communications. As a result, exceptional results were achieved for our business. DUO surpassed all goals and raised brand awareness and recognition as Mukuru shifted from being remittance-led to a leading next-generation financial services platform. DUO secured a record 221 pieces of coverage over 12 months through high quality thought leadership content. In addition, securing 45 broadcast interviews, media features and speaker slots – and submitting Mukuru for a high-profile award, which we won. All this affirmed Mukuru’s position as a key entity in the fintech industry. In light of this demonstrated success, DUO will continue their efforts on behalf of Mukuru in the wider African market and include B2C content in their offering.

Andy Jury

CEO

DUO Marketing has played an instrumental role in shaping and differentiating our brand voice and narrative in the South African market over the past six months. DUO’s strategy and support enabled us, as a new start-up, to not just disrupt but cut through the clutter of a very competitive category. Led by Judith, her exceptional team consistently went above and beyond to provide opportunities and insight that supported in achieving meaningful and authentic brand awareness and brand equity. Thank you for your dedication, guidance and passion in all that you do. You’ve been invaluable partners to our business.

Lindsay Cowan

CEO and Co-Founder

We’ve worked with DUO for three years now to represent us at the annual Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Africa in Cape Town. Over this time, we’ve come to associate DUO with excellent delivery. They’re always on their game and it’s a pleasure to get things before you’ve even asked for them. The digital services they’re able to offer us over and above traditional media relations also helped us to grow delegate numbers. It’s great to have their support and we’d be happy to recommend them as a partner.

Gartner

Africa

As a global company, we value DUO’s approach of looking for really creative and valuable PR opportunities at a local country level. Our DUO account manager is always in contact with the Veeam South African team, which is extremely important for building up a local pipeline of relevant news, generating new angles and strong coverage results. With DUO’s productive exchange of ideas, strategic input, autonomy, responsiveness and access to the local press, we’re looking forward to our further fruitful collaboration with the agency.

Yulia Poslavskaya

Senior Public and Analyst Relations Manager

We appointed DUO again this year to represent Gartner at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Africa 2013 in Cape Town. They delivered more than 100 published media articles, secured 20 journalists to attend, managed analysts and media at the event, secured a media partnership with Daily Maverick and provided us with digital solutions never used before to grow delegate numbers. Their PR knowledge and skills greatly contributed to a successful Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Africa 2013 and we’d be happy to recommend them as a partner.

René Jacobs

MD at Gartner Africa

Vox’s relationship with DUO Marketing extends to almost two decades where they have played a significant role in establishing an excellent relationship between Vox and its key stakeholders whilst successfully growing the company’s public profile.This team of dynamic professionals has a deep understanding of the ICT industry and through their extensive network and professional approach, have outstanding relationships and partnerships with key media, influencers, and industry leaders, which has resulted in increased brand visibility and exceptional media coverage for Vox.They are an extension of the internal Marketing team and as such, play a significant role in ensuring that our messaging, content and campaign efforts are aligned across all relevant platforms.Their commitment to excellence, accountability and responsibility aligns perfectly with the Vox values and it’s the perfect recipe for a mutually successful and respectful relationship.

Diana Prenner

Marketing Manager: PR, Events and Sponsorships at Vox

We’ve seen a direct correlation between PR publicity and an increase in our website traffic from the the exposure that DUO has consistently secured for us in influential media. Their immersion in our business and excellent writing creates a strong but effortless partnership that is getting us results.

Brendon Williamson

GM, Business Development / PayGate South Africa

idu Software has worked with DUO since June 2009. During this time they have gained great insight and understanding into our business and industry. They consistently deliver high quality news articles that are relevant to our business and gain quality media coverage. They are always driving us to deliver new and fresh content, and continuously present new opportunities for us to build brand awareness. One of our key success areas is the regular column we contribute to ASA Magazine, as this publication targets our customer profile directly. Articles in this publication have generated direct leads for our business. Other media coverage that we are particularly proud of include an appearance on Summit TV and articles in other highly regarded publications like the Business Day, and Sunday Times, as well as online channels including the Mail & Guardian Thought Leader Blog.

Kevin Phillips

We have a lot of customers, suppliers and even competitors asking how we get so much media coverage. DUO has ensured that our presence exceeds our size tenfold.

Brian Timperley

MD and Co-Founder

We were seeking a PR partner that takes the time to understand our company, products, services and culture. DUO went the extra mile to ensure they are always informed and aligned to our fast paced IT industry.They offered training upfront which helped us understand PR processes and the media world in general. Their experience, professionalism and connections in the media have given us the additional exposure in a competitive market we were seeking.

Charlene Smith

Sales Director

We have been working with DUO for 6 years now. The team produces a consistent flow of high-quality PR content that brings in a steady stream of leads. They understand what our business goals are and how PR can help us achieve them. This year, the team helped us refine our positioning and messaging so that we are able to talk to our target audience in a fresh and compelling way.DUO is proof of the value of PR to niche technology providers like 1Stream.

Bruce von Maltitz

Director

We couldn’t hope for a better marketing/PR partner and can only imagine scaling our engagement with them in the future.

Jason Ried

Founder and MD

To say that DUO Marketing + Communications works for Vox would be absurd! They are more than partners and service providers – but rather part of the Vox family. They embody the same values as Vox and have a very thorough understanding of our culture and the messaging that we want to get to our market. To know that they are just as passionate about our business as we are, proves that we made the right choice when we teamed up with them. DUO is made up of a bunch of motivated professionals who continuously strive for the best results and I would recommend them to any business wanting to put their PR into “Partnership Relations”.

Dianne Prenner

Marketing manager: PR, events and sponsorships

DUO Marketing is a professional, efficient, and friendly company to do business with. They get the job done brilliantly and are supportive, creative and proactive. I’m glad we have the opportunity to work with them on our PR content and have really enjoyed working with their team. All our PR requirements and projects are covered by a very helpful team and I feel we are well looked after. DUO Marketing secured fantastic radio interviews and coverage for us and their attention to detail ensures everyone involved are well briefed and taken care of throughout the entire process. I am looking forward to working with them on our future PR campaigns

Felix Erken

Read our customer success case studies

Be inspired by the successes we have helped our tech clients achieve.

November 29, 2024

Ecentric: PR is the foundation for real return on investment through lead generation

October 3, 2024

Using integrated B2B and B2C PR to elevate Armata’s cybersecurity expertise and credibility

September 10, 2024

Strengthening brand credibility and driving lead generation for Telviva through PR and digital marketing

Enquiry Form

DUO is a specialist agency that works with technology companies looking to elevate their brand in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Are you looking to build your organisation’s presence across traditional media and digital platforms, establish your company and its people as industry and domain experts, and ultimately drive web traffic and potential leads?

Click to call: 010 140 3720

Email: contact@duomarketing.co.za

Careers: admin@duomarketing.co.za

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