PR & Communications Johannesburg
Johannesburg is South Africa’s media capital. It is home to Business Day, The Sunday Times, EWN, SABC, 702, and dozens of specialist titles. Juicy Designs runs PR retainers for JHB brands. We handle media pitching, press releases, crisis communications, executive thought leadership, and reputation management. Basic retainers from R8,500/mo.
Reviewed by Cobus van der Westhuizen, Google Ads Certified CEO, Juicy Designs. Updated .
Sources: IAB South Africa | Think with Google
Three disciplines. One JHB PR team.
Media relations, content and thought leadership, and reputation management. These are the three pillars of every Juicy Designs JHB PR programme.
JHB is home to South Africa’s most influential business journalists and editors. Juicy Designs builds proactive media relationships. We pitch timely stories, give journalists access to your executives, and win coverage in the titles your stakeholders read.
We work across print, digital, and broadcast: Business Day, Sunday Times, Fin24, Daily Maverick, EWN, 702, and key trade titles. Basic retainer from R8,500/mo.
Explore Media RelationsPosition your executives as the authorities in your JHB sector. We use authored articles, media commentary, LinkedIn content, podcast sourcing, and speaking slots. Juicy Designs finds the right topics, writes expert content for your leaders, and wins placements in high-authority JHB business and trade titles. We also manage the LinkedIn presence of key executives. Growth Programme from R18,000/mo.
Explore Thought LeadershipA single crisis can destroy years of brand equity. Juicy Designs runs ongoing reputation monitoring. We track JHB media, social sentiment, and competitor activity, then respond fast when a crisis hits. Crisis prep includes playbooks, holding statements, spokesperson training, and media response plans. Full Programme from R35,000/mo. Reactive crisis support is available outside the retainer on a day-rate basis.
Explore ReputationEverything we offer in Johannesburg
Full public relations and communications for Johannesburg brands, from press release to reputation recovery.
Juicy Designs keeps active relationships with journalists and editors at JHB’s most influential titles. These include Business Day, Sunday Times, Fin24, EWN, 702, SABC Business, Daily Maverick, Bizcommunity, and trade titles across financial services, mining, retail, FMCG, and technology.
We pitch proactively, not reactively. We find timely news hooks, industry trends, and executive commentary that fit your brand. Monthly coverage reports track every placement, reach, and sentiment. Basic retainer from R8,500/mo see full pricing.
Learn moreA poorly written press release goes straight to the bin. Juicy Designs writes releases that journalists actually want to open. They have strong news angles, accurate quotes, clean structure, and AP style.
We send to our own JHB media list and target by beat and title. We do not bulk-blast PR wire services. Every release is optimised for online pickup with built-in SEO keywords and backlink potential. The Basic retainer includes 2 releases/mo. Growth and Full retainers include 4+/mo.
Learn moreJHB has so much media that crises spread faster here than anywhere else in South Africa. Juicy Designs gives you two-track crisis support. The first is prep: playbooks, holding statements, spokesperson training, and scenario planning. The second is active response: 24/7 monitoring, coordinated media response, stakeholder updates, and social listening.
For JHB-listed companies and high-profile brands, crisis communications is not optional. It is essential insurance. The Full Programme includes crisis prep. Reactive support is available on day-rate.
Learn moreJohannesburg’s business media is crowded. To make your CEO or MD a credible voice, you need steady, quality content.
Juicy Designs ghostwrites expert opinion articles for your executives and places them in high-authority JHB business titles. We win media commentary with beat journalists, find and apply for speaking slots at JHB events, and shape the LinkedIn content of executive profiles.
Thought leadership builds credibility that advertising cannot buy. Growth and Full retainer packages.
Learn moreYou cannot manage what you do not measure. Juicy Designs runs ongoing reputation monitoring for JHB brands. We track mentions across print, digital, broadcast, and social media with Meltwater and other tools.
Monthly reputation reports include share of voice, sentiment analysis (positive, neutral, negative), competitor coverage benchmarks, and media value equivalent (MVE). Real-time alerts flag high-risk mentions so we can respond at once. This protects your brand before small issues become big crises. Included in Growth and Full retainer packages.
Learn moreJohannesburg’s listed companies, large corporates, and industry bodies need structured stakeholder communication beyond the media. That covers investor updates, employee communications, community engagement, government relations, and B2B messaging.
Juicy Designs builds and runs stakeholder communications plans that handle many audiences at once. We keep the message consistent and the tone right for each group, from JSE investors to frontline employees. The Full PR Programme includes stakeholder communications management.
Learn moreHow we work
How a Juicy Designs JHB PR retainer runs, from onboarding to coverage.
We audit your current media presence, study competitor share of voice, map target titles, brief your spokesperson, and build a 3-month PR strategy before any pitching starts. We also build a media contact list for your sector and audience.
Week 1-2We write, get approval for, and send press releases. We craft proactive pitches and send them to the right JHB journalists. We draft thought leadership articles for your executives to review. We switch on media monitoring across all platforms.
Monthly cycleWe handle media requests, manage journalist access, and track coverage in real time. We watch brand mentions and sentiment 24/7. We flag issues for fast response before they become crises. We capture every coverage clipping.
OngoingMonthly coverage report: placements, reach, MVE, sentiment breakdown, and share of voice versus competitors. Quarterly PR strategy review. We agree the next-month plan. We refine pitching angles and media targets based on the previous month’s results.
MonthlyMonthly performance review. We scale the winners and cut the weak performers. The strategy gets sharper with every cycle. Your investment compounds over time.
What makes us different
Strategy-led, relationship-driven, and ROI-measured. This is more than press release distribution. It is earned media that builds real brand authority.
Most agencies blast your press release to a generic media list. Juicy Designs pitches to specific journalists who cover your beat, because we have built those relationships. The Business Day tech editor. The Sunday Times FMCG correspondent. The Fin24 financial services desk. The EWN business reporter. Targeted, personal pitching wins coverage that generic distribution does not.
PR should be measurable. Juicy Designs reports monthly on placements, total audience reach, media value equivalent (MVE), sentiment breakdown, and share of voice. You know exactly what your retainer delivers each month. The data then drives the next month’s strategy. No vague outputs. No coverage lists without reach data.
No freelancers, no outsourced writing. Our permanent team runs every JHB PR retainer. You get direct access to Cobus and Wynand for strategy decisions, not an account manager who rotates every 6 months. The people who pitch your brand are the same people who built the relationships with the journalists who cover it.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers about PR and communications in Johannesburg.
Basic PR Retainer from R8,500/mo (media list management, 2 press releases/mo, media monitoring). Growth PR Programme from R18,000/mo (proactive media pitching, 4 press releases, thought leadership writing, monthly coverage reports). Full PR Programme from R35,000/mo (crisis prep, stakeholder communications, full reputation management). All retainers are month-to-month with 30-day notice. See our pricing page or request a custom quote.
We pitch Business Day, Sunday Times, Sowetan, EWN, 702, SABC News, Fin24, Daily Maverick, Bizcommunity, and trade titles across financial services, retail, mining, FMCG, and technology. We target by beat and journalist, not by bulk distribution. So your story goes to the journalist most likely to cover it.
Yes. Crisis prep planning (playbooks, holding statements, spokesperson training) is included in our Full PR Programme. We also manage reactive crisis response during active crises. That covers 24/7 monitoring, coordinated media response, and stakeholder communications. Reactive crisis support outside the retainer is available on day-rate.
We ghostwrite expert articles for your executives and place them in high-authority JHB business titles. We win media commentary, find speaking slots at JHB events, and run executive LinkedIn content. Included in Growth and Full retainer packages.
Monthly coverage reports track every placement (outlet, date, journalist), audience reach estimates, media value equivalent (MVE), sentiment (positive, neutral, negative), key message landing rate, and share of voice versus competitors. We use Meltwater for full JHB and national media monitoring.
Reactive pitching (timely news hooks) can produce coverage within 24-72 hours. Feature articles take 4-8 weeks from pitch acceptance. Thought leadership placements take 2-6 weeks. Steady proactive coverage builds over 3-6 months of relationship-driven pitching. That is why we recommend a minimum 6-month retainer for real results.
Client results
JHB brands that earned the media coverage their competitors paid to advertise.
“We’d tried two previous PR agencies and got press release distribution nothing else. Juicy built actual journalist relationships. In 6 months we had 14 editorial placements in Business Day and Fin24, 3 executive thought leadership articles, and our CEO was invited to speak at two JHB industry events. That is PR that actually moves the needle on credibility.”
“A product issue broke on social media on a Friday evening and was trending by Saturday morning. Juicy activated crisis protocols within 2 hours holding statement, media response, social listening, and stakeholder updates all coordinated by Sunday. By Monday, the story was over. No negative press in the following week. Their crisis preparedness work before the incident made all the difference.”
“As a tech startup in JHB, we had a product worth writing about but no media relationships. Juicy’s Growth PR package built us a media presence from zero 28 editorial placements across tech and business publications, R2.4M in media value equivalent in the first year. Our Series A investors cited our media profile as a key trust signal. Money very well spent.”
Trusted by
From financial services and tech startups to retail groups and professional services, Juicy Designs runs JHB PR retainers that build real media authority.
+ 52 more clients across FMCG, professional services, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Credentials
Every platform. Every certification. One JHB-focused PR team.
Google Partner
Premium agency certification
POPIA Compliant
Data protection certified
Meta Business Partner
Ads & Instagram expertise
TikTok Certified
TikTok ads specialist
HubSpot Platinum
Marketing automation
WCAG AA Compliant
Accessibility certified
Verified on Clutch
Clutch.co client reviews
Juicy Designs was founded in Pretoria in 2015 by Cobus van der Westhuizen (Co-founder & CEO) and Wynand van der Westhuizen (Co-founder & Creative Director). Active team members hold all certifications.
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