Langmead & Baker Ltd is an international PR and communications company with over 25 years’ of experience supporting multinational and local corporates and development agencies across Southern Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique. Our footprint also extends into Europe and the Caribbean.
We are a team of 16 full-time professional staff including experienced writers, videographers, in-house photographers and graphic designers.
Our approach is to deliver strategy-based public relations support in a proactive client-centric way that demonstrates our understanding of their business and the objectives we are jointly trying to achieve.
We care personally that our clients succeed.
The directors have two MBAs, a law degree and a PhD and MSc in finance: we are in business ourselves, giving us a strong understanding of the business context, while our journalism background of more than 35 years ensures strong news sense, excellent writing skills, professionalism and an appreciation of deadlines.
Helping you get your message across
Client liaison
We work closely with our clients to ensure we understand their business, their goals and their requirements. Ensuring a strong internal communications system is key to enable them to effectively communicate to a wider audience.
Strategic Planning
Issuing messages in a vacuum does not work. We work with clients to ascertain corporate and communications goals, develop key messages, identify target audiences and select the most appropriate channels for dissemination.
Press Releases
Our regular and reliable crafting, localisation and dissemination of news releases, generally accompanied by pictures, has come to be recognised and appreciated by media practitioners throughout the region as a source of stories.
Press Conferences
We use press conferences sparingly, but they can be a powerful tool in the right circumstances for disseminating a straightforward message to a wide audience and helping to explain messages directly to journalists.
Interviews
We maintain an extensive database of media, and have strong relationships with journalists in all the markets where we operate, enabling us to arrange relevant interviews and briefings that add depth and value for clients and journalists.
Photographs
We have a skilled in-house photographic capability that has generated some of our clients’ most well-used and iconic photographs, highlighting their work and reinforcing messages in a clear and creative way.
Social media
Content generation is at the core of our business, working with clients to identify, hone and disseminate messages to appropriate audiences through channels including websites, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Media monitoring
You can’t manage what you can’t measure, is one of our client’s favourite adages. We agree, which is why we take the time to monitoring print, online, social and broadcast media in detail on a daily basis for generated coverage, client mentions and relevant industry news.
Video and Audio
An in-house HD video and audio capability enables us to produce and edit appropriate audio-visual material for broadcast media and as standalone corporate videos. This also adds value to press releases.
Investor Relations
We work with both stock exchange-listed and private companies and organisations, most of which require a degree of investor relations, ranging from Regulatory News Service (RNS) statements to material to reinforce banker and private investor confidence.
CSR management
CSR is an increasingly important component of our clients’ businesses. We support them with CSR frameworks, long experience and knowledge of local causes, and a strategic approach that maximises returns under a triple bottom line approach of social, environmental and economic benefit.
Media kits
Basic background information helps journalists understand an organisation’s story better. We maintain and update media kits for our clients as a resource for the media.
Events
Events can bring a message to life. We will be there with advice, support, media coverage and input as required, working with specialist companies if necessary.
Speech writing
A great speech can move an audience, shift perceptions and rebuild reputations. We know, because we have written some of them.
Stakeholder mapping
Public relations encompasses many “publics”; we work with clients and bring added value from our many years of experience in research and analysis to help identify influencers to ensure messages are targeted correctly.
Reporting
Regular daily, weekly or monthly reports are tailored to the needs of each client in terms of formatting, metrics and content. We report inputs, outputs and outcomes.
Crisis response
A crisis often starts as an issue. We constantly scan for issues that could develop into crises, providing early warning to clients of potential problems and strategising how to deal with them. If a problem does become serious, we are on-hand to deal with media inquiries, issue statements, develop talking points, mitigate corporate damage and protect reputations – 24/7.