Meet the Absa Small Business Friday featured Small Business of the week – Hook, Line & Sinker Communications.
Hook, Line & Sinker (HLS) was born with a simple formula to combine marketing, public relations, and social media to breathe life back into the public relations (PR) game. Young, innovative, and digitally focussed, HLS isn’t your average PR agency.
In 2017 Adam Hunter accepted a job offer in Cape Town. He packed up and moved from Johannesburg to commence work as a client services director for a renowned and very prestigious public relations firm. Sadly, just six months into the role, he was the first staff member to be retrenched and was given only 25 days to find alternative employment.
At the time, the move to Cape Town had him in severe debt. After weeks of stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, panic attacks, countless interviews and multiple job turndowns with every PR agency in Cape Town, he was offered a freelance job with one of his biggest clients – ICT software company, SAP. Since the agency was closing, there was no conflict of interest.
Within 18 months of freelancing, he managed to grow the single account for SAP Africa into 16 different market units across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and America. This stretched across PR and communications, social media, marketing and even corporate social responsibility (CSR). These areas of the business were unfamiliar to him but through a positive attitude, hunger, an eagerness to work, and by always saying “Yes”, he was able to grow and multiply his consulting services far and wide for just one international client.
From there, he hired full-time staff to support him with the work and delivery load. Thereafter, a business was registered in 2019, additional (tech) brands came on board, and an agency was born. From there, Hook, Line & Sinker (HLS) has grown exponentially – they managed to find a successful formula of digital services, during a global pandemic, for tech brands. Two years after that, the agency secured luxury consumer clients and now we are a full-scope award-winning agency, recognised as South Africa’s best (small) PR Consultancy of 2023.
Adam Hunter’s tenacity especially during the first two years, his empathy for his staff, his positive attitude, resilience and non-linear dynamics in business have made him the entrepreneur he is today.

Over the next five years, Hook, Line, and Sinker Communications will continue to grow exponentially. The agency will continue to hire staff (+20), secure large corporate clients (+60% growth y-o-y total revenue), open a Johannesburg office, buy a small digital agency to extend services and offerings, and partner with global power agencies to support as a local South African implementing PR partner.
HLS will also investigate partnering with renowned advertising agencies as their in-house PR firm supports their extensive client portfolio.
Each year the business sets strict KPIs and goals. Looking ahead, HLS is:
- Prioritising staff training and upskilling (with digital/SEO skills that support the agency’s innovative focus),
- Focussing on BEE scoring with staff hires and potential agency buy-ins or partnerships, and
- Increasing media and marketing exposure with publicity, press offices, advertising, guest speaker opportunities and awards.
We look forward to seeing Hook, Line & Sinker Communications grow from strength to strength.
Hook, Line & Sinker Communications is a proud Platinum Member of the NSBC.