Our Team  

Approach

This public relations company  is owned and directed by Michelle K Blumenau and Despina Harito. Turquoise PR & Marketing Communications (est.2003) is a niche PR agency where freelancers are used based on skill and client fit. After all, it’s no longer necessary for specialists to all sit in the same office to be able to deliver successfully on a project.

Freelancers are only chosen if they already successfully run their own businesses – this means they are able to attract and retain their own clients so there is no ‘dead wood’ and staff turnover is very low – which is certainly a change from the larger public relations companies. Michelle’s experience has shown that highly skilled, experienced and successful freelancers are incentivised to work on, retain and impress clients more than those  workers that are paid a monthly salary. 

BEE

Broad based BEE status level: A Level 4 Contributor to BEE
BEE procurement recognition level: 100%
Value Adding Supplier: Yes

Profiles

As only senior consultants with more than ten years experience work on accounts, they are all at management level. The most appropriate people will be selected to match client needs.

Michelle K Blumenau

Michelle K Blumenau has 25 years’ experience in both Marketing and Communications at corporate and consultancy level. She worked for ten years at a large financial services organisation and for two years at a specialist public relations company. She also has more than ten years experience in running her own PR agency. She is has a national diploma in PR and is a Quirk-certified eMarketer.

Having spent more than ten years in the corporate world, Michelle has a very good understanding of client needs. She has both task and people-orientation and is well known for her extreme dedication and ability to deliver difficult projects on deadline to an exacting standard.

She is equally skilled in writing, organisation and project management. She relates well to others and enjoys delivering creative solutions. She has an ongoing passion for Marketing Communications and long-term brand building. She is also skilled in financial PR.

Michelle is fascinated by and committed to building innovative brands through media relations with little or no advertising spend. She also enjoys supporting social entrepreneurs to achieve their objectives of social change.

Despina Harito

Despina has a B. Tech in PR and ran a successful food business before joining one of South Africa’s top five public relations companies. She served as director on the board of the financial communications agency before launching her freelance career in 2003. Despina has extensive experience in financial PR and  public relations management across a broad range of clients during the last ten years, including the economic development sector, as well as property,  architecture and financial services.

Despina considers writing to be one of her strengths. She is service and deadline-driven and is inspired by partnerships with clients who allow her to work as part of their team and add value by looking at their businesses from a fresh perspective.

Despina's approach is to understand your requirements before implementing a plan to suit your needs. She customises your strategy and devises impactful activities by tapping into her years of experience in communication.