Client: CBi-electric: low voltage
Period: January to December 2024
Approach: Media relations, thought leadership, influencer, social media
The Challenge
CBi-electric: low voltage has been making circuit breakers in Johannesburg since 1949, exports to five continents and is listed on the JSE through Reunert — none of which is much use in a kitchen in Bloemfontein. Its smart home range was two years old, had won over the people who buy technology because it is technology, and had run out of them. Growth from here depended on ordinary households, and ordinary households were not asking for smart plugs.
Something else was happening in those same houses. Counterfeit and substandard electrical components were arriving at volume, and fire departments were recording the results. On the surface it had nothing to do with smart plugs.
The Hook
Most tech PR fails because it answers questions nobody is asking. So HLS stopped talking about specifications and started talking about houses.
Two conversations had been running in separate rooms. HLS put them in one. The counterfeit problem gave the smart range a safety argument no cheap import could answer. The safety argument gave the brand a reason to speak with authority rather than just enthusiasm.
Awareness was never the barrier. Sixty-two percent of consumers already knew what smart home technology was. A third found it intimidating, unsure how it was installed, what it did day to day, or what happened to their data. South Africa ranked third globally for smart home adoption, with 78% of Gen Z homebuyers wanting the technology in their homes. The appetite was there. The nerve was not.
Then insurers flagged that claims for electrical fires were being declined where installations fell outside South African National Standards, or where counterfeit components were involved. That changed the shape of the story. This was no longer a gadget conversation — it was a question about whether a house is safe and whether the owner is covered when it isn’t.
The Line
City Power announced load reduction on a Tuesday. HLS had expert commentary written, approved and placed the same day — not because we’re fast, but because we had already settled what CBi-electric stood for. When you know your position, you don’t have to invent one under deadline.
Over 12 months HLS produced 18 press releases and 19 digitorials, timed against industry trends, seasonal moments and breaking news, with proactive outreach securing interviews and thought leadership in BusinessTech, Engineering News and News24.
HLS developed an industry-first whitepaper on counterfeit electrical goods that anchored the safety platform and travelled well beyond our borders, into Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe, producing more than 300 press clippings across the region. A two-minute corporate film gave the brand a face on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and in paid placements.
For consumers, HLS skipped the usual tech reviewers and picked five influencers for range rather than reach. Reach is the easiest thing in the world to buy and the least useful thing to own.
Ndivhuwo hosted a three-part live series with CBi-electric: low voltage’s Dr Andrew Dickson, taking technical questions on air with nowhere to hide. Vafa Naraghi went after the intimidation factor with comedy, and one TikTok skit drew over 305,000 views and 21,000 likes. DIY Princess installed the range inside real renovation projects, while Grant Hinds and Mixo Ngoveni handled integration and use cases for tech audiences.
More than 230 social posts ran across four platforms, including a TikTok channel built from nothing.
Six months in, the numbers looked excellent and meant very little. Reach was climbing. Conversation was not. So HLS stopped buying impressions and started buying people — paid spend moved to follower growth and engagement, content went behind the scenes, and the team got into the comments and stayed there.
The Sinker
R5 million in earned media value, against a R2.7 million target.
- 93% of coverage in Tier 1 titles, against a 60% target
- 922,133 influencer reach, 292% of target
- Digitorial reach of 68 million, against 30 million
- Earned reach of 259 million, against 250 million
- Follower growth of 12,829, finishing 44% above target
CBi-electric went into 2024 with a smart home range that had exhausted its early adopter market and no argument that reached anyone else. It came out with one. The safety platform gave the brand a position no cheap import could contest, and that position generated R5 million in earned media value against a R2.7 million target, with 93% of it in Tier 1 titles. The whitepaper carried the brand into five more African markets and returned over 300 clippings across the region. On social, a channel that started the year as a broadcast feed finished it with 12,829 new followers and an audience that talks back. Same product, same features, same price. What changed was that a manufacturer known to engineers became a name a household recognises, and it now owns the counterfeit safety conversation in a category where everyone else is still selling specifications.
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