The Johannesburg-based corporate events and experiential agency is asking South African organisations to start next year’s events with one question: what does this need to achieve?
As 2026 draws to a close, STRONG PR, Marketing & Events is heading into its fifth year with a clear focus: strategic corporate events, conference management and brand experiences across South Africa. And it’s asking South Africa’s corporate leaders to do one thing before the year runs out: start their 2027 planning conversations now, while there is still time to get them right.
The call comes after a run of projects that tested the agency at scale. The Exxaro CEO Safety Summit 2025 brought together more than 2,000 delegates. The G20 YEA Summit hosted more than 500 delegates from 19 countries. The PwC Higher Education Conference 2026 was built as one connected experience, with conference design, technology, content, décor and hospitality working as a single system.
For most organisations, the first half of next year is being decided right now. Budgets are signed off in Q4. Venues get booked. Agendas get drafted. Too often the first real conversation about an event is about a date, a venue and a menu, and by then the most important decisions have already been made by default.
“When we started STRONG, we wanted to build an agency that sounds like the people in it: bold, honest and impossible to mistake for anyone else,” says Mika Stefano, founder and director of STRONG. “We’ve shown we can deliver at scale. Now we want to be in the room earlier. Before the venue is booked, before the agenda is locked, while the real question is still open: what does this moment need to do for your business?”
Herkie du Preez, who leads STRONG PR, Marketing and Events, puts it more bluntly. “An agenda is not an event strategy. The events that actually move a business start with what people must understand, feel and do differently when they walk out of the room. That’s where we start, and it’s why we’d rather have that conversation in October than in February.”
STRONG works across three areas:
Corporate events – leadership events and kick-offs, product launches, awards, celebrations, roadshows and executive experiences
Conferences – strategic conference design and end-to-end conference management, from programme and delegate journey to production and onsite delivery
Brand experiences – exhibitions, experiential launches, activations and immersive environments
Every project runs through one team and one system: strategy, event design, creative, production and delivery. The idea a client signs off on is the one that shows up on the night.
The invitation: end 2026 STRONG
Between now and 1st December 2026, STRONG PR, Marketing and Events is offering organisations a complimentary 2027 planning session with its leadership team. In one hour, the team will map the year’s key moments, leadership gatherings, conferences, launches, awards and define what each one needs to achieve before a single venue is booked.