Founder and MD of national strategic communications and PR agency, Epic Communications (www.epiccommunications.co.za), Elian Wiener, was awarded both the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 and the Innovator of the Year 2011 titles in the annual Sanlam and Business Partners Entrepreneur of the Year ® Competition.
This year’s competition saw over 350 small to medium businesses (SMEs) enter, ranging from successful start-ups in the manufacturing and engineering sectors to FMCG and communication services.
According to Wiener, the two awards are recognition of the significant achievements that Epic Communications has made, since its launch in 2009.
“Our philosophy of ensuring we understand our clients’ businesses and the industries in which they operate enables us to identify opportunities to correctly position them amongst their target audiences. We are then able to use our ability to deliver a 360 degree communications strategy, ranging from media and investor relations, social media, internal communications and reputation management, to help them achieve their business objectives.”
In its less than three years of existence, the agency has registered prolific growth and is now the seventh largest public relations agency in South Africa, servicing more than 25 retainer clients, including several JSE-listed and globally-affiliated companies. Epic Communications has also continued to evolve its innovative client service offerings, launching its specialised social media division in late 2010. It has also launched the Epic Communications Journalist Training Seminars, aimed at improving the technical skills of young journalists in South Africa.
“The growth of SMEs is key to South Africa’s continued economic growth, sustainability and global competitiveness. Awards such as this recognise those that are playing a key role in fostering entrepreneurship and skills development and hopefully more and more potential business leaders will take up this challenge,” says Wiener.