Review: Lumitas PR And Marketing Agency

There are now over 100x more tech PR agencies than technology journalists in Australia and most have similar pitches to land your account. In the first of a series of PR company reviews, we’re looking at Lumitas, the PR and marketing agency that’s changed names more than Kanye West. It’s also been known as SBM Communications, Ovato Communications and Spectrum Communications in recent years. Some highly regarded PR professionals have worked with it in that time, how is it regarded now?

Re-Rebranding

The company’s most recent rebranding was reported by Mumbrella thusly, “The new name combines the Latin words lumen, meaning light, and veritas, meaning truth, reflecting the company’s foundations in photography and storytelling.”

This differs from previous re-brandings where Spectrum became Ovato as part of a global brand consolidation by PMP Group. When PMP Group collapsed and went into administration, the remaining entity re-branded as SBM communications.

Current Clients

At the time of going to press, Lumitas boasts an impressive cohort of A-List partners. These include:

• Aldi
  
  
• Dell
  
  
• Harvey Norman
  
  
• TaskViewer
  
  
• NSW Government
  
  
• The Good Guys
  
  
• Coleman camping
  
  
• Holding Redlich
  
  
• Norco
  
  
• Rebel Sport

Journalists’ Viewpoints

Lumitas’ previous iterations had generally positive relationships with most Australian journalists (with some high-profile exceptions). In addition to historically having well-trained staff (and impressive alumni), the company would provide hardware on long-term loans to support journalists’ work and even offer paid commercial gigs to those who doubled as copywriters. For higher-profile journalists, it also offered host/presenter jobs at events.

This all helped turn Lumitas’ previous incarnations into one of the more-popular PR agencies in journalist circles.

Unfortunately, there’s a flip side. Lumitas client, Dell, has turned toxic in the Australian media industry and Lumitas’ staunch defence of its highest-retainer-payer this has seen this toxicity spread to the agency itself. Dell’s controversial actions in relation to Australian technology publications and journalism have resulted in a significant number of publications and journalists refusing to deal with Dell, Lumitas and even some of Lumitas’ other clients.

Overall

There are some very good PR professionals at Lumitas, and some journalists and publishers still warm to the agency. However, some questionable decisions by management, particularly GM, Kerrie Murphy, has meant that the divisive agency is now best summed-up as polarising.

It’s both recommended to confirm which Australian journalists and publications will and won’t be available for coverage before any engagement and to assess whether any stigma will rub-off onto any partnering organisation.

Last Updated on October 3, 2026 by Nick Ross