The 5 Best PR Agencies in New Zealand (2026)

The five best PR agencies in New Zealand in 2026, in our view, are Payper for results-based PR, DIG PR for funded startups, Ground Control PR for consumer and purpose-led brands, Special PR for big creative campaigns, and One Plus One Communications for corporate and public affairs work. Which one is best for you depends on your budget, your sector and whether you want to pay for effort or for coverage.

Choosing a PR agency in New Zealand can feel like a shot in the dark. There are dozens of agencies, all promising media coverage and brand awareness, and they vary hugely in how they work, what they charge and what they actually deliver.

Unsurprisingly, seeing you're reading this on our blog, this is not an unbiased review and yes, we've put Payper at number one. But we've tried to apply some journalistic integrity to this list and it's based on experience. Lewis and I have spent two decades in and around newsrooms and PR, and before that we were both journalists. We know what good PR looks like from both sides of the fence, and we're upfront below about where each agency, ours included, is and isn't the right fit.

Published 25 March 2026. Reviewed and updated 28 October 2026: Common Ground PR has rebranded to Ground Control PR, One Plus One has won PRINZ Large Consultancy of the Year for a third straight year, and we've added the comparison table and the FAQ.

How this list was put together

Payper wrote this list and Payper is on it, at number one. Take that into account. The other four agencies are here because we'd recommend them to a friend whose brief didn't suit us, and we see them win work we'd have liked. We looked at five things: verified clients and campaigns we could check on the agency's own site or in the trade press, independent reviews on Google and Clutch, PRINZ awards, whether the agency publishes its pricing, and whether there are former journalists on staff. We don't rank on size. This isn't a directory either; it's five agencies with five different flavours, and depending on what your business needs one of them should fit.

The five at a glance

1. Payper

Best for startups, scale-ups, sports organisations and any business that wants to pay for results rather than promises.

Payper is the agency I co-founded with Lewis Hampton in 2016. We're based in Ponsonby, Auckland and on High Street in Christchurch, and our model is different from every other agency on this list: you pay a flat $999 + GST pitch fee, then $999 + GST for each story we land, capped at $8,000 a campaign. We never charge for minor coverage. Ongoing retainers run from $2,000 to $5,000 a month with the success fee dropping to $499 or nothing. No six-month lock-in, no chunky invoices for work that produced nothing.

We built it this way because we'd both come from journalism and had watched the traditional model from the outside. Clients paid $8,000 or $10,000 a month with no real way of knowing whether the money was well spent. Our model puts the accountability on us. If we don't land coverage, you don't pay the success fee.

The evidence is on the case-study pages. Contented's $4.1M seed round became 17 stories and 2 million-plus reach in a single day. Scapegrace Distilling is at 72 stories and 4.6 million-plus reach over our longest-running partnership. Squash New Zealand got 29 stories for bringing the NZ Squash Open to Christchurch. Nico Porteous' retirement announcement reached 47.9 million people worldwide for a $7,500 fee, which is the most efficient campaign we've run. Lewis spent seven years leading communications for the New Zealand Olympic Committee across Tokyo, Beijing and Birmingham, which is why sports organisations like Netball New Zealand and the Blues end up with us.

We also threw out advertising value equivalency, the metric most of the industry still uses, and built our own, the Earned Media Efficiency Index. It tells you what you got for every dollar you paid us, and it keeps us honest. Our clients rate us 5.0 on Google and 5.0 on Clutch, and we'd rather you read those than take our word for it.

The honest bit: we're not right for everyone. We turn down around 30% of the businesses that come to us, usually because the story isn't ready or PR isn't the right channel yet. We don't do big creative stunts, we're not a public-affairs shop, and if you need a 20-person corporate comms team on call, one of the agencies further down this list will serve you better. If your story is newsworthy and you want an agency that only charges when it delivers, we're worth a conversation.

2. DIG PR

Best for funded startups and challenger brands that want a journalistic approach to PR.

We have a bit of a love-hate relationship with DIG PR. Love because they do good work and their clients keep recommending them. Hate, not real hate, because they land a heap of the clients we'd love to land.

DIG is an Auckland agency founded by Leni Ma'ia'i, who started it to put more journalistic spirit into PR. It's full service, working with challenger brands across New Zealand and Australia, and it has carved out a strong niche with venture-backed companies, particularly those coming through the Icehouse Ventures portfolio. If you've just closed a round and need someone who knows how to tell a startup story to business media, DIG is well placed. Beyond that they cover communications strategy, media relations, corporate comms, media training and investor relations.

The honest bit: DIG's strength in the funded-startup world means that's where their experience is deepest. If you're a consumer brand or a company outside the tech and venture scene, check that their recent work lines up with your sector before you commit.

3. Ground Control PR

Best for consumer, FMCG and purpose-led brands, and startup launches with a consumer angle.

Ground Control PR is the Auckland boutique that until recently traded as Common Ground PR; same team, new name, now based in Grey Lynn. Founded in 2020, they've built a reputation with purpose-driven New Zealand brands. Their client list includes Icehouse Ventures, Boring Oat Milk, Ārepa, TWYG and Openstar, which tells you their lane: consumer products, food and drink, startups with a story and the occasional deep-tech launch.

What we like is their focus. They're not trying to be everything to everyone, they have strong media relationships across print, digital and broadcast, and the awards back it up with a PRINZ Gold in 2023 and a Silver in 2025. They rate 5.0 on Google.

The honest bit: a small boutique means senior people on your account, which is a real advantage. The flip side is capacity in busy periods, so talk about timing early.

4. Special PR

Best for big, bold campaigns that need creative activations and real-world stunts to generate talkability.

Special PR sits inside Special Group, one of New Zealand's most awarded creative agencies. The PR arm launched in 2021 to combine consumer insight with creative thinking, and the results speak for themselves: PRINZ Gold for Media Relations in 2025, Campaign Asia PR Agency of the Year three times and two Cannes PR Lions. Their work for KFC, Kiwibank, Whittaker's, Air New Zealand and Tourism New Zealand isn't standard press-release PR; it's campaigns built to earn media through spectacle.

With 14 staff in New Zealand across Auckland and Wellington and sister offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, London and New York, Special has serious scale, and the PR team works alongside creative, strategy, design and media so campaigns are properly multi-channel.

The honest bit: Special suits larger brands with bigger budgets, we'd guess $50,000 to $100,000 minimum, who want campaign-led PR rather than ongoing media relations. If you're a startup or an SME looking for a straightforward pitch to journalists, Special's model and pricing is more than you need.

5. One Plus One Communications

Best for corporates, financial services and anything that touches government.

One Plus One is the agency the industry itself keeps voting for: PRINZ Large Consultancy of the Year in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Founded by Kelly Bennett and now more than 20 consultants across Auckland, Wellington, Sydney and Brisbane, they handle corporate communications, reputation and a growing government-relations practice for clients like Suncorp New Zealand, Mastercard, Aon, nib, 2degrees and Binance NZ. If you ask Google's AI Mode for the best PR agency in New Zealand today, One Plus One is the first name it gives, and that's largely on the strength of those awards.

The honest bit: this is a large consultancy built for large clients. Expect retainers, senior strategists and a full team, and expect to pay for it. If you're a founder with one announcement and a modest budget, you'll be a small fish. For a listed company, an insurer or anyone facing a regulatory story, that's exactly the fish you want to be.

Which PR agency is best in Auckland and Christchurch?

Four of the five agencies above are headquartered in Auckland, which is where most of New Zealand's PR industry sits, so for an Auckland business the question is really about fit and budget rather than location. Christchurch is different. The established local agencies are Convergence (founded 2001, strong in government relations and crisis, two PRINZ Golds in 2026), Great Scott (creative and digital, clients like the Christchurch Marathon and Connetics) and Priority Communications (public sector). Payper is the only agency on this list with a Christchurch office, at 235 High Street, led by me, and it's where Contented, Kea Aerospace and the Squash Open campaigns were run from. We've written a separate guide to the best PR agencies in Christchurch and the South Island.

How do you choose the right PR agency?

The best PR agency for you depends entirely on what you need. These are the questions we'd ask before picking one.

• What's your budget? Some agencies need monthly retainers of $8,000 to $15,000. Others, like Payper, charge per story. Know what you can spend before you start talking.
• What's your story? If you don't have a newsworthy angle, the best agency in the country can't land you coverage. A good agency tells you that upfront. A bad one takes your money anyway.
• What sector are you in? Some agencies specialise in tech, others in consumer brands, others in corporate comms. Read their case studies, not their service list.
• How do they measure success? If an agency can't explain clearly how it reports and what it counts, that's a red flag. Ask what a story is worth and how they'll prove it.
• Do they understand media? The best PR people have newsroom backgrounds or deep relationships with journalists. They know what lands because they've been on the other side of the pitch.

PR is one of the most powerful marketing channels available to a New Zealand business, but only when it's done well. The right agency can transform your visibility; the wrong one wastes months and thousands of dollars.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a PR agency cost in New Zealand?

Most New Zealand PR agencies charge monthly retainers of roughly $5,000 to $15,000 for an ongoing programme, or $8,000 to $25,000 for a one-off campaign. Payper charges differently: a $999 + GST pitch fee plus $999 + GST per story landed, capped at $8,000 per campaign, or retainers from $2,000 a month. Our guide to PR costs in New Zealand breaks the market down in detail.

What is the biggest PR agency in New Zealand?

By headcount and awards, the largest New Zealand consultancies are One Plus One Communications, Acumen (the Edelman affiliate, around 35 consultants), FleishmanHillard Aotearoa (formerly Mango) and SenateSHJ. One Plus One has been PRINZ Large Consultancy of the Year in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Big doesn't always mean best for your brief; a boutique often gives you more senior attention.

Which PR agency do New Zealand startups use?

Startups in New Zealand mostly use Payper, DIG PR, Ground Control PR, Launch PR and Sling & Stone. Payper is the only one charging per story rather than a retainer, which is why founders announcing a seed round, like Contented and Sterling, tend to pick us. Our separate guide to the best PR agencies for startups in New Zealand compares them.

Do PR agencies guarantee media coverage?

No reputable agency guarantees coverage, because editors and journalists decide what runs. What Payper guarantees is that you only pay the success fee for stories that actually land. Any agency promising a front page before they've seen your story is overselling.

What is results-based PR?

Results-based PR means you pay for the coverage you get, not the hours an agency spends. Payper introduced the model to New Zealand in 2016: a small flat fee to craft and pitch the story, then a success fee only when a story is published in media that matters. If nothing runs, you don't pay the success fee.

Get in touch here and we'll give you a straight answer.