Choosing a PR agency in New Zealand can feel like a shot in the dark. There are dozens of agencies out there, all promising media coverage and brand awareness – but the reality is 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 as the number one best PR agency in New Zealand.

But we have tried to apply some genuine journalistic integrity in this list and it's definitely based on experience: we've spent two decades in this industry, and before that, both Lewis and I were journalists. I know what good PR looks like from both sides of the fence. I'm going to be upfront about what makes each of these agencies worth considering – and where their strengths and limitations lie.

This isn't a comprehensive directory. It's five agencies I genuinely think do good work, each with a different flavour. Depending on what your business needs, one of these will likely be a great fit.

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1. Payper

Best for: Startups, scale-ups, sports organisations, and businesses that want to pay for results – not promises.

Payper is the agency I co-founded with Lewis Hampton back in 2016. We're based in Auckland and Christchurch, and our model is different from most agencies in New Zealand: you pay a flat pitch fee, plus a success fee for every story we land. No retainers locked in for six months. No chunky invoices for work that didn't produce anything.

We built Payper this way because we'd both come from journalism, and we'd seen how opaque the traditional PR model was from the outside. Clients would pay $8,000 or $10,000 a month and have no real way of knowing whether that was money well spent. Our model puts the accountability squarely on us – if we don't land coverage, you don't pay the success fee.

We work across a wide range of industries – from tech startups like Contented (whose $4.1M seed round announcement we helped land across every major NZ business outlet) to consumer brands like Scapegrace Distilling and sports clients like Cover, Kane Williamson's sports protection brand.

My background, post journalism, is in founding and growing businesses. I love startups, the business world, and am especially passionate about people using business to solve the biggest challenges humanity faces: number one being climate change.

Lewis' background, post-journalism (we met while both working at Radiolive and then worked together at Newshub – now ThreeNews), has been part of the comms team at New Zealand Olympic Committee. He loves sport and is one of the very best people in the country at doing PR for sports organisations. So we really deliver for those types of clients, too.

We also built our own measurement metric – the Earned Media Efficiency Index (EMEI) – because we think the old way of measuring PR (advertising value equivalency, or AVE) is broken. EMEI tells you exactly how much earned media value you got for every dollar you paid us. It's simple, transparent, and it keeps us honest.

Oh and one last thing to make this review feel a little less biased... we're not the only ones saying we're amazing, our clients do, too. Check out our Google reviews here and you'll see we do nothing but five stars. We go above and beyond to deliver for our clients and ensure they are always delighted with our work.

The honest bit: We're not the right fit for everyone. We turn down around 30% of the businesses that come to us – usually because the story isn't ready, the timing is wrong, or we don't think PR is the right channel for them right now. But mainly because we don't feel comfortable taking clients' money if we don't think their story is strong enough for us to deliver results (and our whole business model means we're not incentivised to do that!). If your story is genuinely newsworthy and you want an agency that only charges when it delivers, Payper is worth a conversation.

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2. DIG PR

Best for: Funded startups and challenger brands looking for a journalistic approach to PR.

We have a bit of a love-hate relationship with DIG PR. Love because they do awesome work and are constantly highly recommended by their clients but hate (not real hate!) because they land a heap of the clients we'd love to land.

DIG PR is an Auckland-based agency founded by Leni Ma'ia'i, who started DIG to inject more journalistic spirit into the PR world. It's a full-service agency that works with challenger brands across New Zealand and Australia.

Where DIG has carved out a strong niche is in the funded startup space. They've become a go-to agency for venture-backed companies – particularly those coming through the Icehouse Ventures ecosystem. If you've just closed a funding round and need someone who understands how to tell a startup story to business media, DIG is well positioned.

Beyond startups, DIG offers communications strategy, media relations, copywriting, corporate comms, media training, and investor relations – so they can cover a lot of ground for companies at different stages.

The honest bit: DIG's strength in the funded startup space means they're particularly well suited to that world. If you're a consumer brand or a company outside the tech and venture ecosystem, it's worth checking whether their experience aligns with your sector.

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3. Common Ground

Best for: Purpose-driven consumer brands, FMCG, and not-for-profits.

Common Ground is an Auckland boutique PR agency that's built its reputation working with purpose-driven New Zealand brands. Their client list includes names like Ārepa, OPPO, Boring Oat Milk, and Nature Baby – which gives you a sense of their lane.

What I like about Common Ground is their focus. They're not trying to be everything to everyone. They specialise in FMCG, consumer brands, startups, and not-for-profits, and they bring strong media relationships across print, digital, and broadcast. Their background spans food and beverage, tech, and New Zealand's cultural and lifestyle sectors.

If you're a consumer-facing brand with a genuine story to tell – especially one with a sustainability or social impact angle – Common Ground is a strong option.

The honest bit: Common Ground is a smaller boutique agency, which means you'll likely get senior attention on your account. The flip side is they may have capacity constraints during busy periods. Worth having a conversation about timing and availability.

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4. Special PR

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

Special PR sits within Special Group – one of New Zealand's most awarded creative agencies. They launched their PR arm to combine consumer insights with creative thinking, and the results speak for themselves.

Special's track record includes turning the Auckland Harbour Bridge into an interactive music and light show for 2degrees, sending a shark-themed bus through the streets for Uber Eats and McDonald's, and converting a concrete mixer into a giant cocktail shaker for Smirnoff. These aren't your standard press releases – they're campaigns designed to generate earned media through sheer spectacle and creativity.

With offices in Auckland, Wellington, and internationally (Sydney, Melbourne, Los Angeles, London, New York), Special has serious scale. Their PR work is integrated with their broader creative, strategy, design, and media teams, which means campaigns can be genuinely multi-channel.

The honest bit: Special is best suited to larger brands with bigger budgets (we don't know for sure, but guessing $50-100k minimum) who want campaign-led PR rather than ongoing media relations. If you're a startup or SME looking for a straightforward media pitch, Special's model (and pricing) might be more than you need.

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5. Impact PR

Best for: Established brands wanting a full-service agency with deep media experience and national reach.

Impact PR is an Auckland-based agency that's been in the game for over 15 years. It's led by Fleur Revell, a former journalist with more than two decades of media experience, alongside Mark Devlin, an entrepreneur with a background in FMCG wholesaling and manufacturing.

That combination of journalism and business experience gives Impact a practical edge. They offer corporate communications, online reputation management, social media, digital marketing, influencer management, content creation, media training, and crisis management – making them one of the more comprehensive agencies on this list.

Impact serves businesses across the country, from Auckland down to Otago, and they've worked with well-known multinational brands across a range of industries. They've also won multiple Cannes Lions awards, which puts them in rare company for a New Zealand PR agency.

The honest bit: Impact is a solid all-rounder with a strong track record. If you're looking for a traditional full-service agency with senior leadership and broad capability, they're worth a conversation. They're more of a generalist than some of the others on this list, which could be a strength or a limitation depending on your needs.

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How to Choose the Right PR Agency for Your Business

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

• What's your budget? Some agencies require monthly retainers of $8,000–15,000. Others (like Payper) offer results-based pricing. Know what you can spend before you start talking.
• What's your story? If you don't have a genuinely newsworthy angle, even the best agency in the country won't be able to land you coverage. A good agency will tell you this upfront. A bad one will take your money anyway.
• What sector are you in? Some agencies specialise in tech, others in consumer brands, others in corporate comms. Check their client list and case studies before committing.
• How do they measure success? If an agency can't clearly explain how they'll measure and report on their work, that's a red flag. Ask about their reporting process and what metrics they use.
• Do they understand media? The best PR people have journalism backgrounds or deep media relationships. They know what makes a story land because they've been on the other side of the pitch.

PR is one of the most powerful marketing channels available to New Zealand businesses – but only when it's done well. Take the time to find an agency that fits your goals, your budget, and your values. The right partnership can transform your brand's visibility. The wrong one can waste months and thousands of dollars.

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