Louise was delighted.
The Auckland tech company where she works as marketing executive had just announced a significant funding round, and the PR campaign had gone brilliantly – coverage in NZ Herald, Stuff, NBR, all the places that mattered. Investors were calling. The CEO was happy.
Then the invoice arrived.
$14,000.
She'd been quoted "around $8-10k" for the campaign. The agency explained the overage with what she describes as "some bullshit about additional strategic planning hours and extra media monitoring costs."
Sound familiar?
Here's the thing about PR pricing in New Zealand: most agencies treat it like a state secret. They'll give you vague estimates, talk about retainers and "strategic counsel," then hit you with invoices that somehow always come in 30-40% higher than expected.
We're going to change that. Right now.
What PR Agencies Actually Charge in New Zealand
Let's start with the scary numbers.
Traditional PR agency retainers in NZ: $5,000 – $8,000 per month, typically with a 6-12 month minimum commitment.
Do the maths. That's $60,000 to $96,000 a year, regardless of how much coverage you actually get.
One-off campaigns (like a product launch or funding announcement): Usually start around $8,000 and go up from there... but here's where it gets murky. That $8,000 is almost never the final number. By the time you've paid for:
- Media monitoring subscriptions ($200-500/month extra)
- "Additional strategic planning" (every meeting = billable hours)
- Press release distribution fees
- That coffee catch-up with a journalist (yes, really)
- The mysterious 30-40% cost blow-out they'll justify after the fact
You're looking at $10,000 - $15,000 for a single campaign. Sometimes more.
And here's the kicker: you might get amazing coverage. You might get nothing. Either way, you pay the same amount.
What We Charge (Actual Numbers, Not Estimates)
Alright, here's our pricing. Everything. No asterisks.
On-Demand (Perfect for one-off announcements)
Pitch Fee: $749 + GST
This gets you a 30-minute strategy call, a professionally written press release, and us pitching it to NZ media.
Success Fees: $999 + GST per story
We only charge when we land coverage in leading NZ media outlets. Doesn't matter if it's NZ Herald, NBR, or TVNZ – flat fee for all of them. We don't charge for syndicated content or minor publications... only the stuff you'll actually be delighted to receive.
So if we land you 6 pieces of quality coverage, you pay: $749 + ($999 x 6) = $6,743 + GST.
If we land you nothing (hasn't happened yet, but it's theoretically possible), you pay: $749 + GST.
Ongoing Retainers (For businesses with regular news)
LIGHT: $1,600/month + $499 success fees per story
HEAVY: $2,000/month + $499 success fees per story
No setup fees. No minimum commitment. Cancel anytime.
What's the difference between Light and Heavy? Basically how much work we're doing each month – Heavy means more stories, more pitching, more strategic support.
Our smallest retainer clients average 1-2 stories a month (total cost around $2,100-2,600/month). Our busiest are landing around 4 stories monthly (total cost around $4,000/month).
That's it. That's the pricing.
Let's Look at a Real Example: Contented
Contented announced their $4.1 million seed funding round this week. We're currently at 12 pieces of coverage and counting across New Zealand and Australia.
The coverage includes:
- Capital Brief
- Reseller News
- BusinessDesk
- NBR
- Chris Lynch Media
- Plus several more
Reaching millions of New Zealanders and Australians. High-quality outlets. Exactly what you want from a funding announcement.
Total cost for the month: About $7,800.
A traditional agency would've charged... well, Louise's agency charged $14,000 for similar coverage. And that was just in New Zealand.
Why Is There Such a Gap?
Good question. It comes down to two things: business model and overhead.
The Old-School Agency Model
Traditional PR firms measure success by how many staff they have, how fancy their offices are, which industry parties they get invited to. They've got large teams, expensive office leases in the Auckland CBD, layers of account managers and strategists.
All of that costs money. Your money.
They charge for every hour worked, every meeting attended, every cup of coffee. Then they justify it with talk about "strategic planning" and "thought leadership development" – stuff that sounds important but often delivers zero value to you.
The reality is they have huge fixed costs regardless of your results, so they can't afford to only charge when they succeed. They need that monthly retainer whether you get coverage or not.
Our Model: AI-Native and Results-Based
We're a small team that's absolutely AI-native – we've embedded AI in every aspect of what we do. That gives us the firepower of a large PR firm with a fraction of the costs.
But here's the thing: we don't spend money on fancy offices or big teams. We spend time on what actually matters – crafting strong stories and getting them in front of journalists.
In my experience pitching hundreds of stories, I've learnt that journalists don't care about your "strategic framework" or how many planning meetings you had. They care whether your story is newsworthy. Full stop.
So we focus on that. We use AI to handle the grunt work (drafting, research, monitoring), which frees us up to focus on the human stuff – finding the angle, timing it right, maintaining relationships with journalists.
And because we're not carrying massive overheads, we can afford to put our money where our mouth is: we only charge when we succeed.
We're along for the ride with you. Sometimes we pitch amazing stories we think will kill it and they don't land because Trump tweets something stupid and dominates the news cycle for three days. We would hate to charge you a flat fee regardless of how successful we are for you.
That's the difference.
When Does a Retainer Actually Make Sense?
We're super transparent about this: retainers aren't right for everyone.
You're probably better off on-demand if:
- You only have 1-2 major announcements per year (funding rounds, big launches)
- You're a smaller business without constant news
- You want to test PR without a big commitment
A retainer makes sense if:
- You're growing fast and have regular stories (6-12+ per year)
- You're in a newsworthy industry with ongoing developments
- You want us on-call for reactive opportunities
Take Evnex as an example. They're ideal for a retainer because:
1. Regular milestones: Growing fast in NZ and Australia means constant achievements to talk about (sales numbers, charger installations, market share)
2. Data stories: They've got charging data that makes for great stories – like when we pitched "25 million kilometres travelled on Evnex chargers" which became a story about EV adoption in NZ
3. Product launches: They're constantly releasing new products like the E2 Flex which we announced recently across multiple outlets
4. Newsworthy industry: EVs are constantly in the news, so we've managed to position CEO Ed Harvey as a key spokesperson in the industry – what we often describe as the "holy grail" of PR, where journalists come to you rather than you always pitching to them
That ongoing stream of stories justifies a retainer. If you only have one big announcement a year, it doesn't.
How to Spot Bullshit PR Pricing
Look, I get it – you're probably shopping around, getting quotes from multiple agencies. Here's what to watch for:
Red Flag #1: They Won't Give You a Number
If an agency says "it depends" or "we'll need to scope it properly" without giving you at least a ballpark figure... they're either hiding something or they have no idea. Either way, walk away.
We publish our pricing on our website. Anyone can see it. That's not because we're generous – it's because we have nothing to hide.
Red Flag #2: "Strategic Retainer" That's Mostly Meetings
If the proposal talks a lot about "strategic counsel" and "thought leadership development" but very little about actual media pitching... you're paying for meetings, not results.
Ask them: "How many stories do you expect to land per month?" If they can't give you a straight answer, there's your answer.
Red Flag #3: Estimates That Seem Too Good
If they quote you $5,000 for a campaign when everyone else is quoting $10,000+... cool, but get it in writing with a firm cap. Otherwise that $5,000 will mysteriously become $8,000 when they "discovered the scope was larger than anticipated."
This is why we charge fixed fees. $999 per story. Always. No surprises.
Red Flag #4: Long Minimum Commitments
Any agency asking for a 6 or 12-month minimum commitment is betting you won't fire them when you realise you're not getting value.
We have no minimums. If we're not delivering, fire us. We'll deserve it.
The "Too Much Budget" Conversation
Here's probably my favourite thing about transparent pricing: when prospects tell us "we only have a budget of $10k for PR," we get to reply, "That's too much!"
Happened last week. A startup founder was ready to spend $12,000 on an agency retainer because that's what she thought PR cost. We walked through what she actually needed (2-3 stories for her product launch), showed her our pricing, and she ended up spending about $3,500.
Did we just cost ourselves $8,500? Sure. But she'll remember that. And when her company grows and has more regular news, she'll come back. That's the long-term relationship we're after.
What Louise Paid vs. What She Should've Paid
Remember Louise from the start? $14,000 for her funding announcement campaign.
With us, same campaign, same coverage (12+ pieces across quality outlets):
$749 pitch fee + (12 stories x $999) = $12,737 + GST
Still not cheap – PR isn't cheap – but at least it's transparent. And more importantly, she would've known that number from day one.
No surprises. No "additional strategic planning fees." No mysterious 30% cost blow-out.
Just results, and a clear price per result.
Here's What This Means for You
If you're currently paying a traditional PR retainer: Do the maths. How many pieces of coverage are you actually getting per month? Divide your monthly fee by that number. Is it $2,000+ per story? $3,000+?
You're probably overpaying.
If you're about to sign with a PR agency: Ask them to break down their pricing clearly. Per hour? Per story? Fixed monthly fee? What happens if they don't deliver? Get it in writing.
If you're wondering whether you even need PR: Start small. Try one campaign. See what happens. Don't commit $60,000 a year to something you've never tested.
The Bottom Line
PR costs whatever agencies can convince you to pay. That's the honest truth.
Traditional agencies have built a business model around opacity, retainers, and billable hours because that's how professional services have always worked. Lawyers do it. Consultants do it. So PR firms do it too.
But the world is changing. We now expect transparent pricing from our phone plans, our software, even our accountants. PR should be no different.
So here it is again, clear as day:
On-Demand: $749 pitch fee + $999 per story landed
Light Retainer: $1,600/month + $499 per story
Heavy Retainer: $2,000/month + $499 per story
No hidden fees. No minimums. No bullshit.
If you've got a story to tell – a funding round to announce, a product to launch, or just want to get your name out there – get in touch. We'll give you a straight answer about what it'll cost and whether we think it'll work.
And if we don't think it'll work? We'll tell you that too.
Because that's what transparency actually means.