Hunch

What Hunch does

Hunch is a privately held creative communications agency founded at Easter 2012 and headquartered at 127 Franklin Road, Freemans Bay, Auckland, New Zealand. The firm positions itself as a 'why shop' that uses creativity and curiosity to help brands communicate more effectively with customers and employees. Hunch is not a technology company and does not develop proprietary software or technical platforms; its outputs are campaign-level creative strategy, content, and communications deliverables. The firm offers five interconnected service disciplines: Strategy & Planning, Customer Engagement & Loyalty, Customer Change & Compliance, Data Strategy & Automation, and Internal Comms & Engagement.

Hunch generates revenue through professional services fees on custom-scoped engagements. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and projects are quoted per scope; the go-to-market motion is relationship-led and direct, with new work arriving primarily through repeat engagements, personal networks, client referrals, and the team following clients as they move between organisations. The firm serves large New Zealand enterprises across banking (BNZ, Westpac), telecommunications (Spark, One NZ), media (NZ Herald), energy (Z Energy, Meridian Energy), insurance (Tower Insurance, MAS Insurance), hospitality (SkyCity), and education (Diocesan School for Girls), alongside government clients (Whakarongorau Aotearoa, Network for Learning, Labour Party) and select nonprofits (Canteen, Burnett Foundation). Operationally it relies on thought-leadership content (blog, HUNCHMAIL newsletter) and industry speaking to support demand generation.

The business is bootstrapped and founder-owned, with no institutional investment, parent company, or subsidiaries. After growing its team in the late 2010s and winning multiple industry recognitions, Hunch encountered material financial difficulties in 2023 driven by the New Zealand cost-of-living crisis and election-year conditions. Following Easter 2024 the firm restructured back to a six-person core team, reduced overhead, and repositioned itself as 'a start-up again' while continuing to operate and serve its enterprise clients.

Name

Hunch

Legal name

Hunch

Website

https://hunch.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hunch is a bootstrapped, founder-owned creative communications agency based in Auckland, New Zealand, offering strategy, customer engagement, change management, and internal communications services to enterprise, government, and nonprofit clients across the country.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marketing & Communications Services

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Public Relations Agencies (54182)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Consumer & Lifestyle PR (MPAAADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Reputation Management & Executive Thought Leadership (MPAAADAK), Customer Retention, Win-Back & Churn Reduction Programs (MPAAAIAH)

Keywords

• Creative communications agency
• Marketing strategy services
• Customer engagement campaigns
• Internal communications consulting
• Brand storytelling services

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Creative Agency Services: Hunch generates revenue through professional services fees charged to clients for creative strategy, communications planning, content creation, and campaign development. Services include strategy & planning, customer engagement & loyalty, customer change & compliance communications, data strategy & automation, and internal communications & engagement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hunch is a creative communications agency that uses creativity and curiosity to help brands connect with customers. It sells five core service disciplines: Strategy & Planning, Customer Engagement & Loyalty, Customer Change & Compliance, Data Strategy & Automation, and Internal Comms & Engagement. The agency delivers campaigns, content, and communications programs for enterprise clients across New Zealand.

Product overview

Hunch is a creative communications agency (a 'why shop') offering five interconnected service disciplines rather than a software product platform. Their core services include Strategy & Planning (human insights and prioritization), Customer Engagement & Loyalty (targeted communications), Customer Change & Compliance (managing organizational transitions), Data Strategy & Automation (personalized communications at scale), and Internal Comms & Engagement (employee communications). The agency uses creativity and curiosity to help clients make complicated stuff feel simple, easy, excellent, and fun.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy & Planning Strategic consulting services that help clients identify human insights, sort priorities, and focus on what matters most for their communications and marketing efforts. Targets enterprise clients across New Zealand.
• Customer Engagement & Loyalty Customer communications and engagement services focused on delivering the right messages to the right people at the right time to build loyalty and drive action for enterprise clients.
• Customer Change & Compliance Communications services that help organizations navigate change management and deliver difficult news in ways that feel empathetic and understandable to customers.
• Data Strategy & Automation Data-driven communications services that combine strategic thinking with automation to create personalized customer experiences at scale for enterprise clients.
• Internal Comms & Engagement Internal communications and employee engagement services that help organizations connect with their workforce through clear, engaging, and fun content.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1737 Mental Health Line hit monthly targets in first two weeks of launch
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Colenso BBDO: A leading New Zealand creative agency and multiple-award winner, headquartered in Auckland. Directly comparable as a domestic creative communications agency serving major NZ enterprise clients across the same sectors as Hunch.
• Special Group: An Auckland-based independent creative agency known for integrated campaigns and brand storytelling. Comparable as a NZ-only creative shop competing for the same enterprise client roster.
• Motion Sickness: An Auckland-based independent creative agency producing campaigns and content for NZ and international brands. Similar size and positioning to Hunch as a small, creatively-led NZ agency.

Broad incumbents

• DDB New Zealand: NZ arm of global network DDB, providing creative, advertising, and customer communications services. Comparable as a network-affiliated competitor for the same NZ enterprise client budgets.
• Ogilvy New Zealand: The NZ arm of global network Ogilvy, offering advertising, PR, and customer engagement services. Comparable as a competitor for the same enterprise marketing budgets but with global scale, network tooling, and broader service lines.
• Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand: NZ presence of the global Saatchi & Saatchi network, offering brand strategy and creative communications. Comparable enterprise client overlap, particularly in telco and FMCG categories.
• FCB New Zealand: NZ office of FCB Global, a major integrated advertising and communications network. Competes with Hunch for enterprise creative briefs in banking, telco, retail and government.
• Dentsu Creative New Zealand: The NZ creative operations of global network Dentsu, providing advertising and integrated communications to enterprise clients. Overlaps with Hunch on enterprise creative, customer engagement, and data-driven campaigns.

Regional players

• Clemenger BBDO: A leading Australian creative agency and parent-adjacent to Colenso BBDO. Comparable as a trans-Tasman creative competitor serving enterprise clients across similar verticals, though based across the ditch.
• The Monkeys: An Australian independent creative agency part of Accenture Song. Comparable as a creatively-led regional peer serving enterprise clients, though operating across the Tasman rather than in NZ.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hunch
• Facebookfacebook.com/hunchnz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hunch