818

What 818 does

818 is a privately held, boutique entertainment public relations agency headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, founded in 2014 and led by Managing Director Chris Henry. The firm delivers publicity and communications services to music artists, event promoters, and entertainment properties operating in the New Zealand market. Its service offering is organized across six specialty lines — unit publicity, campaign publicity, sport, events, talent tours, and coverage coordination — executed through direct engagement with clients rather than via any technology platform.

The agency's revenue model is professional-services based: each client engagement is custom-priced, with no publicly disclosed rate cards or pricing model. GTM is event-driven, leveraging major concert tours, recurring venue series (notably the Winter Series at Auckland Town Hall), and cultural festivals to generate media coverage and publicity campaigns. Distribution is direct-to-client, limited to a single-country (NZ) operating geography, and routed largely through promoter relationships including Live Nation, Banished Music, Strange News, and Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.

Customer composition is concentrated in music artists and bands (international touring acts such as A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Deafheaven, Black Angels, plus local independent artists), with secondary exposure to event promoters and a recent diversification into film publicity (Sgt. Haane, distributed by Rialto Distribution International) and live comedy (Tim Batt). With 1–10 employees and no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or external investors, 818 operates as an independent boutique firm whose primary economic asset is the principal practitioner's industry relationships.

Name

818

Legal name

818

Website

https://818.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

818 is a privately held entertainment PR agency founded in 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand, providing publicity and communications services to music artists, event promoters, and entertainment properties operating in the domestic New Zealand market.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

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

Revenue model

1. PR and Publicity Services: Professional communications and publicity services for entertainment clients including artists, bands, event promoters, and entertainment properties. Services include media relations, press releases, event publicity, and talent promotion.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

818 is an entertainment PR agency based in Auckland, New Zealand, that provides publicity and communications services to music artists, bands, event promoters, and entertainment properties. The agency delivers unit publicity, campaign/release publicity, sports PR, events publicity, talent tours, and media coverage coordination across film, music, sport, and entertainment sectors.

Product overview

818 is an entertainment PR agency based in Auckland, New Zealand, offering publicity and public relations services. The agency's service offering encompasses multiple specialty areas including unit publicity, campaign publicity, sports PR, events publicity, talent tours, and media coverage coordination. As a PR firm rather than a software or technology product company, 818 does not operate a product platform with modules, features, or digital offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Unit Publicity

Named customers10 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

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Live NationcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLive Nation is a major partner presenting concert series and events that 818 provides PR services for. This includes the Winter Series at Auckland Town Hall and various tour announcements.
• Tātaki Auckland UnlimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresents the Winter Series concert series in association with Auckland Council Events. 818 provides PR services for events in this series.
• Banished MusiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBanished Music is a key promoter partner presenting Strange Universe concert series and Deafheaven tours. 818 handles PR publicity for these events.
• Strange NewscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrange News co-presents the Strange Universe concert series with Banished Music. 818 provides PR services for these events.
• Rialto Distribution InternationalminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributes the film Sgt. Haane in New Zealand and Australia. 818 provides PR services for the film's publicity campaign.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• FleishmanHillard: Global PR and communications network with entertainment, sports, and live events capabilities. Comparable in offering event and entertainment publicity services but operates at network scale across many industries rather than 818's NZ-niche focus.
• Weber Shandwick: Global public relations agency with entertainment and live experiences practices. Comparable in core PR services but at significantly larger scale and broader industry coverage than 818's NZ boutique model.
• Edelman: Global communications and PR firm with an entertainment and media practice. Operates broadly across industries including entertainment PR, but as a much larger incumbent offering integrated communications rather than boutique specialization in NZ music and live events.
• Ogilvy PR: Global PR arm of Ogilvy with entertainment and brand communications capabilities. Provides comparable publicity services for major entertainment clients but as part of a full-service advertising and PR holding group structure.

Others

• Live Nation: Global concert promoter and live entertainment company that is both a partner and indirect buyer of 818's services (Live Nation presents tours 818 publicizes). Adjacent ecosystem participant rather than direct PR competitor.
• Chugg Entertainment: Australian concert promoter bringing international artists down under. Operates in the same promoter ecosystem that drives 818's NZ tour PR work, but is a competing promoter rather than a PR firm peer.
• Banished Music: New Zealand concert promoter (Strange Universe series, Deafheaven NZ tour) that is a direct client/partner of 818. Adjacent ecosystem participant - a buyer of PR services - rather than a competing agency.

Direct peers

• Frank PR: UK-based boutique entertainment and music PR agency serving artists, festivals, and live events. Directly comparable in service offering, boutique scale, and target client base (touring musicians, concert series promoters) to 818, although operating in the UK rather than NZ market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/we_are_818
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/818-entertainment

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 818