2025 PRINZ Awards Finalists Announcement

The Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) are delighted to unveil the 50 finalists that are to be recognised at the 51st annual PRINZ Awards.  

The PRINZ Awards honour excellence, promote continuous improvement, and showcase the outstanding work achieved by public relations and communications management professionals in New Zealand. The awards are designed to highlight the importance of good communications across every aspect of society. This is reflected in categories which range from Corporate and Business Public Relations to Internal Communications, to Best Use of Digital and Social Media. 

The finalists have been selected following a thorough judging process involving industry professionals across New Zealand and overseas. The judges have backgrounds in agency, in-house and government roles and are overseen by two Chief Judges, Nikki Wright FPRINZ APR and returning Andrew Pirie, FPRINZ.  

Nikki comments “It’s been a privilege to serve as co-chief judge in a year where economic pressures have sharpened the focus on PR. It’s clear the profession is playing a critical role in building trust, navigating complexity and delivering impact amid global uncertainty. The calibre of work this year shows real promise for the future of our industry.” 

Andrew echoes “At a time when people’s trust in business and institutions is being challenged more than ever, the skills of public relations practitioners are vitally important in ensuring communication campaigns have integrity and authenticity, and achieve powerful outcomes. The broad range of entries across this year’s categories showcases the expertise of PRINZ members working in-house or at agencies across the country.” 

Campaigns that receive Gold awards will also be eligible to take away the coveted ‘Supreme Award’ at the 2025 PRINZ Awards Gala Dinner in Auckland. It will be held at the JW Marriott on Wednesday 28th May. Tickets are available now and you can find them here. PRINZ would like to acknowledge the support of their esteemed sponsors Isentia, Robert Walters, Telum Media and Celebrity Speakers and welcomes two new sponsors Streem and Truescope.  

The 2025 PRINZ Awards campaign category finalists are as follows (in alphabetical order by entry title): 

• 5 for our future – Kia Rima Mō te Anamata | Janice McKay | Ashburton District Council 

• A new household name in building: NZ Certified Builders | Fiann Blackham | Blackland Public Relations 

• A rose amongst thorns – The challenging evolution of Hamilton Gardens | Nicola Prasad | Hamilton City Council 

• Advocating for Food Security: How Ingham’s secured a policy change for poultry farming in New Zealand | Alysha Dingle | Acumen New Zealand 

• Baybus OnDemand: Smarter public transport, on your time | Kim McFadden | Bay of Plenty Regional Council 

• Campaign for Greater Wellington | Chelsea Goodale | Quantum Jump 

• Change the Act – EMA’s campaign to simplify holiday pay | Nicholas O’Flaherty | Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) 

• Coastguard Bar Awareness Roadshow | Kimberly Waters | Coastguard Tautiaki Moana 

• Cold Call Back Service | Kelly Grindle | Special PR 

• Connecting the dots to protect lives – Methanex’s process safety campaign | Ashleigh Muir | Great Scott 

• Driving Omoda Jaecoo’s entry into the New Zealand market | Lydia Holmes | Anthem 

• From gratitude comes greatness: Transforming Summerset’s employee recognition programme | Hayley Fordyce | Summerset Group Holdings 

• From indifference to inspiration: Sharing Fonterra’s revised strategy | Nicola Crowther | Fonterra 

• Kauraka e Mataku, kia Takatū! Don’t be scared, be prepared! | Crisselda De Leon-Singson | Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu 

• KFC Gravy Train | Kelly Grindle | Special PR 

• Last call: Tackling alcohol harm head on in Auckland | Lucy Summerfield | Auckland Council 

• Lifting the lid on 2degrees’ books to show NZ they mean business | Liz Holt | One Plus One Communications 

• Manu with Mana | Emily Coffey | Hamilton City Council 

• NZFN – Pitching In to Feed Aotearoa | Liz Holt | One Plus One Communications 

• One in Five – A Transformative Shift in Māori Data | Jacky James | The Shine Collective 

• Patient Voice – Giving power back to the people | Dee Crooks | ProCare  

• PortSafe – Empowering our People through internal communications | Connie Smith | Port Marlborough NZ Ltd 

• Pou-o-Kai | Kelly Grindle | Special PR 

• Putting the West Coast back on the map | Aaron Rees | Development West Coast 

• Rebuilding Ārepa from Crisis to Credibility | Olivia Boswell | Common Ground PR 

• Restoring Mana (prestige): The World’s Largest Haka for Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust | Sarah Munnik | Pead PR 

• RMHC NZ: Not every family will be at the beach this Christmas | Liz Holt | One Plus One Communications 

• Shaping Palmy together: the Long-Term Plan that listened | Olivia Wix | Palmerston North City Council 

• Step Into Your Place | Mihi Blake | Māia 

• Streets, Eats and Snow-Capped Peaks: Celebrating a decade of Uber in New Zealand | Desmond Nash | Acumen New Zealand 
• Tackling drink driving in Auckland – an evidence based, partnership approach | Ping Sim | Auckland Transport

• Taking Animal Health Forward with Boehringer Ingelheim | Marissa Parr | Acumen New Zealand 

• The Coast Calls: How we made New Zealand listen | Aaron Rees | Development West Coast 

• The cost to run a city | Emily Coffey | Hamilton City Council 

• The new apartment on the block – The opening of Christchurch’s Rānui Apartments | Pip O’Regan | Great Scott 

• The Team Talk That Rarked Up a Nation | Liz Holt | One Plus One Communications 

• Turning Critics into Champions: Redesigning ACC’s Sensitive Claims Service with Empathy and Trust | Amie Peters | ACC New Zealand 

• Unpro – Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa | Kat Day | Breakout Room 

PR Consultancy of the Year – Large – Finalists 

• One Plus One Communications 

• Special PR 

PR Consultancy of the Year – Small to Medium – Finalists 

• Blackland Public Relations

• Brainchild 

• Scope Communications 

PR In-House Team of the Year – Finalists 

• Development West Coast 

• ProCare 

Sally Logan-Milne Young Practitioner of the Year – Finalists 

• Fiann Blackham | Blackland Public Relations

• Hannah Powell | Great Scott