Media buying agreements for agencies, brands and campaign partners

Problems often start when the commercial deal is agreed in principle but the operational detail is left vague. Common flashpoints include who can authorise spend changes, whether media is booked as principal or agent, what reporting is expected, who owns creative assets and what happens if campaign performance falls short of expectations. A written agreement helps record those points before money is committed. It can also clarify whether third-party platform terms sit alongside your contract, which is often important in digital advertising work.

It will usually cover the campaign scope, booking responsibilities, budget and invoicing structure, approval workflows, reporting obligations, deliverables, timing, use of subcontractors or third-party platforms, intellectual property rights, confidentiality, liability and termination. Some arrangements also need clauses about account access, audience data, cancellation charges or unused media credits. The right drafting depends on the factual context and the documents already in play, especially if the campaign involves several suppliers, a creative agency and a separate media buyer.

That usually turns on how the campaign is actually run. For example, the agreement may need different wording depending on whether you are an agency buying on a client's behalf, a brand engaging a specialist buyer, or a creator-led business coordinating paid placements. We also look at how approvals happen, who holds platform accounts, whether audience data is shared and how creative assets are licensed. The wording should reflect the information your business collects, the reasons it is used and the parties it is shared with, not just the campaign brief.

A template may cover broad contract headings, but it often misses the commercial mechanics that matter in paid media. It may not deal properly with booking authority, overspend risk, cancellation rules, platform access, reporting standards or ownership of campaign assets created by different parties. Those gaps can create disputes even where everyone agrees on the marketing objective. This service You will get a clear view of the legal issues and the next steps that matter. especially where platform decisions or campaign performance sit outside the contract itself.

The timeframe depends on whether you need a fresh agreement or a review of an existing draft, and on how complex the campaign structure is. A straightforward engagement with settled commercial terms will usually move faster than a multi-party arrangement involving layered approvals, data-sharing issues or detailed IP provisions. After we receive your instructions, we prepare the draft or review comments and then work through the included revisions. If the matter expands into negotiations or additional documents, we can scope that separately before going further.

Submit an enquiry on this page or click 'Get started'. One of our legal consultants will review it within 1 business day and get in touch to understand what you need.

Your consultant will then email you a fixed-fee quote setting out the cost, scope and timing. If you're happy with it, you can accept the quote and sign our engagement letter online.

Once you've accepted, one of our Australian-qualified lawyers will work with you to complete your project. They'll contact you by email or phone if they need anything.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Media Buying Agreement service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We work online, so we can help wherever you are in New Zealand. Our team works remotely, mainly from Australia.

Your work is done by our Australian-qualified lawyers, who hold Australian practising certificates and specialise in business law. None of them are New Zealand lawyers or hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

Sprintlaw NZ Limited is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and is not regulated by the New Zealand Law Society. We don't act in court or tribunal matters, conveyancing (including leases and business sales) or other reserved areas of work. Communications with Sprintlaw are unlikely to be protected by legal professional privilege. We still keep everything confidential under our engagement letter.