Terms of service.

01About these terms

Artura Studio Limited ("Artura", "we", "us") is a strategy-led marketing and brand studio based in Whanganui, Aotearoa New Zealand. These terms apply to all work we do for you ("you", the client), whether that's a one-off project, an ongoing partnership or a digital product.

We keep our terms public so you know how we work before we start.

How you accept these terms

You agree to these terms when you do any of the following:

• sign our client agreement
• accept a proposal, quote or schedule from us in writing, including by email
• pay a deposit, invoice or part-payment
• tell us to go ahead, or give us materials so we can start
• buy a digital product from our website

How the documents fit together

Most clients sign our client agreement once. After that, each project or retainer is set out in a proposal, which you accept in writing. If documents say different things, this is the order that applies:

• the proposal or schedule for that piece of work
• the signed client agreement
• these terms

These terms are how we work by default. We're a small studio and we'll always use common sense, so if something here doesn't suit your situation, talk to us. Anything we agree differently will be confirmed in your proposal or by email.

Changes to these terms

We update our terms from time to time. Each version is dated. Work already underway stays under the version that applied when you accepted it. Updated terms apply to new work, and to retainers from the start of the next quarter, once we've let you know.

02What we do

Our work sits across marketing, brand and business strategy. We work with clients in three ways: a one-off project, an ongoing partnership, or a project that leads into ongoing support. Every proposal sets out exactly what's included, so the summaries below are a guide, not a scope.

Session cancellations: coaching sessions and power hours cancelled with less than 48 hours' notice, and workshops cancelled with less than 72 hours' notice, are charged in full, though we'll always try to rebook you first.

03Proposals, scope and changes

All work is scoped and priced before it starts. Your proposal sets out what's included, the timeline, the cost and how payment works.

We know new ideas come up along the way. If something isn't covered by the proposal, we'll tell you before doing it and send a separate quote. For urgent changes, you can approve a quote verbally so we can get started, and we'll confirm it in writing straight after.

Unless the proposal says otherwise, each deliverable includes two rounds of revisions. Further revisions, or changes to direction after sign-off, are quoted separately.

Please give us one main contact for feedback and approvals. If new people join the approval process partway through and that adds extra rounds, we'll quote for them.

Your start date is confirmed when you accept and pay the deposit, and we hold that time for you. If the start is pushed back more than once, we'll reschedule based on our availability at the time, and the deposit stays as your booking rather than being refunded.

Rush work, meaning anything you need within a week that isn't already scheduled, is charged at a rush rate, which we'll confirm before we start.

04Fees and payment

All prices are in New Zealand dollars and exclude GST unless stated.

Marketing partnerships

Retainers run quarterly. Scope and deliverables are agreed at the start of each quarter and reviewed every three months. The quarterly fee is invoiced before the quarter starts and can be paid in full or across three monthly instalments, due at the start of each month. After the first quarter, partnerships roll on quarter by quarter until either of us gives notice.

• Support retainers are for businesses that want specialist help while staying largely self-directed.
• Management retainers are for businesses that want us to run their marketing.

Current pricing is on our website, and your proposal sets the fee for your partnership.

Goodwill time: we're a small studio and sometimes go a little over the agreed hours to get something right. If that starts happening regularly, we'll talk with you about whether a different level of support would suit you better.

Exclusivity: management partnerships include exclusivity in your immediate market. While your partnership is active, we won't take on a management partnership with a direct competitor in the same industry and area, as described in your proposal. This doesn't apply to businesses we were already working with before your partnership started.

Projects

Unless your proposal sets different terms, projects are invoiced like this:

Work starts once the first payment is received. Final files, website handover and account transfers happen once everything owing is paid.

When payment is due

Payment is due on the date shown on the invoice. Unless we've agreed otherwise, that's seven days from the invoice date. Some clients prefer to pay on the 20th of the following month, and we're happy to set that up when it's agreed.

If something on an invoice doesn't look right, let us know within five business days and pay the part that isn't in question.

Price changes

We review our prices from time to time. We'll give you at least 30 days' notice of any change to an ongoing partnership. If you don't want to continue at the new price, you can end the partnership with one month's written notice.

05Expenses, production costs and media spend

Costs we pay on your behalf

You'll reimburse us for costs we take on to deliver your work. That can include travel, accommodation, activities, entry and location fees, props, shipping, printing, stock imagery, fonts, software, licences and government fees. These are itemised on our invoices.

Where we buy something on your behalf, it's on-charged with a 20% administration fee.

Campaign and production budgets

Where a proposal includes a budget for production or campaign expenses, those costs come out of that budget. Anything that would take us over it needs your written approval before we book it.

Larger third-party costs, such as talent, crew, equipment hire or bookings that need a deposit, are invoiced in advance so we can secure them.

Paid media

Media spend is paid directly by you. Digital ad spend on platforms like Meta and Google goes through your own ad accounts. Other media, such as radio, print, outdoor or sponsored placements, is booked and paid for by you directly with the media provider.

We can recommend where to spend, brief media providers and supply the creative. Where your proposal includes it, we'll set up and manage digital ads in your accounts. Our fees for this work are separate from media spend.

Subscriptions and services in your name

We set up hosting, domains, software, subscriptions and ad accounts in your name, connected to your own payment card or business account from the start. That way you own them and pay for them directly, and you're responsible for keeping them paid and active.

Travel

Travel within half an hour of Whanganui is included. For work further afield, we charge mileage at the IRD kilometre rate, plus flights, accommodation, parking and meals where they're needed. Travel costs are set out in your proposal.

06How we work with collaborators

We bring in the right people for each piece of work. Your proposal will say who's involved and how they're engaged. There are three ways it usually works.

Our team and design partners work as part of Artura. We manage them and stand behind their work.

Partner studios are named in the proposal, along with who leads what. Artura stays your main contact and contracting party unless the proposal says otherwise.

Independent specialists contract with you directly. We'll introduce them, brief them and coordinate their work with ours, but their quote, terms, delivery and usage rights sit between you and them.

07Creators and influencers

When a campaign includes creators, we'll agree the details with each one before they start: what they'll make, when it goes live, their fee and how their content can be used.

• Fees and usage are set out in your proposal or approved in writing before we confirm a creator.
• Usage rights for creator content are limited to what's agreed with that creator, including channels, paid use and how long it can run. If you'd like more, we can negotiate it, usually for an extra fee.
• Disclosure: paid and gifted content must be clearly labelled as advertising, in line with the Advertising Standards Code and the Fair Trading Act. We brief creators on this and expect them to follow it.
• Their voice is their own. Creators are chosen because people trust them. We'll brief them closely, but we can't control everything they say or post, and we can't guarantee how their audience responds.
• Approvals: you'll see creator content before we use it in paid media. Creators may post to their own channels on the timeline agreed with them.

08Filming, talent and releases

• Releases: we, or a partner we're working with, arrange release forms for the people we film or photograph, and make sure they cover the usage set out in your proposal.
• People and places you arrange: if you bring in your own staff, customers, talent or locations, you're responsible for getting their permission, unless we've agreed to handle it.
• Your use is limited by the releases. Content with people in it can only be used within the terms they agreed to. If you want to use it more widely or for longer, let us know first.
• Your site: if we're filming at your premises, please give us safe access and let us know about any hazards or site rules before we arrive. We may pause a shoot if something doesn't feel safe.
• Activity operators: where filming involves an activity run by someone else, like a jet boat or guided tour, that operator is responsible for their own safety, and everyone follows their instructions.
• Weather and access: shoots depend on weather, light and access. If we need to reschedule for reasons outside our control, we'll work with you on a new date. Costs already committed, like bookings or crew, may still be payable.

09Ownership and usage rights

Nothing transfers until everything owing for that work is paid. Before then, all drafts and final work stay with us.

What stays with us: for campaign and production work, raw footage and photos stay with us unless your proposal says otherwise, and we can quote for them if you'd like them. Across all our work, working files, templates, unused concepts, drafts and design systems stay with us.

Trade marks: we don't run trade mark searches as part of brand work. Before you invest in a new name or logo, it's worth checking with IPONZ or an intellectual property lawyer.

Keeping your files: when we send your final files, please download them and save them to your own storage within 30 days. We do keep project files for a while, but we can't guarantee they'll always be available, and finding or recovering them later may be charged.

Third-party materials: fonts, stock images, music, plugins and software are owned by their creators and used under their licences. You're responsible for keeping any licences you need after the project ends.

Your materials: anything you give us stays yours. You confirm you have the right to use it, and you let us use it for your work.

Using the work ourselves: you give us a permanent, royalty-free right to use the work we create for you, and footage from making it, to promote Artura. That includes our website, social channels, behind-the-scenes content, case studies, award entries and teaching. We may create our own edits for this. The design partners and specialists who worked on it can also show it in their own portfolios, with credit to you. We'll credit you where we can, and we won't share anything before your launch or anything confidential. If you need a project kept private, tell us before work starts and we'll confirm it in writing.

10Websites

• We design and build on Squarespace and Shopify. Your site, domain and platform subscriptions are set up in your name, and you agree to the platform's own terms.
• We'll confirm delivery dates once the deposit is paid.
• We design for current browsers and devices, but sites can look slightly different across them.
• Six months of support after launch: if something isn't working, or you need small changes like swapping text or images, we'll sort it at no charge for six months after your site goes live. New pages, features or redesigns are quoted separately.
• Platforms, apps and plugins change their features and pricing without notice. We're not responsible for those changes, but we can help under a separate quote or retainer.
• Website copy, products, pricing and policies you supply are your responsibility, including making sure they meet consumer and privacy law.

11Digital products

When you buy a guide or resource from our website, you're buying a licence to use it in your own business.

• You can use it for yourself and your team. You can't share, resell, copy or publish it.
• Because digital products are delivered instantly, we don't offer refunds once you've accessed or downloaded them, except where the law requires it.
• If something isn't working or you can't access it, email us and we'll sort it.
• Our guides offer general advice. They're not tailored to your business, and results depend on how you use them.
• If you're buying for your business, you agree the Consumer Guarantees Act doesn't apply, as allowed under that Act.

12How we use AI

AI is part of how we work. It helps us move faster on research, analysis, drafting and admin, which means more of our time goes into thinking, strategy and creative work. Every piece of work you receive is directed, reviewed and signed off by our team, and we're responsible for it.

Where we use it

• research, audience insight and reporting analysis
• early ideas, outlines and first drafts
• editing, resizing and adapting content across formats
• admin, scheduling and project management
• building tools, automations and reports for our own studio

What we don't do without your approval

• create AI-generated images or video of real people, or of real places in a way that could mislead your audience
• put passwords, payment details, highly sensitive personal information or anything you've marked confidential into general AI tools
• present AI-generated content as photography or footage of a real event

Ownership

Work that's been shaped by our team using AI tools is treated the same as any other deliverable under these terms. Where content is generated mostly by AI, copyright law may not protect it in the same way, so we'll tell you if that applies to anything important, like a logo.

Your policies

If your organisation has rules about AI, tell us before we start. If they change how we work, the timeline or the cost, we'll confirm the changes in writing.

13Accounts, access and your materials

• Business accounts like Meta Business Suite, Google, ad accounts and email platforms are set up in your name wherever possible. You own them and stay responsible for subscriptions, permissions and following each platform's rules.
• We'll ask for the access we need to do the work. When we finish working together, remove our access or ask us to and we'll confirm it's done.
• We're not responsible for account restrictions, bans or losses caused by platform decisions or by how your accounts are used outside our work.
• Any materials you supply, including photos, copy, logos and data, need to be yours or licensed for this use.

14Approvals, pauses and ending work

Approvals and errors

Nothing is printed, published or goes live without your approval in writing, and email is fine. Please check everything carefully before you approve it, including spelling, prices, dates and contact details.

We'll ask for feedback on drafts as we go. Replying within five working days keeps your timeline on track.

If you spot an error we made within seven business days of receiving a deliverable, we'll fix it at no cost. For retainers, that window starts when each piece is shared for approval. Once something is approved, the cost of later corrections, reprints or re-filming is yours.

When work is paused

If work stalls for reasons outside our control, such as waiting on feedback, content or approvals, we may pause it, and earlier timelines may no longer apply.

If we haven't heard from you for 30 days, we'll get in touch to check in. If there's still no reply after another 14 days, we'll close the project and invoice for work completed and costs committed to that point. Picking it back up later may need a new quote and timeline.

Ending a partnership

Either of us can end an ongoing partnership with one month's written notice. Retainers have a minimum term of three months, and giving notice early doesn't change what's owed for that term.

Ending a project

If you cancel a project after work has started, the deposit isn't refunded and you'll pay for work completed and costs committed to that point. Where a project runs in phases, you can choose not to go ahead with the next phase once the current one is finished and paid for. Concept work from an unfinished phase stays with us.

If invoices aren't paid

We'll send a friendly reminder if an invoice goes past its due date. If it's still unpaid 30 days after the due date, we charge interest of 15% a year on the overdue amount, calculated daily from that point. We may also pause or stop work, remove unpaid work or take a site offline, and recover the debt, including collection and legal costs.

15Results, liability and indemnity

Results

Marketing results depend on plenty we can't control, like platforms, markets, timing, competitors and how your business delivers on what it promises. We'll give you our best thinking and do the work well, but we don't guarantee outcomes such as reach, engagement, leads, sales or revenue.

• Estimates are estimates. Targets, forecasts and reach figures in our proposals are there to plan around, based on what we know at the time.
• Platforms change. Meta, Google and other platforms change their algorithms, ad rules, pricing and features without notice. We'll adapt where we can, but we're not responsible for the effect those changes have.
• Search results vary. Our website builds include basic search setup, like page titles, descriptions and site structure. We don't offer ongoing SEO services, and we don't guarantee search rankings or traffic.
• Creators and audiences. We choose creators carefully, but we can't guarantee how their audience responds or how a post performs.
• Your decisions are yours. Our advice is there to help you decide. How you act on it, and the results that follow, sit with your business.

Our liability

• We're not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits, reputational harm or business interruption.
• Our total liability for any piece of work is limited to the fees you've paid us for it.
• We're not liable for platform changes, third-party failures, or use of our work outside the agreed licence.
• Business decisions you make based on our advice are yours.

Your indemnity

You agree to cover our costs, including legal costs, if a claim is made against us because of:

• materials or instructions you gave us
• claims you've asked us to make about your products or services
• your use of our work outside the agreed licence or release terms
• permissions you were responsible for and didn't get

Insurance

Artura holds professional indemnity insurance of $1 million and public liability insurance of $2 million. Certificates are available on request.

16Other legal bits

Confidentiality: we'll both keep each other's confidential information private, meaning anything marked confidential or that should reasonably be treated that way. This doesn't apply to information that's already public, or where the law requires it to be shared.

Privacy: we both follow the Privacy Act 2020 for any personal information handled during our work, and each of us is responsible for our own systems. Our privacy policy explains how we handle information.

Working with our design partners: we put real time into finding the right designers and design studios for each project, and they work with us as part of the Artura team. If we've brought a design partner in on a project we led and you'd like to work with them directly on related work, please come and have a chat with us first. It isn't about stopping anyone working together. It's about making sure we're part of the conversation about something we started.

Our working files, design systems and unused concepts stay with us, so they can't be handed on to continue the work elsewhere without our agreement.

Events outside our control: neither of us is responsible for delays caused by things outside reasonable control, such as natural disasters, extreme weather, outages, pandemics or government action.

Transferring the agreement: you can't transfer your agreement with us to someone else without our written consent. We can transfer it to a related company.

General:

• We're an independent business, not your employee.
• New Zealand law applies, and New Zealand courts handle any disputes.
• If you're buying our services for your business, the Consumer Guarantees Act doesn't apply.
• If part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies.
• Not enforcing a right straight away doesn't mean we've given it up.
• These terms carry over to anyone who takes either of our places, such as a new owner of the business.
• No one outside our agreement has rights under it, unless stated.

Sorting out disagreements: if something isn't sitting right, tell us early. We'll both try to sort it out by talking first. If that hasn't worked within 10 business days, either of us can ask for mediation before taking it further, unless something urgent needs to go to court.

In writing: where these terms say something needs to be in writing, email counts. Texts and direct messages don't.

Questions about these terms? Email us at hello@arturastudio.co.nz.