The 20 toughest PR challenges of 2018

BlacklandPR ranked the petrol price increase as the hardest challenge for public relations to handle in 2018. Photo / Bloomberg

The surge in petrol prices around the country was the hardest issue for public relations companies to manage in 2018, according to an annual ranking by BlacklandPR.

Petrol prices nationwide increased by 3.5 cents a litre on September 30 after a new fuel excise tax was introduced by the Government.

In Auckland motorists were further hit by the introduction of a regional fuel tax of 11.5 cents a litre.

Mark Blackham, BlacklandPR director, said the rise in petrol prices was the most widely discussed issue of the year.

"It affected almost all New Zealanders in their work and personal lives," Blackham said.

"Commentators and politicians noticed the impact on daily life in New Zealand and tapped into the discontent, which intensified the issue."

The petrol price increase scored 9 out of 10 for profile and impact, 8 out of 10 for emotion, and 4 out of 10 for complexity, for a total score of 30 in BlacklandPR's ranking.

BlacklandPR uses a scoring system that ranks issues out of 10 for four factors: Profile (media coverage and "talkability" in everyday life), Impact (how many people are consciously affected directly or indirectly), Emotion (the intensity of emotional reaction), and Complexity (complications and technicalities of the issue).

But while petrol prices may have had the biggest impact on New Zealanders, it was sexual misconduct at law firm Russell McVeagh that stirred the strongest emotional responses, Blackham said.

"Sexual harassment was the year's most topical issue and Russell McVeagh was the catalyst for New Zealand's '#metoo' moment," Blackham said.

The strong outpouring of emotion, which BlacklandPR scored a 10 out of 10, propelled the issue to second-equal hardest public relations challenge for the year.

The issue also scored a 9 for profile, 2 for impact and 8 for complexity.

Handling the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak also came in at the number two spot, scoring a 9 for profile, 6 for impact, 6 for emotion and 8 for complexity.

Blackham said it was notable that three of New Zealand's largest companies – Auckland Airport, Air New Zealand and Fonterra – were almost never out of the news over a variety of issues.

These companies faced more than two dozen minor PR challenges including contentious safety videos, reports on infrastructure charging and profit loss.

"These companies touch the lives of many New Zealanders, so they have high recognition and high interest. Fonterra's loss was the biggest of those challenges as the impact on the economy and its reputation threatened to be significant," Blackham said.

Political challenges also dominated the rankings yet again, with 14 of the top 20 challenges being faced mainly by political organisations.

"The predominant role of government in daily life, in terms of actual impact such as public sector strikes, or just as talking points, such as Jami-Lee Ross, is reflected in this year's rankings," Blackham said.