New Zealand's toughest PR jobs for 2015

Debateoveranewnationalflagandathreattopoisonbabyformulawith1080werethecountry'stwotoughestPRchallengesfortheyear,accordingtoanewrankingreleasedtodaybyBlacklandPR.

ThecompanyratedtheflagdebateasthetoughestPRchallengebecauseitcombinedthehighestpublicprofilewiththestrongestemotionalreaction,impact,andcomplexity.

Secondandthirdonthelistwerethe1080poisoningthreatandsigningoftheTPPAtradedeal.

BlacklandPRdirectorMarkBlacklandsaidtheflagreferendumhad"alltheingredientsforargumentativechaos."

Thatwasbecauseitsparkedsomanydifferentreactions,evokedstrongopinionsinthegreatestnumberofpeople,andwouldaffectalmosteveryNewZealander.

"Whilesomearguedoverwhichflagtheyliked,othersarguedtheflagshouldn'tchange,andothersarguedtheydidn'teventhinktheissuewarrantedanydiscussionatall.

"ThetoughesttaskinaPRchallengeistogetpeopletalkingaboutthesamepartofanissue–onlythencanyoupersuadethem.

BlacklandPRusesascoringsystemthatranksissuesoutof10forfourfactors:impact(howmanypeopleareconsciouslyaffecteddirectlyorindirectly),profile(mediacoverageandhowmuchitistalkedabout),emotion(theintensityoftheemotionalreaction),andcomplexity(complicationsandtechnicalityoftheissue).

InpreviousyearsthePRchallengeslisthasbeenheadedbyeventssuchasRoastbusters,theFonterraBotulismissue,andacarrotandlettucerecall.

Blacklandsaidthe1080poisoningthreatwasinthetopthreebecauseoftheprofileandfearitcausedinthepopulation.

HesaidtheTPPAissuewasthirdonthelistbecauseofitspersistenceinnewscoverage,tenacityofopposition,itswidespreadeconomiceffect,andcomplexity.

"IfyouwereaimingtoalarmorsatisfypeopleabouttheTPPA,youhadachallengeingettingpeopletounderstandorfeelconnectedtoit."

TheGovernmentanditsagenciesagaindominatedthelist,andonlyfiveorganisationsinthetop20werebusinessesornon-governmentorganisations.

"It'sasignofhowcentralgovernmentdominatesNewZealandlife–thebuckstopswiththem."

BlacklandPRsaidtherewerefewerthanusualtrue"PRfails"thisyear,butnamedthreesituationsthatarosefromself-imposedblunders.