New Zealand is on top of the world when it comes to how well the Government has communicated during the COVID-19 pandemic, public relations experts from throughout the globe say.
NZ has been praised internationally for its success at controlling the spread of the virus and much of that praise has also been heaped on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her leadership during the crisis.
But how well has her Government communicated? Well, better than anyone else according to 289 PR professionals who responded to a survey about which countries have been the most impressive.
The survey, published by PR news site PRovoke and conducted by Stickybeak, ranks New Zealand top with more than 20 percent of the vote, Germany second with 16.9 percent, and third at 9 percent was Singapore.
That places us well ahead of the global superpowers such as the US - which was ranked last at 2.8 percent.
As for the countries that were the least impressive with communication, the US was ranked alongside the UK, China, and Brazil in the bottom four.
COVID-19 has hit the US - now the epicentre of the virus - and Europe particularly hard. US President Donald Trump, who in February called COVID-19 a "hoax", has been widely criticised for his leadership during the pandemic.
Stickybeak co-founder David Brain told The Spinoff much of NZ's ranking came down to Ardern's empathy and personal style.
"The early setting out of the four alert levels, linked to the progress of the virus and the restrictions that each level would entail, set expectations at the beginning and have given people a framework for thinking about how their futures might look and feel."
Ardern has received global praise for her Government's response to the pandemic. She's received attention from the likes of TV show host Whoopi Goldberg and been a talking point in US media outlets such as The Atlantic, CNN, and The Washington Post.
Brain said not many countries have given its citizens an idea of what the future might hold.
"She [Ardern] has speechwriters who have helped her find the right tone and simplicity of message and strategists who have tested the best ways to present the dilemma we face and the joint actions that are required to combat it," he told The Spinoff.
"That is advanced leadership and government."
