July 18, 2018 – Croatia’s performance at the World Cup has been stunning, as has the PR effect it has had globally for the country. Mediatoolkit CEO Tomislav Grubisic with his final update.
One of the most interesting sideshows in Croatia’s route to the World Cup Final – for me at least – has been watching the effect it has had on interest in Croatia globally, and also watching those who are taking credit for the surge of interest (note – it was due to success on the pitch and the great fan performance of Croatia’s huge travelling fans, who won over millions of hearts on the way).
Whereas people in the past can make claims which cannot be substantiated, new technology and media monitoring techniques are delivering instant data with stunning accuracy.
Although I have been using Croatia’s premium media-monitoring service, Mediatoolkit, for some time, and despite the fact that it is a very successful business with clients in more than 60 countries, the World Cup took Mediatoolkit’s profile to another level, simply due to CEO Tomislav Grubisic posting some interesting data he was tracking about Croatia throughout the World Cup.
I picked up the story when Grubisic posted some stats about the interest in Croatia half an hour after the quarter-final win against Russia. More was being written online about Croatia in that short time than had been in the last three years combined. Incredible!
It got more incredible, as Croatia swept aside England in the semi-final, leading to a 30% increase on those record numbers after Russia, and then new records again after the final defeat with France. Grubisic added some interesting info with that update after France – President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was getting 25% more media attention than captain and player of the tournament, Luka Modric.
And now the final update – more than a million articles about Croatia, more than 60 BILLION page reads, and more media coverage online than in the last 28 years of the existence of the Croatian state. The power of football!
Although it is hard to estimate, Grubisic guesses that Croatia touch between 2 and 2.5 billion people online as a result of the media interest.
Quite incredible, and it is hoped that those in the PR industry have had the appropriate plans in place to take advantage of this incredible gift. Well done to the players and the fans, but also the team at Mediatoolkit for tracking the data so effectively.
Learn more about what Mediatoolkit can do for your business here.
